A/N: Ahhh...a much longer chapter. I feel so much better now. I hate posting short ones, it makes my left little toe ache. Do you know how annoying that is? Anyway, I know it seems to have nothing to do with the prologue, but there will be an eventual tie in with all of this...I promise. ;D I'm all about the work up.

Disclaimer: No, despite popular belief, I do not own any part of the Inuyasha story. (Unless you count my DVDs, which are currently living at my sister's. Grrr.) Neither do I own any of Yu Yu Hakasho, though I appear to be currently stealing Kurama for my nefareous purposes. The true question you should be asking yourself is...what, can't she come up with her own frickin' characters?

And as you will most likely notice...I am a fan of italics. I use them as a tool in my writing to get things across in the correct manner quite frequently. I use them to display thoughts, and in this chapter, flashbacks. Hopeful it's pretty obvious when they're being used for what, but if not, let me know and I'll see if I can't make things more clear. Ja ne!

And So it Begins…

Kagome hauled herself over the edge of the well, dropping her bag on the ground with a sigh. One thing she could say about traveling back and forth through the well…she'd definitely increased her upper-body strength. It was amazing what lugging seventy odd pounds of stuff straight up a twenty foot wall could do for a body. Add that to the massive amounts of walking, running, fighting, and getting tossed around by various nasties and she had aced gym. Granted, that was the only class she had aced.

Kagome sighed as she slumped against the rim. Man, that last year had been more than difficult. She'd managed to graduate middle school and make it to high school…barely. As it was, it was a good thing that her grandfather happened to know the principle of the high school she was supposed to go to…otherwise they might never have accepted her. Funny, that. Usually her grandfather and his 'connections' only got her in more trouble. Then again, his 'connections' usually proved to be some dried demon part or another. There were times when she wondered if she'd ever met any of them. For once, though, it had paid off. She'd been allowed to graduate middle school with almost the worst grades in her class. That had been a bit of a surprise. There had actually been a guy with worse grades and attendance than her. Then again, there were rumors that he was in a coma.

But now, well, let's just say that senior high school was way different than junior high school. Her first year traveling through time she'd managed to kind of sneak her way through that last year of junior high and had mistakenly thought that it wouldn't be that hard as she moved up. Silly Kagome. The high school entrance exams alone had nearly killed her. She'd managed to limp along her first year, thanks to her friends, but last year had been a doosey. And now she had one more to go…Yippee.

She sighed again, but this time with a touch of a smile on her lips as she remembered the party she had just come from. It was her eighteenth birthday, that was why she had gone back home…well, that and find out if she was going to be held back a year. The party had been small and pleasant, just family really, and the gifts had been thoughtful. Her mother had gotten a her a couple of outfits more suited to the Feudal Era so she wouldn't stand out quite so much, but had thoughtfully gotten ones that would be more suited to someone not used wearing the constricting fashion. And they weren't miko garb, which made Kagome more than a little happy. Not that she minded it, it was some of the most comfortable kind of clothing she'd come across since she got here. What she minded was the way people kept confusing her with a certain undead former incarnation. Instead, it was more like Inuyasha's outfit, though slightly more feminized. There were pants that were comfortably tight on her thighs and loosened up at the knee to draw back in at the ankle. It had a haori-like top that crossed over her front and instead of tucking in hung down slightly to about mid-thigh and was slit at the hip to allow movement. It was sleeveless, though there was also an undershirt that could be worn with it that was really more of a long sleeve stretchy T so the sleeves wouldn't get in the way…good for warm and cool weather. There were also boots that were a soft but durable leather with a nicely modern sole meant for traction. Her mother had even been so thoughtful as to include an arm guard for her archery work that was simply decorated with silver vines. There were four complete versions of the outfit too, so she'd have some choice; one was white with green leaves seeming to blow across it, another a light blue with pink sakura blossoms, a third was red with black dragons winding down it, and a forth was simple, unadorned black. In case she ever needed to be sneaky, her mother said with a grin. Kagome had shaken her head and smiled…her mother had been watching too many James Bond movies lately.

Her brother, Souta, had given her a bracelet he said he found at a bazaar. She had to admit it was beautiful. Its metal looked like silver, but almost more liquid, and it flowed in a delicate winding pattern that reminded her of wind. In the center was a large blue stone of some kind that would have looked like a crystal if it weren't opaque. :It's probably just glass: she thought, :but then again…: She couldn't help it, there was something about it that was almost mesmerizing. Something…something on the tip of her brain. Almost like she had seen it somewhere before. Whatever it was, it was a beautiful gift. Souta said he'd been walking along with some friends and saw it out of the corner of his eye and as soon as he had gotten a good look at it, it was like he could already see it on her wrist. She'd protested that it was far too expensive a present, but he said the old, white haired woman had insisted he take it, especially after she found out it was for a birthday present for his older sister. She practically gave it to him.

Her grandfather decided to go somewhere in between practical and fanciful and got her a new bow. It was beautiful; a lacquered black with white grip and a coppery looking mettle at the tips that spread down slightly looking like flames. What Kagome liked best about it was that while it looked like a traditional bow it was made of modern composites so it was much stronger and much harder to break. He had also provided her with a new quiver and a set of arrows. She tried to protest that it was really too much, but he said a girl shouldn't have to go without accessories. Well, what girl could argue with that?

Most surprising of all, though, was what her friends had gotten her. Kagome felt the smile widen on her lips as she remembered this morning….

Kagome sat in the western style café where she was supposed to be meeting her friends for a birthday brunch and sipped her coffee. Ahhh, coffee.

If she could bless the west for anything, it would be for coffee. Sure, she liked tea as well as the next person, but there was just something about the robust flavor of coffee that got to her. Okay, so maybe it was the caffeine, but the fact was that she loved the stuff.

:Man, I have some really great friends: she mused happily to herself as she took another sip. It was true. Over the last three years they had done everything they could to help her. Kagome knew that they didn't really buy the reasons that her grandfather kept coming up with to explain her absences, but they never questioned it. Instead they did the best they could to make sure she kept caught up on her school work, comforted her when she was obviously upset, and all around lent her the support she needed to get through her strange and difficult life. Without even knowing why she needed it. They just gave, never seeming to expect anything in return. Yes, she had some really great friends.

Friends whose approach she didn't notice during her musings until one of them cleared her throat. Kagome looked up and smiled over the brim of her mug seeing the three girls standing there. "Hey guys!"

"Kagome," Ari said and Kagome blinked at her seriousness, her smile starting to slip as she looked up into her friends' grave expressions. "Today is your eighteenth birthday. You are now an adult and as such must take on the burdens that such a thing brings. But as your friends we would not have you stand alone in such a task, so we offer you this gift."

Kagome looked on with one part unease at Ari's serious words and one part warmth that her friends would do something to try and ease her 'burdens' of adult hood. Yes, great friends.

Granted, the unease grew as the girls shared a grin and mischievous glance before all stepping aside.

"TA DA!" They all called at once, holding their arms out in their best Vana White impersonation to display…a man. They had gotten her a man.

:I revise my early position…:

"Um…guys…," Kagome started slowly, "not to be ungrateful, but please tell me you didn't get me a guy for my birthday."

All three blinked and Kagome noticed the man's lips twitch as he apparently caught on to what she meant first. Kagome bit back a glare. After all, her friends weren't his fault. Then again, he had decided to go along with it…

"OH!" Yuri caught on first, then rolled her eyes before plopping down in the seat next to Kagome, giggling. "Please, Kagome, why would we get you a boyfriend for a present? You have enough man problems as it is."

The other two seemed to catch on and giggled too, joining them at the table. "Yeesh, Kagome," Ari chuckled. "If you need help with anything, it is not getting a man. I mean, HOW many guys do you have after you right now? Five? Ten?"

Kagome blushed but rolled her eyes. "Three. Just three." The girls chuckled and she couldn't blame them. After all this time Hojo had not given up, Kouga still proclaimed his undying affections, and of course, there was still Inuyasha and that confusing mess. But he cared about her, she knew that. And she him. But still, it really was a ridiculous situation all the way around.

"Kagome, this is Kurama," Ari started up again, gesturing to the young man. "He's at university and has agreed to be your tutor for the coming year."

Kagome blinked in surprise and looked around at her friends. Her what?

"Kagome," Aamaya started softly, "we know that these last two years have been really hard on you. Well, these last three years if you want to be technical. We thought you were doing okay, that we were able to do enough to help you get through it, but when you almost failed this last year…well…we thought maybe you needed more help than we could give. So we thought…"

Kagome felt her jaw drop and her eyes mist over. Position about face. The best, her friends were absolutely the best.

"Miss Higarashi."

The quiet voice drew her out of her stunned appreciation and over to her new tutor. He was smiling softly at her and she took a moment to really look at him. She had to admit that he didn't look like your normal University student. He was handsome, she had to give him that, but his hair had been died red and was tied back in a ponytail reaching just past his shoulders. And he must have contacts in his eyes to make them that bright green color. Added to the uniform for one of Tokyo's most prestigious Universities he looked a little punk. Okay, so maybe he did look like a normal University student.

"Your friends told me about the problems you have been having," he started again, seeing that he had her attention. Kagome blushed and the young man smiled kindly, shaking his head. "It is nothing to be embarrassed about, Higarashi. You cannot be expected to be responsible for things outside of your control. In fact, your school should have made arrangements for you considering your condition. That is something I intend to rectify."

Kagome blinked. "What do you mean?"

Kurama's smile widened. "I mean that I intend to have them place you in something of an independent study program. I used to attend the same high school you now do and I still hold respect there. This way you will be able to take things at a pace more suited to your circumstances. And with me to tutor you I have every confidence that it will be allowed."

Kagome stared at him, wondering just what kind of award she could win for THIS fish impression. "Th-thank you!"

Kurama merely smiled at her, her friends grinning ear to ear. "No thanks are necessary, Higarashi. Now, I believe there is a birthday brunch to be had."

Kagome gave a happy sigh this time, smiling at nothing in particular. Yup, good friends. The smile faded ever so slightly as she thought more about their gift. It wasn't that she wasn't happy with it or that she didn't appreciate it, but there was just something about this Kurama. Something that was niggling her brain. It had been that way all through brunch and the requisite shopping trip that had followed. Perhaps it was that he had actually seemed to enjoy shopping, that was weird enough in and of itself. Maybe he was gay. No, it wasn't that. It was almost like she should know him…or something about him. But whatever it was kept escaping her. She shook her head and put it on the back burner to simmer. It would come to her in time, it usually did. Right now she had other good friends to go see.

A slight twist came to her lips. Three years. Three years and she still had to fight to go home. She loved Inuyasha, or she was pretty sure she did, but there were times she just wanted to grab him by the ears and twist. :I swear, he is the most frustrating creature in existence.: He hadn't wanted her to go. Hadn't seen the need. After all, it was just a birthday. Granted, as soon as the others had heard her reasons for wanting to go home they promptly overruled Inuyasha, clonked him on the head, wished her a happy birthday, and sent her on her way. Yup, good friends all around.

She had just pushed off the side of the well, slipping her bag, quiver, and bow over her shoulders when an unmistakable cry of terror reached her ears. Kagome blinked and turned towards it. It was faint, but there. The sense of youkai. Over the last three years she had been able to sense more than just the shards, though whether it was her powers that had grown or her ability to use them she couldn't really say. She didn't have much time to train them, and when she did there wasn't much Kaede could teach her. Other than the fact that Kagome's miko powers were somewhat off the norm. Mostly she had to trust her instincts and hope she didn't get killed.

Kagome bit her lip, every instinct telling her to go towards the cry, to help, to protect. But her logical side said she should go get her friends. They were too far to sense the trouble, if they hadn't been they would already be there. Her indecision snapped when another scream split the night. Before she really realized what she was doing her feet were running towards the scream, the instinct to help overpowering her reason. Her teeth gritted when she realized just what she was doing. :Damn it, one day this is going to get me killed. Sure, miko's have a natural need to protect, but this is getting ridiculous.:

A few moments later Kagome found herself at the edge of a clearing, looking down a slight slope to the origin of the call. There was a young village girl being attacked by two lower level youkai.

:Funny: she noted absently :there was a time I wouldn't have made the distinction.:

The youkai were actually rather low level, two of what she tended to call 'yucky eye-worm things'. She was sure they had a name but no one had ever bothered to tell her what it was. They basically looked like what she called them—giant eyeballs attached to long worm-like bodies. She had no idea how they actually ate, seeing as they had no mouths. Maybe they just sort of…looked you up. But they could kill, she'd seen them do that before. And someone, somewhere had seemed to think that it would be that much more fun if they could fly. Well, nothing else about them made sense, so why the heck not. Sometimes Kagome wondered if these low level youkai had been made up of the bits and pieces that had been left over at the beginning of creation. Kind of a gigantic 'eh'.

Kagome watched as the girl tripped and one of the eye-worms dove at her. Without even thinking, Kagome dropped her backpack and notched an arrow, letting it fly in a bluish streak towards the monster. On impact the thing rose up in surprise and dissolved into a bluish explosion of dispelled youkai and miko energy. Kagome smirked to herself. Maybe she didn't need her friends on this one after all.

The other youkai paused and turned its giant eye on her, making Kagome freeze momentarily. Oh, yuck. The thing was absolutely hideous. She felt her lip curl on impulse and repressed the urge to shudder. Whoever decided this thing was a good idea needed a firm smack upside the head. She was snapped out of her horrified musings on the aesthetics of the universe, however, when the gigantic yuck charged her.

It was going too fast for her to be able to notch another arrow, so she stepped back and took a batter's stance. As soon at it was in range, she swung, striking the thing dead pupil with her bow. It reeled back with a strange, high pitched cry before it too exploded into a blue mist. Kagome propped her bow on her shoulders with a grin and shielded her eyes with one hand as though looking into the distance.

"And it's out of the park!" she cried. "Ladies and gentlemen, now that is a grand slam if I've seen one. The mikos win the pennant!"

Massoumo had watched the strange woman with the bow burst into the clearing and kill his two youkai pets with great interest. He had been planning to take that lost little village girl to serve his purposes, but this one may be much better. At first he and thought that she might be another youkai, considering her strange garb and appearance, but he had sensed no youkai blood within her, smelling only human. And then she had released her arrows. :A miko: he thought with glee, :perfect:

He had been slightly surprised at her strength and the ease with which she had dispatched his pets. She was as strong as a youkai, that was for sure, and he could use that strength in his plan for vengeance. Yes, he would take this strange young woman and with her he may just be able to complete his plan to have his revenge on the Demon Lord who had ruined him.

A startled gasp drew Kagome's attention back down to the field and instantly Kagome raced down to the frightened girl lying on the ground, staring up at her with wide eyes. "Are you all right?" she asked kneeling down at her side.

The girl continued to stare at her for a moment before finding her voice. Or rather, her arms. Kagome let out a startled yelp as she suddenly found herself glomped by a grateful girl.

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" the girl wailed. "If you hadn't come those things were going to eat me!"

Kagome blinked, then smiled kindly down at the girl, deciding not to voice her musing about the eye-worms' apparent lack of mouth. "It's all right. You're fine now."

The girl nodded and slowly released her. "Thank you."

"Where do you live?" Kagome asked. "Is it far? Would you like me to walk you home?"

The girl shook her head. "Thank you, but you have done more than enough. My village isn't far. I was just coming back from the miko Kaede's village and misjudged the time. I will be fine."

Kagome paused, not liking the notion of sending the girl on her way alone, but she insisted. After a few more 'thank you's the girl turned and was on her way.

:Well: Kagome thought with a smile as she watched the girl disappear from sight :score one more for the good guys. I better get back myself. Not that they were expecting me back for another couple days, but still. Inuyasha would be angry if he knew I was out here so long by myself.:

She turned to head back when a shudder raced down her spine. Her brows drew together. Something was wrong and she searched her mind to try and figure out just what her instincts were telling her. Over the last three years she had learned to trust her instincts and it had saved her life more than once. That was when it hit her. The sense of youkai hadn't disappeared. There was still something out there. In fact, now that she thought about it, those two she had killed shouldn't have been strong enough for her to sense them from as far away as the well. There was something else out there…

The strange, semi-man looking youkai jumped from limb to limb until he was directly up wind from the girl. She was looking around, that strange and powerful bow still in her hands, as if she realized that there was more going on here than it had first looked like. Massoumo smiled to himself. She was strong of mind as well, that was all to the better. His smile widened even more as he tossed his powder packets down directly at her feet and watched the smoke of his paralyzing potion rise instantly. The girl gasped in surprise, and then covered her mouth belatedly. It wasn't in time, though, she had all ready inhaled a good amount with that first gasp and it didn't take much for the potion to work. She managed to dash out of the cloud, though, her hand over her face and bow at the ready. He threw a few more packets, enveloping her once again. She tried to dodge, and managed to get out of that cloud as well. For a moment he was worried, could she somehow have evaded inhaling the potion, or was she perhaps not what she seemed after all? But then he noticed that she was no longer holding her bow. She must have dropped it, and was even now starting to totter and stumble around until she finally passed out, paralyzed by his magic. Massoumo smiled, satisfied. The fact that she had been able to withstand as much as she had spoke to just how strong she really was, and that was all to the good.

He hopped down from his tree, tusk-like fangs bared as he grinned in satisfaction and allowed himself to feel a moment of triumph. She would work perfectly! Much better than that lost little village girl. There was a strength and a power to this young human female that would serve him well. Yes, with her he would have his vengeance against the Dog Demon Lord at long last!

A/N: Feel free to review and rate as you see fit. But be warned, all flames with be duely ptttthhhbbbttt'ed, fliped off, and promptly ignored. In that order. So, really, why bother with them? But if you feel the need, go ahead. I have a healthy self-esteem.