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I do not own Inuyasha, but I can dream, can't I?

Chapter Two: Takeshi

Kagome rolled over in bed and stared at the alarm clock on her bedside table. Five A.M. The young priestess sighed and looked up at the ceiling. She had woken up at a quarter to five and couldn't fall back to sleep. She had been thinking about Inuyasha. Usually, he would have come for her, but this time, it seemed as if the hanyou was now fed up.

They're probably looking for Midoriko's reincarnation, Kagome thought as she continued to stare at the ceiling. They're doing exactly what Kikyou told them to do…I guess Inuyasha is more likely to listen to Kikyou than to me…

An image of Inuyasha embracing Kikyou flashed in the girl's mind. She sighed and rolled over in bed.

Guess I'll always be second to her…

"Shouldn't you go see Kagome?" Sango asked Inuyasha. It wasn't the cool dawn air that had kept Sango and the others awake, it was the thought of what Kagome was probably going through.

"Why should I?" Inuyasha asked. "She's the one who left, not me."

"Still," it was Miroku this time. "She looked very sad when she left."

Inuyasha's ears twitched at that.

"She's probably depressed," Sango said with a sigh. Miroku and Shippou looked at her and winked. They usually said bad things that happened to Kagome whenever she and Inuyasha fought in order to provoke the hanyou to go see whether or not Kagome was okay.

Shippou looked up at the stars. "I could swear she was crying…"

"Hmm…" Inuyasha sounded agitated.

"You know, she's probably so sad that she-" Sango began but was cut short when Inuyasha, having had enough, stood up and glared at them.

"Will you guys quit it?!" the hanyou snapped.

"Quit what?" Shippou asked innocently. Inuyasha hit him on the head.

"That! What you always do when Kagome and I fight!" the hanyou crossed his arms and glared at them. Inuyasha looked up at the sky and sighed. "Fine, when the sun rises, I'll go and apologize…Even if I didn't anything wrong."

The school bells chimed merrily as Clara walked up to the school. The young woman was grinning to herself. She had managed to persuade her driver to let her walk to school and not tell her mother.

Now all I have to do is find out how to deal with Adolfa Hitler the moment she finds out, Clara thought with certain amusement.

"Hey, Clara!" three voices called out. Clara spun around. The three girls known as Eri, Yuka and Ayumi were headed towards her.

"Hi," the young woman said with a cheery wave. "It's Eri, Yuka and Ayumi, right?"

The three girls nodded. "We just wanted to know how you're getting on," Eri said.

"I think…I'm doing fine, I guess."

"Made any new friends yet?" Ayumi inquired.

"Er…Kagome, I guess, and, if I may, you three."

Eri smiled. "Of course we can be your friends."

"Speaking of which," Clara said, looking around. "Is Kagome here already?"

Ayumi looked thoughtful. "No…She's tardy sometimes…But…Hey! There's the bell! We should get going, Clara-chan."

Clara smiled at them. "You guys go on ahead; I think I'll wait for Kagome."

"Are you sure?" Ayumi asked with a comedic look of worry on her face. "You know Mrs. Kurichi's temper regarding tardiness."

"I think I'll chance it."

Eri, Ayumi and Yuka walked into the school building. "Don't you think that Clara seems a bit…stand-offish to you?" Eri asked.

"She is a bit cold," Ayumi agreed.

"She probably hasn't gotten used to Japan yet," Yuka put in.

Clara continued staring out the gate, waiting for Kagome. The young woman sighed and looked up at the sky. She suddenly felt something vibrating inside her pocket. Clara pulled out her Blackberry and looked at who was calling.

Adolfa Hitler, Clara thought with a groan. She sighed and made a quick debate with herself.

Answer it.

I don't want to! She'll probably lecture me on walking since she probably found out that I walked to school.

If you don't answer it, she's going to kill you.

Then she'll truly live up to her nickname.

Please. What's the worst she could do to you?

Let's see…she'll ban me from ice skating for one thing. She'll probably take away my books next.

Just answer it.

Clara sighed and answered the phone. "Hello?" she asked timidly.

"Young Lady, where are you?!" her mother's voice sounded stern.

Clara inwardly groaned. "School…Where else would I be?"

"Why did you inform the driver to let you walk?" her mother asked, annoyance was clearly in her voice. Clara hesitated for a moment.

"I just wanted to use my lower limbs…It's such a waste if I can't use them, you see," Clara answered.

"Don't use that tone of voice with me, young lady! I give the best of everything and this is how you repay me? By disrespecting me? If it happens again, Clara, I will ban you from ice skating!" Her mother hung up the phone. Clara looked at her phone once then stowed it away. She became aware that someone was looking at her. Looking up, Clara saw that it was Kagome.

"Hey," Clara said weakly.

Kagome looked at her for a moment. "Erm…Your mom?"

Clara nodded with a sigh. "Adolfa Hitler strikes back."

"Why was she so upset?"

"Well," Clara began. "She's angry because I walked to school."

Kagome blinked. In her mind, Clara was very lucky, but the something told the miko that the young woman before her and her mother did not really get along well. "We should get in now," Clara suddenly said. Kagome looked at her and her eyes widened.

"Uh-oh! Mrs. Kurichi is going to blow!" Kagome said. She and Clara began to run towards the building when Kagome heard someone call out, "Hey, Kagome!"

Kagome and Clara spun around. A strangely dressed boy with strange colored hair and eyes was running towards them.

Inuyasha! Kagome thought with a groan. "What are you doing here?" the miko asked. She was so relieved to see him; she even forgot to be angry with him.

"I came to get you, of course!" the hanyou replied.

Clara looked curiously at Inuyasha then said, "A friend of yours, Kagome?"

Inuyasha turned his attention to Clara and his eyes widened. "You…!" he said.

Clara blinked at him. "Me?"

"Your aura…" the hanyou began. Kagome's eyes widened.

"Inuyasha, sit!" the priestess said. Clara watched in amusement as Inuyasha plummeted to the ground. Kagome grabbed Inuyasha by the sleeve of his haori and began dragging him off.

"See ya later, Clara!" Kagome said with a wave as she began to drag the strange boy off. Clara blinked as she watched them go.

Who was he? She thought. He must have been Kagome's bad boy boyfriend…But why did he say something about my aura? Can he sense my aura? Anyway, he seemed like a strange boy…

Clara glanced at her watch. "Yikes!" she said out loud as she began running towards the history room.

Kagome dragged Inuyasha into an alley. There, the hanyou straightened up and glared at the priestess. "What was that for?!" the hanyou roared with fury.

"What do you think you were doing?" Kagome shouted back. In these shouting matches, Inuyasha was often times silenced by Kagome's screams. "Why on earth did you make that remark about Clara's aura?!"

"Would you shut your trap?" Inuyasha snapped. "Anyway, couldn't yousense her aura?"

Kagome calmed down a bit. "What about it?"

"Well," Inuyasha said. "You couldn't probably sense it since most priestesses don't mind strong spiritual power…Since I'm a half-demon, I could sense it."

"What about her aura?" Kagome insisted.

"I'm gettin' there," the hanyou said. "Her aura was strong…I could sense the spiritual power coming from her…It's almost as strong as…"

"Strong as what?" the miko inquired. She was now curious to see whether or not if her friend, like her, was a priestess.

"Her aura…was similar to that of the Sacred Jewel when it was still whole and pure," Inuyasha said. Kagome's eyes widened.

"Are you sure?" Kagome asked.

"Positive."

Kagome looked thoughtful for a moment. "Could it be that Clara is Midoriko's reincarnation?" the miko finally asked.

Inuyasha looked at Kagome for a moment. "It is possible…We should ask Kikyou…"

Inuyasha looked at Kagome and realized his mistake. He and Kagome hadn't apologized to each other yet, and bringing up Kikyou would only make matters worse.

Kagome looked down at the ground. "When you ask her…can I…come with you?"

"Why?"

Kagome looked at him. "Clara is my friend…I think I should take full responsibility for her well-being if she gets dragged into the Feudal Era."

The hanyou nodded, glad that Kagome wasn't, in his opinion, upset.

Clara cautiously peeked around the door of the manor to make sure that the cost was clear. Finding no sign of her natural enemy, Hitler, the young woman carefully opened the door…

"Clara Rose!" a voice snapped. Clara inwardly groaned. Her mother had been hiding behind the door, waiting to ambush her prey.

"Good afternoon, Mama," Clara said in a dignified voice. "My…you're looking rather…dignified today."

Her mother narrowed her eyes at her. "The next time I find out that you have been defying rules behind my back, you are grounded."

Clara raised her eyebrows. "What did I do?" the young lady said mockingly. "Is there a rule which states that I can't use my limbs?"

Her mother's eyes became tiny little slits as she narrowed them at her daughter. "Go to your room right now."

Clara turned on her heel and started mumbling angrily under her breath.

Kagome tossed her first-aid kit into her backpack the very next day. She and Inuyasha had decided to head for the Feudal Era to inform Kikyou that they may have found Midoriko's reincarnation. Kagome was slightly surprised as to why she couldn't sense that Clara had the same aura as the Shikon Jewel but the young miko had made a note to ask Kikyou just that the moment they found the undead priestess.

Kagome stuffed some shampoo into her backpack. Over the weeks, Sango had developed a great liking to shampoo, conditioner, soap and lotion. Kagome had decided to spoil her best friend by bringing her the occasional treats.

Inuyasha was at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for her. "Hey, Kagome," the hanyou began.

"Eh?"

Inuyasha fiddled with the sleeve of his haori before he said, "Nothing."

Kagome gave him a curious look before she opened the door. She had informed her family that she was headed into the Feudal Era today.

There was an awkward silence as Inuyasha and Kagome made their way to the well shrine. Once they were inside, Inuyasha finally said, "You're not mad…are you?"

"Mad…why should I be mad?"

"You know…about what happened the other day!"

Kagome looked at Inuyasha and blinked. "Which part?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten!"

"Sorry…I guess I have."

"You should at least say you're sorry."

"Why should I?"

Inuyasha raised his hands in frustration. "Never mind…Let's go!"

Kagome smiled in amusement as she and Inuyasha jumped into the well. Of course she knew. She just didn't want to bring the topic back up.

"Eh? Kagome's sick?" Clara asked Eri, Yuka and Ayumi the very next day at school.

"Yeah…we don't know why. But Kagome gets sick all the time," Yuka put in.

Clara looked thoughtful for a moment. Whenever she was deep in thought, her lovely blue eyes were always pensive and soulful. "We should go visit her," Clara said.

Ayumi shook her head. "It's usually something contagious…"

"What does she have?" Clara put in.

The three girls shrugged. "We don't know…but it's usually some sort of mysterious illness."

"Mysterious illness?"

The three girls nodded their heads in perfect unison.

Throughout the entire day, Clara had anticipated the time when the final bell would ring. She had made up her mind to go and visit Kagome. Thus, the young woman was heartily glad when the bell had rung. She ran out of the school building just as her black limo pulled up the school gate. Clara hesitated and remembered her mother's words.

She approached the limo and opened the door but didn't get in.

"Ms. Clara?" Jo, their driver, asked. "Come along, otherwise, you'll be late. And you know your mother's temper."

"Jo," Clara began. "Could you please go home and tell Adolfa Hitler that I'll be a little late?"

"Where on earth are you headed?"

"I'm off to visit a sick friend of mine," Clara said. "Please Jo!"

The driver sighed then nodded his head. Clara slammed the door closed and watched as the limo drove off. Smiling, she ran back into school to look for Eri, Yuka and Ayumi whom she found near the entrance, chattering away and giggling.

"Guys, could you tell me where Kagome lives?" the young ice skater asked.

"She lives in the Higurashi Shrine, not far from here," Eri said. "Um … three blocks away, I think."

"Thanks guys!"

Clara climbed up the steps to the Higurashi Shrine. Kagome's lucky, the young woman thought as she stared around the shrine grounds. She gets to live in such a history filled place!

The young woman found an old man sweeping leaves underneath a large tree. "Excuse me!" Clara said as she hurried over.

The old man looked at her. "A friend of Kagome's?" he asked.

Clara nodded. "Can I see her? I'm concerned about her."

The old man shook his head in a somewhat sorrowful way. "I'm sorry…Kagome is very ill…She…er…One minute she's laughing around all sunny and smiling, the next minute she's screaming in terror as if she was possessed by evil spirits!"

Clara's eyes widened. "Possessed?"

The old man nodded. "Yes! Now, you should get going, young lady…I have to place a couple of erm…sutras on Kagome!" With that, the old man hurriedly left.

Clara watched him go. "Possessed? Evil spirits? What is he talking about?" the young woman mused to herself. "Oh, I do hope Kagome is alright!"

Just as the young woman was about to leave, she saw someone beckoning to her from a smaller shrine at the farthest edge. Clara blinked. The man who was beckoning to her had golden brown hair and he was wearing a strange assortment of garments. Strange armor covered his shoulders and Clara could make out a sword strapped to his waist.

Does he work in the shrine? The young woman thought. She made her way over to him. "Er…were you calling me?" Clara asked in a somewhat hesitant manner.

The young man nodded his head. "My name is Takeshi."

"And why did you call me?" Clara asked.

Takeshi looked at her. His brown eyes seemed to look into her very soul…

"I have long since awaited your return…Priestess Midoriko."

End of chapter.

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Thanks to:

Akari Neko-chan

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