What if…?

Summary:

What if Kagome hadn't chased Buyo into the shrine sheltering the Bone Eater's Well? What if she had had a party with her friends instead on her fifteenth birthday? What if she had never met Inuyasha and the others? Would they have just gone by and lived through their lives, never meeting one another and Kagome? Or were they really meant to meet, gather up and defeat Naraku?

A/N: My apologies for not uploading sooner... sadly I have no real excuse so if you want to flame me or threaten me via reviews of my upcoming death...I'll understand. Here's Chapter 3. Keep in mind there's a new character being 'introduced' in this chapter, though you guys will probably know who it is off the bat. It's a dead give-away, even though I don't mention his name. Well, hope you enjoy. Plot line's picking up a bit. :D

Oh and special thanks to these people: jessiskags (Thanks for the tips ) , priestessmykala , GNL , Tyuki-san , and inuyashalvr72 ! Thanks so much guys! XD

Buyo watched his owner shot back and forth in her room, squabbling on what to wear. He yawned and laid on his back, belly up. Kagome slipped on her low heel black shoes and walked around her room. She had laid out three Sunday dresses. She bit at her lower lip in nervousness.

"What do you think?" she picked up a yellow knee high dress and showed to Buyo. Buyo laid were he was, snoring loudly. Kagome groaned. "Thanks for your help, Buyo," she replied, flicking a wad of paper at her cat. It landed on his large belly, not even nudging the cat. She glanced at her clock and squealed. She only had thirty minutes. She quickly dressed and did her make-up and hair. Satisfied, she grabbed her purse and ran downstairs. She had phoned her mother earlier that day, saying about her date. She of course was delighted for Kagome but reminded her to lock the house and shrine grounds before she left. She served Buyo his breakfast and as soon as the kibbles hit the plastic plate, Buyo ran into the kitchen to eat. "Piggy," she mumbled at him. Grabbing the keys on the kitchen counter, she walked outside, locked the house and headed for the semi hidden gates to the grounds. The shrine caught Kagome's eyes. The sun's light reflected on the numerous puddles on the ground, giving an almost blinding reflection. Kagome stopped in her hurried steps as she saw the shrine doors had slid open all the way.

'That's strange,' she thought, taking a step towards them. As she neared them, she looked around.

"Was the wind strong enough to blow them open?" she wondered out loud.

'Maybe some got in there,' she thought fearfully as she peered into the shaded shrine. Not wanting to go in there again, she quickly shut the shrine doors and locked them shut. Satisfied, she quickly turned around and finally locking the gates, she ran down the stairs to meet Hojo at the fair.

"Stupid Bastards," he cussed as he stuffed his fist into his jacket pockets. He just had to say he didn't back off any dare, didn't he? He shook his head. The hood of his red sweatshirt slipped slightly. He stopped and brought it forward further, shielding his eyes. He caught his reflection on a shop's window. His already weird shade of light brown hair was starting to look pretty good right now. He growled and continued walking. He kicked an empty can of cola out to the street and watched it as a car squished it down to zip. "Keh," he grunted and continued walking. The sun was radiant today, in whole contrast to last night. His black sneakers were silent as he walked and stopped at a crossing point. He growled in annoyance at the wait. A breeze blew extra hard and knocked the hood off his head. A group of school girls were besides him and stared at him. "What?" he snapped. They stared in awe of him. He expected them to laugh and start pointing but they didn't. Some started blush while other giggled in shyness. He raised an eyebrow, setting off more giggles. The light changed and allowed him to cross. He quickly walked away from the giggling school girls and arrived on the other side. He passed two girls who stared at him in awe also. He paused and stared at his reflection on the nearest shop window. His hair wasn't short but it wasn't long, either. He usually tied it back into a small braid at the back of his neck, the end tip reaching to his shoulder blades. His large bangs shaded his also abnormal shade of eyes. Instead of having either purple or brown eyes, he had a light shade of hazel, sometimes appearing wine color. He chewed at his mouth as he remembered last night.

>>Flashback

"So what's the dare, Kinoshi," he snapped, already growing impatient. If he got late home again, he was in for it. His friend, Kinoshi, grinned and reached for something behind his back. They were in Kinoshi's basement. There was the usual gang of six of them, him and Kinoshi sitting on a table, and the rest standing and watching. Kinoshi turned and placed a box on the table. "What's with the box?" he asked. Kinoshi smirked.

"I dare you to," he took off the box, revealing a white plastic bottle, "I dare you to bleach your whole hair with this." All eyes stared back at him.

"Are you outta ya mind!?" he yelled.

"Kinoshi, what's going on down there?" Kinoshi's mother yelled.

"Nothing," Kinoshi yelled back and grinned evilly at him. "So ya going to do it or not?" The rest of the gang stared at him, expecting him to back down. He stared down at the bottle. "I thought so," Kinoshi made a grab at the bottle but he grabbed it before him.

"I'll do it," he growled. Kinoshi high-fived a guy next to him. He stood, the bottle in hand, and walked to the sink at the basement. It wasn't like he liked his hair either way.

>>End Flashback

He again stared at the result of the bleaching. Instead of giving him a faint blond kind of color he had predicted, it gave him a white like silver color. He looked up when he heard tapping on the window before him. A woman was angry yelling at him to move on. He looked further up and blushed when he realized he had been checking his reflection on the window of a lingerie shop. He quickly walked off and headed away from the yelling woman, blushing all the way. He sighed as he stopped. Ahead of him, was the usual carnival that opened on the weekends. Having nothing else to do, he walked to it.

Kagome stood on her tiptoes trying to find Hojo among the crowds.

"Kagome!" she turned and ran smack dab into Hojo. "Hello Higurashi," he greeted. Kagome smiled and swallowed.

"Hi Hojo," she mumbled, blushing. He took her hand and paid for their entrance. The usual loud roar of the carnival sounds greeted Kagome as she and Hojo entered. She smiled and felt his hand grip hers tighter.

"Come on," he pulled her to the nearest ride and paid for their admission.

He finally got through the crowds and stumbled in. He looked around. For early Saturday, there was already a lot of people around. He spotted a concession stand and headed that way.
Kagome blinked repeatedly.

"Wasn't that fun?" Hojo asked. Kagome smiled, though she wanted to laugh out loud. Hojo had just taken to ride the carousel, him having the time of a lifetime.

'Kami kill me now,' she begged, sparing a glance towards the skies.

"Come on Higurashi! I'm sure we'll find something healthy and edible in the concession stands," Hojo encouraged, coaxing her further by grabbing onto her elbow.

"S-Sure!" she managed out, before both were engulfed by the hungry crowds. Hojo's hand descended until it reached her hand and gripped it. A small smile tugged at Kagome's lips. Why on earth wasn't she having the time of her life? Hojo had asked her out! And on her birthday! ...Well, technically, her 'weekend birthday' but who wanted to be specific? She heard him sigh and managed to connect with his saddened gaze. "Hojo? Something the matter?"

"Look at the menus, Higurashi. Nothing organic or basically healthy. Most is coated with extras that might as well make up more than half of the weight of the food." Kagome inwardly groaned.

'It's a carnival, Hojo. People come here to pig out.'

"I'm sure we'll find something. If not, we could always go out for lunch, outside the carnival." At his suggestion, his whole demeanor brightened and his smile reached his eyes.

"I agree, Higurashi. If you'll allow me, I know a small restaurant where we can take our meal in peace and won't be bothered by the basic consumer's extras."

'Um...plain Japanese please?!'

"Just lead the way," glancing longingly at the dangerous looking roller coaster, Kagome bit back the urge to drag Hojo against his will and better judgment into the small contraption. Sighing underneath her breath, she followed him loyally towards the exits, out of the drooling crowds of people glancing back and forth between concession stands. Suddenly, Hojo's hand slipped from her own, making her blink. And in that split second, she walked smack-dab into someone's shoulder. "Ump!" the grunt escaped her lips and her hand reached for her shoulder.

'What is this: Hit-Kagome-on-the-shoulder-Weekend!?' That was going to hurt later on.

"Watch where you're going, girl." Kagome's gaze snapped up. Suddenly, a shiver managed to edge between her shoulder blades and run down her spine. Those eyes...she had seen them before. They were hooded by a plain red sweatshirt with a hood, small strands of white hair peaking from under the material. Suddenly, she thought back to the boy who had appeared among the storm in the shrine, leaning against the Goshinboku. 'Who-'

"Kagome?" She turned and saw Hojo's patient and charming smile, holding out his hand for her. "I kind of lost you there, you need to be more careful. One could get easily lost and hurt in crowds like this and end up at the hospital." Unbeknown to both strangers standing in front of each other, both shared a look of disbelief saying 'How-hurt-could-you-get-bumping-into-someone?' Kagome glanced back up to the stranger, who glanced at her at the same time.

"S-Sorry," she managed. Did she know this person?

"Keh. Whatever," he mumbled, the barely audible respond from his lips escaped and roughly turned from her. Kagome's eyebrow creased.

'Ugh! Rude Baka!' She was about to retort something back when Hojo's hand closed around her own once again.

"Come on, Higurashi. It's almost twelve and the place is going to run out of wheat substitute bread rolls!" Kagome glanced angrily at the departing red clothed body when Hojo tugged on her again.

"Y-Yeah." she smartly replied and followed, gripping his hand more security.

'I'm getting a weird sense of deja vu,' she swallowed. Hojo smiled, gripping her hand back in respond and Kagome managed a small smile, yet something tugged at her mind. 'I'm over thinking it.' Discreetly nodding, she smiled and picked up her pace a little.

'What a weird girl,' he thought as he weaved through the crowds. A few protested but did he care? No, not really. 'Damn wench kept staring at me.' But that wasn't what really bothered him. It was the sense of knowing her face yet at the same time not. Who the hell was she? Had he seen her before? At the store maybe? Whoever she was, he sighed, was now gone and was keeping him from making a very hard decision. He glance up: Chicken or Beef Ramen?
"Looks like bad weather is heading towards Kagome, papa," Mrs. Higurashi retorted out loud, concerned for her daughter. The small room they were staying in only contained two beds, and since Souta was a 'big man', he ended up taking the couch instead of sleeping aside his mom.

"Oh. Those clouds look ominous," the old man replied, peering towards the small television the room carried, the small screen in black and white.

"How can you know that, Gramps? That just looks like black smudges to me all over. This thing is ancient," he tapped the television set, "The weather forecast is color coded. This could be sunny skies for all we know."

"Don't be ignorant, Souta," his grandfather corrected, "I feel it in these old bones of mine. A great evil is heading towards Tokyo."

"Gee, now you're making mom feel fuzzy all over knowing she left Kagome all alone at home," Souta rolled his eyes and flopped onto the currently unoccupied bed.

"I know Kagome. She is a brave girl and will alert us if anything is wrong through the phone. Besides, she is with that charming boy she has been crushing on for the past year. What was his name?"

"Hobo?" Grandfather offered.

"No, I think it's Homo." Souta countered.

"Now, both of you stop that and help me with the laundry," She suddenly blinked. The room was vacant of both her father and son. How could they move so fast?

He washed his hands throughly in the public bathroom sink. Man, this place stunk. Was it him or did it smell worst than the last time he was here? Shaking his hands free of extra moisture, he made a grab for the paper towels when he suddenly doubled over in pain. A sharp pain pounded from the left side of his chest.

"The Hell?!" he growled and forgetting the towel, gripped the collar of his sweatshirt, and not having an undershirt, managed to peer at his chest. A nasty looking scar was glaring back from his reflection. "How the hell did I get this?" he whispered harshly under his breath. With his free hand, he felt around the tender area of the scar and winced. It had a slight dent among the reddened area, like something had pierced through. But nothing had, right? He sure as hell would have remembered if something had a scar like this on him. Grabbing a towel, wetting it with his spit, he wiped at he blood that was around the wound. Alright, this was weird. What the hell was going on?

He groaned as he managed to retract his claws from the security guard. The guard gurgled the blood in his mouth before falling motionless to the floor. The wound through his stomach wasn't healing as fast as he had hoped. Slapping the flashing button on the guard's desk, the automatic doors began to open. Sure he could have slashed them open and avoided the eight casualties, but... He glanced back and pulled the bloodied appendage to his lips. He ran his tongue from his fingertips to his wrist. He wouldn't have gotten a free lunch in the process.

A/N: Dun-dun-dun! A Hanibal Lectar (sp?) baddie:D aren't you guys proud of me? (silence) fine then! You guys probably figured out by now who the baddie is and the 'mysterious guy' is anyway. I write to obvious. Well, I hope you guys like the third chapter. :D It was long overdue so...yeah. I'll try to update the rest of my stories as well but...no promises. Laters. (Hopefully you guys want ch. 4)