Disclaimer: I hate repeating myself... DAMN YOU BANDAI!

Summary: Chapter one of my loverly story... aren't you happy? dodges Kagome-lover tomatoes hehe... ; Anyhow, we now meet Jesira, the loverly heroine of our tale--who LOVES to sing and is living in San Fran with her parents and Japanese grandmother, who carries a part of the Shikkon Jewel and--oh, well... you'll find out soon enough! BTW, some things may seem a TAD OOC for some people and might be a little odd, but I'm sort of stabbing in the dark on a few things, you know? Basically, I really want to emphasize that this is a HUGE culture shock to our girl, and now she has to adjust to a whole new time and country with a language she barely speaks! Augh! What is a girl to do? But how did she get there? Is she stuck? Why is Sesshoumaru wearing eyeshadow? ... . ... . ... aaaaanyway! On with the tale!

Chapter One
Ënter, Stage Now

Jesira was a beautiful girl, both inside and out, as many good girls are. She liked music, and loved to dance--in fact, Jesira was training to become a Broadway star, and had been dancing ballet since she was four. Jesira loved to read, but didn't like to write very much; she liked science and history, and often like to throw herself into 'the void of artistic passion' and dance to various musicals, such as "Chicago", "Cats", or--her favorite one--"Wicked." She longed to play the tragic and passionate role of Elphaba Thropp, to have that fabulous green skin and fly about on her magical broomstick... As you can probably tell by now, Jesira was a bit of a dramatic girl, but she had such a voice that it completely made up for her many flaws.

Every weekend, Jesira visited her grandmother, taking the Muni up through Little Tokyo to find her house. Her grandmother, Sada, was very wise, and often entertained Jesira with stories of Japan--or Nihon, as she called it--and the occasional cup of green tea. Jesira's favorite story, however, were stories of ancient demons, as well as the story of the sacred shikkon jewel shards. It was even better to hear these stories from her Grandma Sada, because she had nearly half of the jewel, embedded into a ring of silver, to wear as a pendant. Sometimes Jesira never believed the stories, as they were far too fantastic for even her dramatic tastes, though she still indulged Grandma Sada, as it was the right thing to do.

On a warm sunday afternoon, Jesira was walking away from the Muni station on 16th and Church, walking up the steep San Franciscan hill towards her house. Well, she would sometimes think, who cares? At least the park has the very best view of the city. Every other sunday, Jesira's load would be very heavy, as she had many a dance rehearsal on these sundays, and always carried a couple of changes of clothes, some food, three pairs of shoes--one for dancing, one pair of sneakers, and one pair of black pumps just in case--her cd player with a great supply of batteries...to top it all off, she had many of her school books with her on this particular sunday, as the finals were starting that next day.It was on this particularly warm sunday afternoon, however, she was carrying an extra thing in the pocket of her backpack--and this extra little thing would change her life, in approximately five minutes.

Today, Jesira was semi-casual, with her favorite black corset top and long blue and green skirt that flowed when she walked. Jesira was straining a little today, since she knew that she'd look sort of funny wearing sneakers with this outfit, so she decided to grin and bear it with her tan platforms that looked like they were made from a woven basket.

Jesira was humming a tune as she merrily walked up the hill, and suddenly felt a bit of a tingle in the side pocket of her large backpack. Slowing for a moment, she reached back and pulled out her grandmother's pendant--the odd purple halved jewel that dangled from a strand of precious pearls.

"Waaaah!" she cried in a bit of a Japanese accent. "If Grandma sees this missing...! Oh, I've got to go back," said Jesira, to nobody in particular. She looked around nervously, seeing if the muni had already left. She knew that she had to give this back to Grandma, but if she didn't go to her little sister's birthday party that afternoon then she'd be in trouble with her parents.

"I can't go around San Francisco with this thing in my pocket..." She slipped the pearls and cracked jewel about her neck for safe keeping. "My parents will understand, right? Of course they will--respect your elders, ne?" She glanced around. "Who am I talking to?"

"Hey," came a snide voice from behind her, "those are some nice pearls ye got there..." A wise-assed teen with slicked back hair was leering at her Grandmother's pearls and jewel maliciously. "I'll bet those'd buy me a pretty penny, eh?" Two other boys came, one tall, one stocky, from each side of her. 'Dammit!' Jesira thought, 'I don't have time for this!'

With a swift uppercut to the leader's jaw and a judo sweep to the tall one on her right she bolted quickly through the part screaming "Help! Help! I'm being mugged!" The boys ran after her through the park, quickly gaining; out of the corner of her eye she saw one of them flip out a switchblade.

'Ohgodohgodohgod...!' she thought, blindly running faster. 'Think think think!' She frantically glanced around, people fleeing out of their path, a few dialing 911 on their cell phones. She came to a large picnic area and quickly jumped onto a table in attempt to give herself more momentum by jumping off of it. Out of total impulse, she closed her eyes and leapt, clutching to Grandma's necklace, screaming "Get me out of here!"

SPLASH!
Gasping for air in shock, Jesira saw that she was sitting in a semi-shallow stream. She waded to the side, seeing that she was definately not in San Francisco. Where was Church Street? Where was the park? Where was that burger place called Hot N' Hunky? She looked over to her right, seeing a little Japanese girl, no more than five or six in a white kimono. She looked wide-eyed at Jesira as if she were some sort of Oni monster.
"Sesshoumaru-sama! Sesshoumaru-sama!" she cried in Japanese, running frantically towards the woods. Suddenly, a great and glorious creature emerged from the forest, tall and regal with purple markings upon his face. Long silver hair flowed from his scalp in a river of silk. His face was fierce with a serene and silent glow to his yellow eyes, softened only by his blank expression and white fur about his left shoulder. His clothes...his clothes looked like... He was so familiar, like some great demon of Grandmother's old lore. Jesira then realized that her Grandmother's stories were not just old wives tales, but did once exist, and she was there.
"Oh my God--am I in Japan!" Jesira shrieked. She jumped out of the water, her clothes clingy and wet to her slim body, her backpack heavy, yet thankfully waterproof. She looked down to her breast, the strange purple jewel glowing oddly. Is this the reason I am here...?
The gold-eyed beauty's eyes went wide; his white hands came to reach for her breast. "Shikkon no Tama!" he cried. Out of total impulse Jesira slapped his hand away. He was shocked, and then angered, but for some reason, his anger subsided. Suddenly, a tiny toad creature came out wildly flailing his arms and shouting at Jesira.

"WAAAAAAAAHHH!" Out of total impulse she took off her shoe and threw it hard at its head.

THUD!
The gold-eyed beauty suddenly began to laugh hysterically, his voice like a thousand wolves singing, as his strange toad creature twitched on the grass. The little girl began to speak to 'Lord Sesshoumaru,' as he was called, and as she did, Jesira's Japanese side began to take over, and she began to understand.

"Who is she, Lord Sesshoumaru? Is she a human?"

He looked to her, now with that serious expression upon his flawless face. "I don't know... Oi, nihongo wakarimasu ka?" Which, of course, meant 'do you understand Japanese?'

She then nodded enthusiastically. "Hai, nihongo ga chotto wakarimasu!" which meant, 'yes, I understand a little Japanese.' Standing up and wringing out her long skirt and black hair, she looked up with a smile and said, in perfect Japanese, "My name is Jesira. Er... Namae wa nan Jesira!"

"Jesira? I'm Rin!" said the little girl, peeking from behind Sesshoumaru-sama's white pants.

"Where am I?"

Sesshoumaru-sama kept on eyeing the Shikkon jewel at her breast; Jesira held to it tight. This strange gem must hold some special power--otherwise, how else could she be here? She was most definately in some sort of historical Japanese era, but when and where? She glanced around, giving a few desperate looks to Sesshoumaru-sama, and a few more to Rin in hopes that one of them could tell her how she got here and why.

The gem, she thought, Grandmother's gem...what did she call it? Shikkon no tama..? Something...But why would he want it? Is he really a demon?

"Are you a demon?" she asked suddenly.

Now she was getting a very odd look, as if he were saying, 'What, you're not afraid?'

"Inuyoukai-sama," he said, which meant 'Lord Dog Demon.' A dog demon? He certainly didn't look like a dog, she thought to herself as she eyed the tall lean creature before her, more like some strange elf from a Japanese J.R.R. Tolkein. Why was he looking at her like that...? He wanted Grandmother's jewel...he wanted what ever power it had.

The gold-eyed beauty looked up the nearby hill, his claws coming out of his long fingers even further. Jesira looked up to see a Japanese girl, about fifteen or so, dressed in modern-day clothes like she was! With her was what appeared to be a monk, a woman from that era and two more demons!

"What the...? That girl!" cried the human girl from the future. "She's not from this time either!"

"What? You mean there are two portals?" said a white-haired demon with dog-like ears and strange red clothes. "Don't tell me there's another well!"

"A well?" Jesira breathed in English to herself.

"...? You speak...Engrish?" said the Japanese girl in clumsy version of her native language.

"I'm American!" shouted Jesira, getting an odd look from the Dog Lord. He was probably thinking 'What is she saying?' "Please! Can you tell me where--or when--I am?"

Suddenly he stepped in front of her, shouting "This is my human, Inuyasha, get lost!"

"K'eh! You wish!" shouted the gruff 'Inuyasha,' unsheathing an impossibly large sword from a small and old sheath. "Now hand over that jewel shard!"

Jesira wasn't one to be submissive to anyone, much less a chovanistic demon, but she felt that it was probably wisest to stay by this Sesshoumaru-sama's side. Glancing about to see if there was anything she could use to escape, but there seemed to be nothing except for rocks and the stream, perhaps a few trees; every superstitious bone in her body tingled with anticipation and fear. She sank behind Sesshoumaru-sama as his clawed hands drew out a long whip. Jesira was suddenly caught off-guard by the beauty of his long silver hair.

Shi-CLANG!

Sesshoumaru-sama had drawn out his own sword and was now locked with the demon known as Inuyasha.

Shiiiing! Sparks flew as Inuyasha jumped away and thrusted his sword downward shouting "Wind Scar!" A great white wind came like a knife, knocking Jesira and the child called Rin back. The tiny toad creature awoke and called out, holding a staff with two shrunken heads upon it. Out of the woman's head came a great flame to burn the other demon. Sesshoumaru-sama jumped with great strength and slashed down in a toxic green swipe.

Jesira, RUN! cried out her mind, only her legs could not spring from their watery ground; her eyes were bewitched with the poetic savagry of it all. These demons of Grandmother's stories were real, and here they were--fighting right before her eyes! Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the girl who appeared to be from modern-day Tokyo aiming an arrow at Sesshoumaru-sama.

"Watch out!" she cried.

He glanced over his shoulder to see her just long enough for the dog-eared demon to land a punch on Sesshoumaru-sama's face. His eyes grew red and his nails grew green, and with a great slash of green, he ripped the dog-eared one's red robe open, along with his white undershirt and through to his tanned chest; he cried out in pain the very moment that the arrow from the Japanese girlwas shot through the air towards his heart.

"NO!"

With a great glow of purple coming from her breast the arrow stopped before it could reach Sesshoumaru-sama's chest. He took a clawed hand and snapped the arrow in two as the one called Inuyasha writhed on the ground in pain. The green slash he did must have been poison. Did I just stop the arrow? she thought.

"You fought against the wrong opponent," said Sesshoumaru-sama, walking away calmly as the monk and other woman ran down the steep hill.

"Sesshoumaru, you coward!" cried out the Monk.

"Inuyasha!" cried the young girl, cradling the demon's head as he tried to stand.

"Kagome, doesn't she have a jewel shard?" asked the older woman.

She looked up. "She has over half of it!"

The tiny toad creature waved his staff at Jesira, as if to herd her towards the forest. "Come now! You are a prisoner of Sesshoumaru-sama now!" said he in a high voice. Rin ran towards him willingly; Jesira had no choice but to follow. As she walked, Jesira's memories of the Japanese language came flooding back.

She glanced around, looking at the totally unspoiled land of feudal Japan. Mind you, Jesira was a smart girl, and it didn't take long for her to realize that she had to figure out a way to get home if she were to survive. The only other way to survive would be to become this demon's slave. She needed Grandmother's help to fight these demons; she needed her advice. All she could really remember about demons and such of Japan were the stories of ogres and the "Old woman and the magic spoon."

Sesshoumaru-sama glanced back at her, his eye going to the jewel at her breast. Feeling a hint of modesty, she immediately clung to it, covering the gem in her palm. Her backpack felt heavy, the air was cool...everything was happening so fast... "Excuse me," she said in Japanese, "where am I? Am I really in Nihon?" And Nihon, of course, meant Japan.

"Where else would you be?" he asked with a sneer. He turned away. "Stupid human..."

"I'm not from here, or from this time for that matter. I'm from America in the 21st century!"

"I gathered that you weren't from this time, fool, I'm not so simple."

"Will you help me then?"

"You!" cried the tiny toad creature. "You brazen wretch! How dare you speak to Sesshoumaru-sama in such a manner! A superior demon of his power would NEVER allow such a puny human to travel with him!"

Jesira pointed to Rin. "Then what's with the kid?" Two and two came together in her own jaded mind. "EEEEEW!"

Sesshoumaru-sama stopped. "Just what are you accusing me of?" he growled.

"Nu-Nothing!" she said, waving her hands.

"Human," he said, still walking, "how do you come to possess the Shikkon no Tama?"

"What, this?" she said, holding up Grandmother's pearls. "It belongs to my grandmother. It's kind of useless, though, it's broken in two."

"You...fool. You don't even realize the power of the jewel!" He turned, extending his great claw. "Give it to me."

"What?" she said, grasping the pearls in her hand. "No way, this doesn't even belong to me! I shouldn't even have it!" Her hair flapped angrily in the breeze; she felt a warm glow from the jewel in her palm. She felt a great power arising from her heart, a sort of pulling from the inside of her chest.

Sesshoumaru's eyes flashed red, making his flawless face take the appearance of some porcelain doll. Her heart stopped, as did the glowing, out of surprise.

"Sesshoumaru-sama..." said Rin. "Is she going to travel with us?"

He raised an eyebrow in question, accenting the marks on his alabaster cheeks.

A mental lightbulb went off in Jesira's mind. "Hey, Sesshoumaru-sama!" she said. "I'll make you a deal... I'll let you use grandmother's jewel for whatever you want and in return you'll help me find my way home."

"Hmph, ridiculous," said Sesshoumaru-sama, turning away. Jesira, however, could tell that he meant yes, even though his face appeared to be callous and flippant about it. Besides, what other choice did Jesira have? She was in a strange land in a strange time with NO way of contacting home.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, wait for me!" cried Rin as she ran after him like a puppy. Jesira jogged behind in her strappy platforms, taking special care not to drop anything from her pink backpack.

"Sesshoumaru-sama," she asked after a while, "where are we going?"

He did not answer.

"Where are you from?" asked Rin.

"America; that's a country that's all the way on the other side of the world. We speak English there. I don't suppose you speak it, do you?" She repeated the sentance in English. Rin didn't understand at all. "I'll teach you a little while I'm here."

She heard a tiny rumbling. "I'm hungry..." said Rin.

"Ooh, I have just the thing for that," said Jesira, reaching around into her backpack. "I should have a granola bar or something in here... Here we go! I'll bet you've never had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before!"

"How do we know that you're not poisoning us, vile human?" asked the tiny toad.

"Don't worry, Master Jaken," said Rin, "she's too nice."

Jesira smiled. "You are SO CUTE!" she cried in English. She giggled and explained that it was a compliment. "Here, I'll eat some too, okay?" She took out a ziploc baggie and pulled out a pb&j cut diagonally. "The fun thing about these things is that they're really chewy!" she said, handing Rin half of the sandwich. She looked to Sesshoumaru-sama. "You want a bite?"

"Hmph. I don't eat human food."

She shrugged. "Suit yourself!" Rin took a bite. "The cool thing about the way my mom makes them is that she puts a thin layer ofpeanut butter on both sides and the jelly inside so the bread never gets soggy!"

"MmmNmmmrrnmm?" mumbled Rin, her face full of chewy peanut butter.

"Rin?" said Sesshoumaru-sama, glancing behind.

"You're suffocating Rin!" cried Jaken.

"Oh, grow up!" said Jesira, taking a bite of the sandwich. "Shee? Ish fine!" she mumbled through the peanut butter.

"Rin!" said Sesshoumaru-sama, angrily storming up to Jesira.

"Relax--here!" she cried, shoving a large chunk of the pb&j into Sesshoumaru's open mouth.

His eyes went wide and teary, his face nearly purple, his fists tight and his body into a near panic as the thick goo was shoved passed his lips. Sesshoumaru began to panic, his eyes flashing red.

"Mrf!" cried Jesira through the peanut butter. "Don't shwallow! Chew!"

"R-rike dis?" asked Rin through the peanut butter. Jesira nodded, skillfully swallowing her own bite of the apparent 'sandwich of doom.'

Sesshoumaru-sama covered his mouth as he struggled to breathe, his face turning odd shades of purplish-green. He screamed obscenities that Jesira was sort of glad she couldn't understand, shaking his fists. Rin swallowed her bit. "Ooh... It's hard to eat but it's good!" she said, taking another bite.

"For goodness sake, don't make a fuss!" she said, patting Sesshoumaru-sama on the back. "See? Rin can do it." After a few moments of gagging and choking, with a great deal of chewing and effort and a great gasp of air, he finfally managed to swallow the dreaded peanut butter.

"You brazen wench! You've nearly killed Sesshoumaru-sama!" cried Jaken.

Jesira put her hands on her hips. "Hey, don't make me sit on you, man."

Sesshoumaru-sama growled. "Are you trying to kill me?" he said through clenched teeth. "What kind of poison is that!"

"It's not poison, it's food! Humans from where I come from eat it all the time!"

Sesshoumaru-sama thought of this for a moment. You had to be nearly invincible to survive that 'peanut butter and jelly sandwich' thing... Perhaps this human could be of use to him after all? If she could withstand that, then what else could she do? Yes, he thought, she's much more clever than that stupid and pestilent wench that Inuyasha had. Besides, this one had a substantial part of the Shikkon no Tama with her. Not like he needed her, mind you, but she would provide good company for Rin, as well as throughoughly annoy Inuyasha, that half-demon.

Rin finished her half of the sandwich. "Arigato, Jesira!" she said with a smile.

She smiled brightly. "You're quite welcome!"

"Se-Sesshoumaru-sama... are you all right?" asked Jaken.

KICK! Sesshoumaru-sama kicked Jaken in the head out of frustration. "Stupid human," mumbled he under his breath.

"By the way," Jesira said. "Thank you for saving my life earlier..."

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at her. First she poisoned him, and then she was thanking him? What sort of human was she? She may just be of use to me, he thought. It might be best to make her work to my advantage. She certainly would be a good distraction.

(Some one to protect...)rang the voice of his father in Sesshoumaru's head.

Some one to protect? Father...

Sesshoumaru then remembered--he was a demon, and a very powerful one at that. He didn't need the aid of a simple human such as this 'American.' From what he took, Americans were stupid, overly friendly when inappropriate, and some of the most assuming creatures ever conceived by human kind. But if she was going to stick around, it was no sweat off his back.

"You're staying then?" Rin asked.

Jesira nodded with a smile. Not like I have much choice, she thought. "As long as 'he' doesn't kill me, then yes," she said, nodding pointedly to Sesshoumaru.

Kagome sighed as Inuyasha grunted angrily in the background. Miroku and Sango were relaxing by the fire, Shippo helping himself to whatever fish Inuyasha hadn't eaten yet.

"Kagome," said Sango, "Are you still thinking of that girl earlier?"

She nodded. "Yea...a little. She must be from my time--she's got to be. Only...she's American. That's another country far away from here."

"Another country?" asked Miroku. "She was quite a beauty. She's mastered our language perfectly--OUCH!" He was cut off by a swift punch to the head courtesy of Sango. "But what was she doing with Sesshoumaru?"

"I'm more concerned about how many jewel shards she has... We have almost half...she's got WELL over half of the Shikkon Jewel... Could she have the rest? Or perhaps the jewel is only partially complete in the future. It could be an heirloom or something."

"So...what does that mean for us?" Sango implored. "Does that mean there are no more jewel shards for us to collect? That she has them all?"

"No, no that can't be it," interjected Miroku. "you see... The Shikkon Jewel does not exist in Kagome's time but in this time it does. This means that we have the Shikkon Jewel in this time. However, that means that the Shikkon Jewel is either cracked or broken long after we're gone, and then her ancestors find it and bring it to America. Therefore, as long as she's here, there are two sacred jewels for us to find."

"Wow! Two Shikkon jewels! How exciting!" cried Shippo, wiping fish from his face. "Kagome, do you think that maybe she can sense jewel shards too?"

Kagome shrugged. "I don't know."

"One thing is for sure, she certainly is gifted. She stopped your arrow in mid-air, Kagome," said Miroku, crossing his arms thoughtfully.

"K'eh! Who cares!" said Inuyasha angrily, swinging around Tetsusaiga as if having no other way to calm himself down. "If we get that jewel half of hers, then we'll have all of the Shikkon jewel, right?"

"Maybe not, Inuyasha," Miroku replied, "after all, these may be the same jewel but they are from different times. Who knows what kind of reaction it will be?"

"As long as it works, I don't care. Kagome, can you sense--? Wha-- Kagome? Kagome, where are you!"

Everyone looked about for Kagome, but she had disappeared.

Dammit! thought Inuyasha, pounding his fist into his palm. He glanced around, his vision still dizzy from the poison Sesshoumaru's claw had injected into his blood. "Damn you, Sesshoumaru...you've never been able to poison me before..." He dropped to a kneed and beat his fist into the ground, his vision growing blurrier still.

"You can't smell her, Inuyasha?" Shippo implored. "Inuyasha! Are you listening? Hey! Inuyasha!"

YAY!

I think that's pretty good... lol Leftya mysteriously... m'eh, I dunno. Anyway, I kinda like this chapter! Tee-hee, sandwich of doom...lol
R&R OR I WILL EAT U!
Kinsei