A/N: Ok so I lied, the second chapter isn't that long. In fact its pitifully short I'll be the first one to admit. I'm not sure exactly what happened. I have what would have been the rest of the story written, but for some reason it didn't seem to attach well with the rest of it. I guess it'll be chapter three. This is sort of just Kagome's introduction to the story. The italics are sort of her thoughts, though she's not thinking them at the time. And the story won't be told in her point of view. But just pretend like she's narrating for a while.

Disclaimer: None of it is mine. Except the plot. That one belongs to me. All the rest goes to someone else unfortunately. Oh well.

Chapter Two: Drawing Faces

I could probably spend an entire day sitting alone in my room, just drawing faces.

The pencil shaded carefully, the gentle curves of cheekbones… the smooth shading of an upper lip.

Faces are what make a drawing real…

And moving gradually down the tender locks of spiraling hair that fell lightly across the nose and drifted onto the small, rounding shoulder, pale.

Especially the eyes. Her eyes set the mood of the picture.

Soft, gentle eyes… shaded darker around the rim and the pupil than in the actual irises themselves.

If you draw a face right, eyes and all, you can see the person you've drawn looking out at you from inside the picture.

Delicate and mysterious… as if holding away some sort of secret.

That's the hard part about drawing faces.

The pencil tip snapped, as a little freckle was pressed into the corner of the eye by the artist's hand.

You see, anyone can draw or paint someone's face on a piece of paper.

Soft breath blew away the stray speckles of pencil lead.

A three year old could do that.

The white page was shaken gently, to rid the gray eraser shillings from the surface.

But you have to do it right, you have to really do it right, to have the face be living somewhere inside the paper. To see the face, and be able to tell what's inside… beneath the eyes.

The long fingered hand poised itself in the sketchbook paper again, ever careful not to smudge the lines with a careless gesture.

If its all done right, you should be able to look at the picture and feel embarrassed.

The final touches were added to the scales to make them shine in watery beams of sunlight.

Or shy or flirtatious or even afraid… As long as you feel something.

The artist sat up on her bed and studied the paper with careful, measuring blue eyes.

You should be able to feel because you're looking at living being, someone captured in pencil led and softly molded sketch paper.

They moved slowly up and down every shadow, every whiteness.

You should feel like you're meeting someone for the first time.

The angles… the face… That's how it should be. The face… the eyes… they should all draw you in, just like a real person would. You should have to wonder what its, exactly, that she's thinking, when she's stuck down there in that lonely sketch pad.

Fingertips traced over secretive, carefully shaded eyes… just like you do with a normal person who you meet on the street. Because you can't really know a person until you know their face… its like, a real face is never just blank… it always showing you something from the inside. You just have to know how to look at it.

A small smile played over the artist's lips…For me, that's what artistry is really about…

"Kagome!"

The girl blinked and jerked, her own little world shattered by her mother's call. Instinctively she lifted her head to look at the alarm clock. Seven twenty three… great. "I'm coming, Mama!"

My name is Kagome Higurashi.

"Honey, you're going to be late!"

"Mama! I know!"

And right now, I'm late for my first day at a new school.

Regarding the Reviews:

Thank you so much, all, for the amazing amount of support you showed me on this fic. I was surprised how much feedback I got on it. Anyway the thing I'd like to point out is that firstly rumors are rumors. Who knows if you can trust them or not? You'll have to read the story to find out more about Inuyasha. Anyway I personally hate them (shout out to Kiwi "I totally agree… and you're on the right track) so if you like gossipers, beware, they're not going to be spoken of that fondly. (and to dadsnavygirl1831: "gothy losers" wasn't something from my opinion, it was me trying to mimic what a jock would say about a goth. I don't have any objections to them (so no more slapping please TT)

Thank you for reviewing, all of you! It really means a lot to me! And if any of you have questions that you really, really want answered I'll do my best if you email me.