Author's Notes: Sorry this took so long! I had midterm exams this week but I'm all done now! I'm also getting the next week off from school, so that will give me lots of free time to write stories for you all. Except, I'm getting my wisdom teeth out on Tuesday, which is quite nerve-wracking. People keep reassuring me that I will be fine, but others are saying that it's painful. So, needless to say, I'm scared, lol. Well, anyway, on to Chapter One. It's a rather short one, but I'll try to make future chapters longer. If not, there will be a lot of chapters. Either one works. Enjoy, and please don't forget to review at the end!

Disclaimer: I do not own the manga or anime Inuyasha (or the characters, by the way). However, I do own the plot to this particular fanfiction. So, please, don't sue. Thanks.

Chapter One

A History


Fifteen years. Fifteen years had passed since Kagome was born, yet I still couldn't bring myself to my old ways. I had heard her mother speaking to the old man, saying that it was strange how the spirit haunting the shrine just up and disappeared. I smile to myself, almost unwillingly―I cannot help it. What they did not know was that their daughter, Kikyo's reincarnation, could sense me. Sometimes, she would talk to me. Sometimes, on extremely rare occasions, she could even see me.

It was the first time in five hundred years that I've had someone else's company to enjoy―not to say that I enjoyed Kagome's company, though. The silly girl would talk to me about her problems at school: people bullying her because of her strange name, a boy who showed constant interest in her but she did not reciprocate his feelings, her friends pressuring her into doing things she didn't like, failing exams and tests because she'd always manage to fall asleep studying... but I understood none of these things.

I'm a half-demon from Ancient Japan. Nobody wanted to talk to me, let alone make fun of me or whatnot. When I was a child, I would have chopped off one of my ears if it meant someone would at least speak to me. My mother was there, at least, but she did not live for long―being a human and all.

"I'm home!" I heard Kagome yell from the shrine steps, but like always, she never went inside and instead sat in front of the Goshinboku, right next to me. "Hi," she would say, because she didn't know my name. "How have you been?" I smirked, I'd like to see the day when her family finally sees her talking to herself. It would be quite amusing, I believe. "Well, that's silly of me. It's not like you can answer me." That's what she believes, but she doesn't know that I haven't spoken a single word in five hundred years. I'm not sure if she would still hear me though, if I spoke to her. So instead, I resort to using other things...

A soft breeze weaves through her hair, ruffling her uniform, sweeping the dust by her feet.

It's my way of communication. With Kagome, anyway. "I wish I could hear your voice. It'd be nice if we could have an actual conversation." Silly girl, what would we talk about? This new era was too complicated for me to understand, even though I've watched it evolve and change. Children her age―along with her younger brother who was born about eight years ago―had to go through a more complex education than the children from my era did. I would hear Kagome telling her family that she wanted to be a teacher. When I was her age, that sort of thing was unheard of. There were no such things as female teachers. See? I could not understand her life, nor would she be able to understand mine.

And damn it all to hell, the stupid girl, why did she have to look so much like Kikyo?

Kikyo: the one responsible for me being stuck between this world and the world of the dead, the lonely priestess who betrayed me, the only woman I ever loved. Five centuries ago, when I was still a living creature, I met Kikyo outside of this very shrine. I remember thinking she was beautiful, graceful, and so kind. Until I met her, I didn't think such a person existed―I didn't think that such a person would love me. But quickly, things started to go wrong. People change, feelings change. Her heart suddenly closed itself off, suddenly said that she no longer possessed any feelings for me. I wanted to prove to her that I would do anything for her, anything.

She was guarding something called the Shikon no Tama, which was her sole duty as priestess. With her immense spiritual powers, only Kikyo was worthy enough to be guardian of the jewel. The Shikon no Tama was a jewel that could grant any man or demon great power, grant whatever wish they wanted. However, the jewel could only disappear when someone made a selfless and pure wish. Only then would the jewel be purified and disappear from the world. It was Kikyo's one desire to have the jewel purified, not only so that she could live her life as a normal woman, but also because she no longer wanted to witness all the greed and hatred.

I wanted to be the one who could give her what she wished for.

I would take the Shikon no Tama, and wish myself to be human. Then, Kikyo would be freed from her duty as priestess and we could be together. I loved her, loved her so much that I would abandon my father's demon blood just so that I could be good enough for her.

What a foolish thought it was.

Kikyo did not understand my intentions, and instead used her sacred arrow to purify me―sealing me away in the underworld. However, what she also did not understand was that my intense resentment towards her betrayal would keep me here. Slowly, I watched as my body decayed into, eventually, nothing while my spirit remained on the shrine grounds. I would have gone somewhere else, but where would I have gone? This place was the only place I really knew. As a hanyou, there was no such thing as home...but the shrine came quite close.

The jewel had eventually disappeared, for Kikyo had used up all of her spiritual powers to seal it away somewhere. For five hundred years, it was nowhere to be found. And perhaps, that was the best way. Then, I watched her die. Kikyo had been fatally injured in a battle with a powerful demon, one who she would defeat just in the nick of time. By the time she reached the village, she had already lost too much blood and collapsed before her younger sister and the other villagers. There really is no other pain greater than watching your only love die before your eyes, torn between sorrow for such a loss and ignorance for that lover's betrayal.

A heart breaking isn't always as loud as a bomb exploding. Sometimes it can be as quiet as a feather falling, and the most painful thing is, no one really hears it―except you. Kikyo's death plays over and over again in my mind, every single time I lay eyes on Kagome. The girl next to me stands up, brushes off her school uniform and cheerily shouts a farewell. I, again, make no move to respond, for I know goodbyes all too well.

She disappears into her home, but I know she will return tomorrow. I'm not sure if I like the idea.