This is ongoing, and the prequel to the first chapter. Hope you enjoy this as much as I am writing it :)

Trigger warning: Death/Violence, smoking/drug/alcohol use, sex/nudity

Yasha and the Demon Slayers

Prequel

I stared out the car window, the world outside shrouded dark from the blacked out windows intended to hide the identity of anyone inside. I heard my brother talk about how the Cadillac limousine was an imitation of the Presidents, that our father had copied and custom made vehicle for our family. Not only was the thing bullet proof, but it was actually tank proof, earning it the nickname "The Beast".

"Sota, did you remember your lunch and homework?" I asked my younger brother, who was playing a noisy handheld game and smacking his gum.

"Yeah sis, thanks for helping me with my math last night." Sota smiled at me before quickly returning to his game. I smiled back and draped an arm around his shoulders. We were extremely close. Our mother was incredible, but Grandpa hadn't been in great health the past few years and she spent most of her time taking care of him and the massive shrine that had been in our family for generations. Every summer I went there to train, until my fifteenth birthday where I was ordained a sacred priestess in a tradition passed on in our family for the past five hundred years.

"We're here, kids." Mr. Taisho said from the front seat. I snorted, he acted like he was so much older. I really hadn't even realized the car stopped. My door opened and I rolled my eyes as a large hand appeared, waiting impatiently and expectantly.

"I can handle a single step, Mr. Taisho." I sighed, taking his hand when he stubbornly refused to budge. He didn't help Sota down from the menacing vehicle but he shut the door behind him after grabbing his backpack from the backseat and slipping it on him in a strangely graceful movement.

I hated when he called me a kid.

Although I guess it was understandable since the private school uniform I wore wasn't exactly mature attire. Still, was one of the youngest bodyguards we'd ever had. Our father only chose the most elite security for his children, even though we hadn't seen him in years. Actually, I had caught a glimpse of him on the news last week.

"Have fun on your last day, I'll pick you up here after class." He waved casually, one hand in his pocket and shades firmly placed on his stoic face. Taisho was handsome, but what had first caught my attention wasn't his youth, or how well he looked in a sleek black suit, but it was his shocking mass of silver hair. It hung down his back nearly to his waist, always bound back in a neat low ponytail. I threw up a hand to signal I heard him while Sota waved back eagerly, he'd developed a weird hero complex for the guy.

My own attraction had been short-lived. Taisho was a grade-A asshole in my book, who was sarcastically polite for the first few weeks of employment as our bodyguard. He remained at arms length, as most of our guards did, but his relationship with us quickly developed into that of a ridiculously overprotective older brother.

Class was pretty mundane even though it was the last day of my high school life. I couldn't cry with my friends who promised to keep in contact even though we were all going to different colleges and it wasn't likely.

I hadn't loved high school. The elite private school was only for the extremely wealthy, and the student body was composed of shallow privileged snobs. I had been friends with three girls who were of a lesser evil than the rest of the student body. But they were still subtly snarky, and had successfully sabotaged the only potential relationship I'd ever had with a boy named Hojo.

Still, I would miss them. We'd been a quartet since elementary school and were the only friends I'd ever known, when I'd been sick for a year they'd come weekly to bring me homework and gossip about school drama. That year sick had really provided me with some outside perspective on how petty our rich kid life was.

I was excited for college but still wasn't convinced it wouldn't be much of the same. I was going to the same college my father had gotten his degree from overseas. I sighed heavily in class, waiting for the bell so I could at least get some lunch.

I stared out the glass window, ignoring the teacher's lecture on how serious higher education was.

Outside I followed a plume of smoke to Mr. Taisho who was smoking across the street. His suit jacket was off, probably so it wouldn't smell when he picked us up in a few hours, and his sleeves were rolled up. For the first time I saw the tattoos that I'd always noticed peeking out of his collar and tailored sleeves.

It was too far to make out the details of the tattoos, but I could see the intricate work even from this distance.

He was reading a small book he'd folded in half and was leaning against the hood of the beast. He still had his sunglasses on, but they had slid down his nose just enough for the sun to catch the shocking amber. I'd noticed them before, they were usually always hidden behind the serious dark glasses. But a couple of times he'd been messing around with Sota and his gorgeous gaze had been exposed, the gold of them so vibrant it sent electricity through me.

Taisho let out another plume of smoke, and set his book on the hood before pulling out his mobile. I watched him playing on his phone for a few moments, still trying to make out what design was inked on his forearms.

My phone vibrated.

Mr. Taisho: Stop staring out the window, and pay attention Miss Higurashi.

My face went red, and I immediately turned forward. Humiliation washed over me. He probably totally thought I was checking him out! I groaned, burying my face in my arms.

"What's wrong Kagome?" Yuka asked from behind me.

"Nothing, just a stomach ache." I mumbled, embarrassed beyond belief. How would I face him after school? I mean he was just some guy who worked for my family, but still.

My phone buzzed again.

Mr. Taisho: I said pay attention, not take a nap.

I gritted my teeth. Looking out the window, Taisho leaned against the hood with a scowl and his arms crossed as if he were my upset father. I glared at him, he was such an asshole. He really overstepped his boundaries. I should talk to somebody about his behavior. He was getting way too bold.

Class passed slowly. Taisho's car was gone after lunch, not that I cared. Good riddance.

There was only one class left, and I was getting antsy to leave. I needed to finish packing, my ticket overseas was this weekend, leaving Sota alone was going to be hard. I'd even considered waiting a few years, but my father wouldn't hear of it.

Suddenly the hallway erupted with a shrill screech.

An alarm wailed, a mechanism I had never noticed before activated above the windows and the sound of the shutters rattled the entire class in a frenzied alertness as they slammed shut and locked witch a loud clack.

"Everyone stay calm, someone probably just pulled the fire alarm in the hallway." Our teacher tried to soothe us, but everyone was out of their seats and talking anxiously over the loud alarm still wailing throughout the school grounds.

We heard people in the hallways. It sounded like people were coming out of the classrooms.

Fear began to grip me, and I clung to my friends who were even more afraid than me. The school's security was top-notch. We had never had an alarm go off even though most of us had been attending here our entire lives.

"I'm scared." Ami sobbed, tears rolling down her face as people began screaming and arguing before going dead silent as something metallic ricocheted outside with a loud bang.

A gunshot?

I had only heard it in movies, and it sounded distant. I wasn't sure, but the sound sent everyone into a panic. Some students clamored to the door, where the teacher was still trying to get everyone to return to their seats. Some students were hiding under their desks. Others were trying to lift the metal shutters firmly covering the windows.

My breathing was becoming shorter, and I felt a panic rise up in my throat. Tears were beginning to well in my eyes too, and we all screamed as more gunshots were heard closer to our class. My friends and I crawled to a corner of the room, crying and holding each other as the teacher pushed students back from the door.

"Please, we need to remain calm and quiet-" He begged, his glasses askew as some boys tried to push past him.

The door suddenly burst open and everyone screamed nearly in unison. Silver hair had fallen from his ponytail and hung over fiery eyes.

"Miss Higurashi!" He snapped, his usual stoicism replaced with raw panic. Panting, he scanned the room and spotted me a moment later. Our eyes locked, and I felt overwhelmed with relief.

He stomped through the confused crowd of students and picked me up as easily as if I weighed the same as Sota, I yelped at the feel of his muscled arms around me.

"I-I can walk." I stammered, stunned by his sudden appearance. He ignored me, balancing me in one arm as he pulled out a heavy looking metal bar from his belt and tossed it to my teacher.

"Put this on the door frame and press the button in the center, it will bar the door so no one can enter after we leave. You'll all be safe." He instructed and the teacher who nodded with shocked obedience and relief mirrored by the rest of the class.

The hall was in turmoil. People were screaming and running, knocking into each other and trampling those who'd fallen.

"We've got to get to Sota." Inuyasha said severely, his jaw set with determination, his gaze fixed on the end of the hall where people rushed away from. Where the sound of gunshots rang out at random increasing the students hysteria.

I clung to Mr. Taisho, suddenly grateful to be carried since fear had made my body feel numb and immobile. I felt frozen with fear, and felt tears rolling down my cheeks a moment later as dread engulfed me.

Mr. Taisho squeezed my shoulder.

"Hey, stop crying. it's my job to protect you both," His tone was sharp, and contrasted with his comforting hand. It was enough to shock me out of my mind numbing fear and I nodded with a sniffle.

"And I'm damn good at my job." He mumbled to himself arrogantly. I would have rolled my eyes, but suddenly realized the hall we were moving through was now empty.

The crowd had run from this part of the school.

"Shit."

Mr. Taisho's hand suddenly pushed my face into his chest. He smelled surprisingly good, lightly of cologne or aftershave. A little of cigarettes.

"Don't look." I peeked against his collar and immediately wished I hadn't.

The body of a girl my age lay in a puddle of blood that had soaked her bright strawberry blonde hair a horrible dead red.

I sobbed against his chest and he cursed again, holding me tighter to him and cradling the back of my head like I really was a kid.

"I told you not to look, you never listen." He growled, his voice low and scolding. Suddenly he stopped moving, shushing me when I went to ask what was wrong. I looked up at him and he cocked his head in a strangely canine way as he listened intently to something I couldn't hear.

I heard a small metallic clink from the hallway adjoining the one we were in.

Mr. Taisho moved so quickly and quietly I was shocked to find we were suddenly encased in darkness. He'd somehow sealed us silently in a janitor's closet I had been too afraid to notice. I gasped as he crowded me against the wall, cornering me with his body. Taisho was a large man and took up most of the dark closet. The light from under the door revealed enough to show his broad back, shielding me if the gunman should open the door.

"Left my damn weapon in the car like a fucking amateur." He cursed to himself under his breath which gusted over my face since we were so close. He smelled like cigarettes, mint, and coffee. I blushed at his arms barring either side of my head, his body hunched over me protectively as he looked intensely over his shoulder. Eyes lasered on the door in the dark.

I was getting embarrassed by the close proximity.

"Quiet." He ordered, I frowned at his tone and flushed when he pressed me closer to the wall with his body. My annoyance vanished when I heard footsteps outside. There was a whistling in the hallway.

"Come out, come out." A man's low voice sung eerily in the hallway outside. Taisho glared over his shoulder, his large chest blocking my view of the sliver of light visible under the door.

We listened with baited breath as the footsteps ambled past us, the clicking of his gun tapping against something metallic was heard with every step the shooter took outside.

His whistling faded, Taisho's body relaxed against me and he let out a breath. He lifted me up roughly by the arm.

"Alright, follow me closely and stay quiet." He demanded. I nodded, swallowing thickly around my fear. I was scared there might be more than one gunman, that was even more reason for us to find Sota as quickly as possible.

We passed more bodies, Taisho would hold my face against his chest and lead me past them blindly.

"His classrooms right down here." I pointed. When we opened the door the classroom was empty, backpacks abandoned haphazardly. Taisho was about to speak but we heard shooting on the side of the school we'd just left behind.

"Alright, I've got to get you out of here." Taisho decided. I gaped at him in disbelief.

"We can't just abandon Sota!" I shouted at him. He glared at me.

"I never said I'm abandoning anybody. I said I have to get you out. If I can get you in 'the beast' then I can get my weapon and come back and look for him. He's probably been evacuated, the shooter looked like he was going for the high schoolers, not the younger kids." He said, dragging me to the door. I pulled against his hold.

"I'm not going anywhere without my brother." I gritted out, fighting him with all my strength, which to my humiliation seemed to go completely unnoticed by him.

"Listen, I need my weapon and I need you to be safe or I can't focus on anything else." He snarled in my face, suddenly gripping me by the shoulders and lifting me up to his nose and onto my tip toes. I flinched at his tone and his grip, his hold immediately loosened before he let me go completely. He ran a hand through his hair, and pulled more silver strands from the now messy ponytail.

"Sorry, I'm just. ... I'm trying to protect you and you're making it difficult." He said seriously, his fingers flexed and raised as if he was going to reach for me before thinking better of it and letting them fall to his sides. "I promise you, I won't let anything harm you or your brother. Not while I'm alive and breathing."

I stared at him and he held my gaze. A feeling I didn't recognize welled up inside of me.

Our look was interrupted by the crackle of a police megaphone outside.

"Come out with your hands up!"

We hurried to the hallway where the windows were left unshuttered. We could see across campus, the tail end of the police cars which had surrounded the high school.

Sota had been evacuated to a bunker with all the elementary students. Mr. Taisho had retrieved him while I waited in the car, we drove back in silence except for Sota crying lightly against my chest.

"I was so scared sis, we heard gunshots coming from the highschool. I thought you died." He sobbed and I rubbed his back like our Mom did when we were upset.

"It's ok now Sota, everything is going to be alright." I calmed him until his sniffling subsided. Taisho dropped us off at our estate. There was nothing about the impossibly clean modern mansion that felt like home, it appeared so unlived-in that it reminded me of a movie set. If I went to get a drink from the kitchen I'd come back to my bed being made from one of the ghostly maids who were trained to be seen and not heard like all of my fathers staff. I had always considered our real home to be Higurashi Shrine.

That summer was difficult. But the traumatic experience had made me realize that my father couldn't control everything. I had to take control over my own life. I could die tomorrow without ever having done anything for myself. I remembered one girl in my grade who was going to a local college instead of a prestigious one overseas.

There was no way I was leaving Sota after what happened, I needed to be close in case he needed me. I wouldn't abandon my brother to a hollow house filled with spirits.

I was going to a college of my choice.