In the Eyes of the Arcane

Summary: There is a student in Seigaku who brings with her an air of Mystery. Her jewel-colored eyes hold secrets of many, and she keeps them carefully concealed. When her practice in the arcane intertwines her fate with a lively group of tennis players, she finds that her future still holds many untold mysteries that even she has yet to see.

Genre: Romance/Paranormal

Pairing: Kagome/?

Rated: M

-x-x-x-

In classroom 2-A on the second floor of Seigaku Middle School, a group of students stood gathered around a single desk. Atop it lay three cards chosen by a nervous-looking student, and across from her, a thoughtful-looking student held her hand over those three cards. Each one, she would hover her hand over for a moment until finally, she stalled over the top of the three cards. Turning it over, she looked at the girl in front of her, "the Nine of Swords. Something weighs heavily on your mind."

"Heh, it doesn't take a psychic to know we're all stressed over exams, Higurashi."

Higurashi smiled and locked her eyes with the girl, ignoring the boy beside them who'd commented. "Nanako-San is troubled by something not school-related. Something more personal." Placing her pointer finger down on the card, she drew the girl's eyes to the picture. "If you look carefully at the card, it depicts a troubled woman who has been jolted from a terrible nightmare. Scared, disturbed, anxious, she is left unable to go back to sleep. Behind her, hanging on her wall, are nine swords. They represent the negative and oppressing thoughts that weigh so heavily on her mind. Here, at the base of her bed, you see one person defeating another, and then there are roses and the outlines of astrological symbols which adorn her the quilt she has wrapped around her."

"..."

Having everyone's attention, she continued, though her eyes were solely on the girl in front of her. "The Nine of Swords suggests that dark thoughts and disturbing feelings are weighing you down and keeping you up at night. You are worrying excessively about a situation, and your negative thoughts are getting the better of you, leaving you stressed and anxious. The more you associate with your fears, the more they will rule your life. As you obsess over what's not working, the more anxious you become and the more you will worry. It becomes a negative cycle where one awful thought leads to another, and another, and another until they overwhelm you. Just as the nine swords are stacked upon each other on the wall, so too are your negative thoughts."

"..." the girl sitting across from the vocally inclined fortune teller tugged awkwardly at the hem of her uniform top.

"I could feed you a bunch of pretty lies and tell you what you want to hear, but that's not what you need to hear. The Nine of Swords has a bad habit of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy if you will." Lifting the card up between two fingers, she could see now how completely unnerved the girl in front of her was. "As you obsess over the things that might go wrong, you ultimately end up manifesting your "worst-case scenario" because you are inadvertently acting in ways that support your negative thoughts."

"S-so what should I do?"

"I think you know what you should do, but just in case, I'll say it clearly. When the Nine of Swords appears in a reading, it is good to reach out for help. You are struggling to look at your situation clearly. Plagued by negative thoughts, you need an objective, third-party perspective that will help you find your way out." Placing the card down atop her deck, she picked up the remaining two cards and placed them down on top of the deck too. "Until you've done that, there is no reason for me to continue your reading."

"Wh-what? Why not?"

"Because the future is not so clear when you clouded with negative energies. Reading your present is one thing, but the future...not at this moment."

Nanako stood up solemnly and bowed to the fortune-teller, leaving the room with a crowd of students following her with their eyes. Those who hadn't been surrounding the reading were just as curious. Watching Nanako but saying nothing.

"Higurashi-San, what is troubling Nanako-San?"

"...that's not for me to say. Such things stay between me, the student who I'm reading for, and of course, the cards." Watching the students around her scatter aimlessly back to their desks, she looked curiously back down at her deck and her hand, which still lay resting on the two cards she'd placed back atop it. She lifted both cards in the same manner at which she'd placed them down. It was as she was rewinding the last minute or so. Flipping the one on the left, The Moon (reversed). Then flipping the one on the right, Death (upright). Smiling, she picked both back up and placed them on her deck, shuffling them and then putting them neatly in her velveteen pouch. She secured it to the belt she wore just as the teacher came in, and the class was once again in full swing.

-X-X-X-

After time-traveling down a magical well, I suppose fortune-telling doesn't sound all that strange. I realized quickly when the well closed that my energy needed an outlet, and without expending it daily on demons, it was becoming volatile to myself. I couldn't explain it well enough, but the point, I needed to find something that would take the pressure off of my body and my spirit. Who knew it was as simple as clairvoyance and card readings.

I didn't immediately start to have dreams that perceived future events. The most that I could do was get readings on the energies of those around me. I could use my spiritual energy to follow energy trails, finding lost things, small and stupid things like that. It was stupid, but it impressed my classmates enough, probably because they didn't know how I did it. It's not like they could see through my eyes. Ah, when did my eyes become like this?

I get lost looking in the mirror. These days, it's not like I'm looking at myself anymore. Oh, physically, nothing has changed. Emotionally, well...I haven't felt like myself in a long time. Peering into the mirror, I can see a pinkish glimmer in my eyes. The Shikon Jewel had long since been absorbed by my body and became a part of me. Those are my eyes now. I don't know what to call them, Shikon Eyes? It's weird. I thought for sure that once my travels through time were done, I'd go back to being just Kagome. So why did this happen?

It's been a year; I'm over it, so now I pretend that I'm normal for the betterment of my life. Of course, by betterment, I refer to the act of assimilating myself into normal society after fighting demons, hunting a mystical jewel, and time-traveling down a magical well in my backyard. All things that don't look good on a college transcript or career resume.

-x-x-x-

~BAM~

"READ MY FORTUNE!"

Kagome jumped nearly a foot in the air when her brother threw open her bedroom door, yelling for a reading. "What?! Why? And don't slam doors in the house!"

"Who's gonna yell at me? Mom's out of town." Souta sat down across from Kagome on her bed and pointed to the velvet patch on her nightstand. "I need you to read my fortune."

"What for?"

"They have auditions for Strikers tomorrow; I need to know if I'll get the position if I try out!"

Leveling her brother with a glare, she shook her head, "you won't get the position if you don't try."

"Yes, great philosophical advice, and now, if you don't mind, what happens if I do."

"Souta, I'm not reading your fortune. You go out there, and you try your absolute hardest and give it your absolute best. What happens after that happens, but at least you'll have tried."

Souta frowned but gave a small incline of his head in understanding.

"Good, now, did you finish your homework?"

"Ah, yeah."

"Chores?"

"Only need to take the trash out, but otherwise-"

"I'll take the trash out. You go shower and get ready for bed. You said you have tryouts tomorrow, so go to sleep early, wake up early, and do your best."

"Right!"

Pulling her shoes on, she stepped out of her room. Walking past her brother's room as the door shut, she followed the stairs down to the living room. In the kitchen, a bag of trash was tied tightly next to the counter. Her brother had left it to seek out her skills; Kagome wasn't surprised that he'd become distracted. Grabbing the bag, she left out the house. It was a quiet night; a gentle breeze stole away the dried leaves underfoot as she stepped outside with the trash. Looking around, her eyes let off a barely visible pink sheen before dimming into their normal blue. A habit? No, she was just paranoid. Always looking around to see if the shadows had eyes. Of course, they didn't. After all, demons didn't exist in her time. Not full demons, at least. The remnants that she felt from time to time, the demon blood was so diluted by human blood, it hardly went noticed.

Dropping the trash bag into the trashcan outside, she stepped up to the edge of the stairs. Taking in the view that overlooked the city, the outlines of magnificent stone and steel structured bathed in moonlight, and she reminisced the days of past. Not necessarily her past, but a past. She missed her adventures, friends, and family on the other side of the well. So close, she could touch it, and yet, so far, there were five hundred years of distance placed between them.

A stronger breath of wind traced along her arms and she turned her back on the city. Tonight, was a calm and relaxing night...a good night... she would meditate tonight.

-x-x-x-

Me: Here is the first chapter one, don't worry, I wrote this a while back but decided not to post it until I could post chapters for my other already posted fics. I hope you all enjoy it! Let me know your thoughts!