Hey everybody sorry about the long wait. It was one of those 'oh maybe i'll write some today' yeah that never happened. But i finally got this chapter done, hope you enjoy this chapter!

Kagome's POV

"You won't be able to do this on your own forever Kagome. I sense something wrong happening and you will need allies." Midoriko told me.

Without glancing at her I spoke only loud enough for her to hear. "I refuse to bring innocent people into this mess Midoriko. You should know that by now." I looked around me not seeing anyone within a few feet of me. The only 'friend' I have made so far is Orihime and it seems like her friends don't like me too much so I haven't really talked to anyone else. "Besides someone would have to actually get within a few feet of me to help me don't you think?"

"I am sure that there are a few out there that would be more than willing to help you Kagome, you just need to know where to look. There are some students here that are not quite normal." Then without another word she disappeared. I sighed to myself then started towards the exit.

I was stopped by Ichigo before I could leave though. "What happened to Uryu?" he demanded to me.

"What do you mean?" I asked innocently.

"You know what. Why was he in the nurse's office after following you out of the school?"

"Oh you must mean when he offered to walk me home and back. We almost go to my house when he just suddenly collapsed. I'm not sure what happened exactly. Maybe it was heat stroke or maybe he has like anemia or something. Who knows really." I sent him a sweet disarming smile. "If you really want to know what happened to him why don't you ask him yourself?"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes at me "He said that he didn't remember anything."

"Oh that is too bad." I commented at him.

Ichigo smirked at me "How is your leg?" he asked me knowingly.

I glared at him on the inside but kept smiling on the outside. "My leg is fine thank you for asking. Now if you will excuse me my mom is expecting me home right after school to help unpack the house." I bowed to him slightly "I'll see you tomorrow Ichigo." Then I quickly darted around him and rushed off in the direction of home.

After I got a few blocks away I slowed down. Then I really got to thinking. Ichigo knows something, I'm just not sure how much. Uryu must know something as well. He better not find out again because erasing a person's memory is dangerous if you do it more than once. It also takes a lot of energy from me, mostly energy I can't afford to lose. Using that technique drains me not only spiritually but mentally and physically as well. What I don't get is why Ichigo and Uryu seem to care so much about the weird girl who just moved into town. I'm sure that is how everyone views me anyway, the weird girl who runs off and misses a lot of school. I bet that is why nobody except Orihime approached me so far. I sighed "Why can't my life ever be normal?" I will have to try and be more careful from now on. Yeah because that is going to be so easy. It's not like I know when a demon is going to attack, by the time I sense them I usually only have enough time to get somewhere secluded.

I stopped and looked around; I had lied to Ichigo. Mom wasn't expecting me home until Sota's soccer practice was done. That is another hour until he gets done. I might as well look around and see what is close by my house. I figured I might as well keep going down this block and see what kind of stores are around here. To my luck I found a small candy store about two blocks down. It is sort of hidden behind a fence and it looks a bit run down but I always thought the best stores are the ones that are hard to find.

When I got into the store I was greeted by a strange sight. There were two kids maybe a little older than Sota. They seemed to be more arguing than cleaning, well the red head was yelling at the black haired girl. There was a giant of a man, but I've seen taller. He was serving tea to a strange looking man wearing more traditional clothes. The most outstanding part about the strange man was his green and white stripped hat on top of his very blonde hair. I noticed he was also wearing clogs, how peculiar is that now a days?

When the blonde saw me he gave me a strange look. It was gone as quickly as it appeared but I saw it. Then the two kids noticed me. "Oh wow, look boss a customer!" The red head shouted "Why would anybody want to come to this cruddy…"He was stopped when a cane hit the top of his head "Ow boss, what was that for?"

I followed the length of the cane to see who the 'boss' was and I saw the blonde. "Now Jinta that is no way to greet out customers." He turned to me "Hello there my name is Kisuke Urahara. Welcome to my candy store. Feel free to look around I'm afraid we don't have much of a selection but I can guarantee that what we do have tastes amazing."

"Oh um thanks I will." I took a few steps away from him and started looking at the candy store. Most of the candy I have never heard of before, maybe they are foreign. The owner does have blonde hair, that isn't very common in Japan. The owner himself, Kisuke, is a rather odd person. I feel a strange power from him, but I can't tell what it is exactly. It is the same kind of feeling I got earlier when I was erasing Uryu's memories

I found a few items that caught my interest and brought them to the register. All of the items in this store are really cheap. I'll have to bring Sota here. if I was still able to see Shippo he would've loved the candy from here. "So I see you found some, these are good choices. They are some of my favorites actually. Your total is 10.35."

"Alright." I started to dig around my backpack for my wallet.

"So are you knew around here?" The little girl asked.

I stopped my search momentarily to look at her "Yeah my family and me moved here less than a week ago actually." Then I got back to my search.

"What is your name?" Kisuke asked me.

I eyed him warily "Kagome." I said slowly.

He gave me a mock hurt look "What no last name?"

I glared at him a bit "I don't think you need to know." At that point I had found my wallet and was digging around in it to find a twenty I knew I had in it.

He gave me a big smile, it was a calculating smile "Well Kagome no last name, would you consider working here part time?"

I gave him an incredulous look "Why would you want me to work here? If I go by the red head's reaction to me you don't get many customers. You don't even know my last name."

"You are a sharp one. Well it is an open invitation if you change your mind. I guarantee you it will be worth your time… priestess."

My eyes went wide in shock. I threw down the twenty I had found on the counter, grabbed my bag, and then rushed out of the store. I didn't even wait for my change. How? How did he know? There is something seriously wrong with those people. As I got to the gate I ran into someone, guess who! I ran into Ichigo of all people, I mean really what is with my luck since I turned fifteen?

Ichigo grabbed my arm so I wouldn't fall down "Kagome? What were you doing at hat n' clogs?" it was more accusatory then curiosity.

I had had enough of him for one day I may have snapped a bit. "I was just buying candy alright? Is there something wrong with that? Huh? No I didn't think so. Don't worry either I am not going back there either. That stupid is super weird! God why are you so curious about me?" Without even waiting for him to do anything I stomped away towards Sota's school I have had enough adventuring today. I'm just going to play it safe and watch his soccer practice. Ugh sometimes I just hate my life!

Ichigo's POV

I waited for Kagome outside of school. I had followed Uryu and Kagome at lunch but along the way I had to split off to deal with a hollow. When I got back to school I found out Uryu was unconscious in the nurse's office. Uryu does not go down easily so I know something big must have happened when he continued after Kagome. When Uryu had woken up he had a massive headache and claimed that he had no idea what had happened. That is why I am waiting for her, so she will tell me what happened. Nobody hurts my friends and gets away with it.

She actually wasn't too hard to find. There was not a single other person by her. Well nobody alive. For a few moments I saw a ghost woman by Kagome. She was see through and everything, but she didn't have a chain on her chest which is weird. Then the woman looked up at me, smiled, and disappeared. I'm not even sure if Kagome noticed the presence of the woman. Oh well a problem for another time.

I stopped in front of her making her stop/ "What happened to Uryu?" I demanded of her.

"What do you mean?" She asked in an innocent voice.

That made me mad, how can she even try to deny it? The nurse told me that Kagome had brought him there. The nurse may have also mentioned that Kagome herself didn't look the best either at the time, but I conveniently looked over that part. "You know what." I snapped at her "Why was he in the nurse's office after following you out of the school?"

"Oh you must mean when he offered to walk me home and back. We almost go to my house when he just suddenly collapsed. I'm not sure what happened exactly. Maybe it was heat stroke or maybe he has like anemia or something. Who knows really." She sent me a sweet smile. "If you really want to know what happened to him why don't you ask him yourself?" She was trying to play off the lie even though we both know it was fake.

I narrowed my eyes at her "He said that he didn't remember anything."

"Oh that is too bad." She commented back.

Trying to catch her off guard I smirked at her asking "How is your leg?"

A smile stayed on her face but I could tell that she was a bit nervous. "My leg is fine thank you for asking. Now if you will excuse me my mom is expecting me home right after school to help unpack the house." she bowed to me slightly "I'll see you tomorrow Ichigo." Then before I could stop her she darted around me.

I started going after her, but I lost her fast in the crowd. Darn it I still didn't get a straight answer out of her.

I had wanted to delay going to him for advice, but I guess I'm left with no options. I started over to Urahara's, hopefully he will have some insight on the strange new girl Kagome. And maybe what those mask-less hollows were, I've never seen a hollow without a mask. Well there was that one time with Orihime's brother but even then there was a human face there. These hollows had no human faces, only the faces of monsters.

After a few minutes I got to Urahara's only to run into somebody. I grabbed the person I ran into so she wouldn't fall. I looked down to see who it was, to my surprise it was Kagome. She looks positively panicked and scared. What happened and why is she here? "Kagome? What are you doing at hat n' clogs." It might have come out more bitter than I had originally meant it to be.

She then completely blew up at me "I was just buying candy alright? Is there something wrong with that? Huh? No I didn't think so. Don't worry either I am not going back there either. That stupid is super weird! God why are you so curious about me?" Then she stormed off in the direction of the middle school. Okay I need answers and I need them now.

Ignoring Kagome for now I went into Kisuke's. They didn't notice me at first and I just listened. Maybe I could see what was going on.

"Um I think you scared her boss." Jinta said.

"She forgot her change." Ururu commented.

"I don't think you should have said that quite yet Kisuke." Tessai told Kisuke.

"She didn't seem very happy when she left." Kisuke ignorantly said.

I knew it was time to speak up "Alright what happened in here?" They all looked at me.

"Oh Ichigo it's been awhile has it not? What do you need?" Kisuke said.

I glared at him "Alright Kisuke I want answers. Yesterday Kagome shows up at school and Uryu and I see her fighting hollows without masks. A pole went through her leg, but the next day she hardly had any wound. She rushes out at lunch and she brings an unconscious Uryu back with her. Who is she, what is she, and why was she here?"

Kisuke's playful look fell away and he got serious. "Alright Ichigo, why don't we talk in the back." I followed him to the room that we always seem to go to. "I don't actually know much about her specifically and what I do know is mostly rumors that I don't put much mirth in. Her name as you know is Kagome, I personally do not know her last name."

"It's Higurashi." I supplied him.

"Right so her name is Kagome Higurashi. As to her background, I heard that she grew up at a shrine. I believe it is called sunset shrine. Kagome herself if a priestess, a rather powerful one actually. I personally have not seem a priestess as powerful as Kagome in hundreds of years. The last priestess at the same level was the Shikon Miko and that was 500 years ago. The reason that she was here was actually coincidental. She happened to wander in and was looking at my candy selection. She bought some of my favorites." Oh Kagome was telling the truth "Then I might have screwed up a bit. I offered her a job."

I interrupted him "Why in the world would you offer her a job?"

"Funny she asked me the same thing. I just wanted to see if she knew of her potential. If you say that she is fighting and winning then that answers my question. I might have let it slip that I knew she was a priestess. She didn't take kindly to me knowing. She panicked after that and ran out the door, just seconds after you came in."

"She did look rather panicked as she was leaving. Now I don't blame her, you don't make the best first impression you know."

"Hey!" Kisuke pouted at me.

"What are those things that she is fighting?"

Kisuke got serious again. "They are something that by all means should not exist anymore, well nothing with that low of power. Only the truly powerful ones still survive to this day." He looked me straight in the eye "They are not hollows, they are demons. If demons are somehow reappearing we are going to have to look into that. We also need to keep Kagome safe, she is one of the last of her kind. I really want to talk to her now." He was silent for a moment "I'll have to place a call to the soul society and let them know of the situation. I might also have to call an old acquaintance of mine, we haven't talked in a while but he would want to know what is going on. It is in his territory anyway."

"Territory? What do you mean?" I asked him confused.

"Ah right you wouldn't know. Only the older generation soul reapers and the Captains and lieutenants would know about it. There are four territories; the north, east, south, and west. We reside in the western territory. Each territory is ran by a very powerful demon called a Daiyokai. They rule over the demons that are left in their territories, if lower level demons are appearing then he would want to know."

"Who is the Daiyokai that runs the west?" I asked him "Does he have any influence over anyone other than these demons?"

"No the only people that he can make rules for are the demons. He has some influence in other area's but that is just because he is a very rich person. The Daiyokai of the west is Sesshomaru Taisho. He is a very powerful demon, probably one of the most powerful. I don't actually know how old he is. I know that he is more than 500 years old because there are records of him fighting in the battle over the Shikon jewel that happened 500 years ago." He sent me a smile. It was one of those smiles that usually proceeds news that I am not going to like. "I would suggest that you make good friends with this Kagome girl. If demons become a threat to people then we are going to need her help to stop them. I really don't think that this girl is a threat, no in fact she will make a most excellent ally."

"Great." I said them said goodbye to Kisuke and headed out. I don't know how I am going to do that now, I haven't exactly been nice to her so far. Alright I will have to get everyone else into this and help me out a bit.

First though I want to see if I can find Kagome and apologize to her. I remembered her heading towards the middle school and decided to look over there first. To my surprise I actually found her, she was sitting in the bleachers watching the end of the middle schoolers soccer practice. They must have finished a few minutes before because most of the kids were now heading toward their homes. One boy broke away from the rest and headed towards Kagome. I decided to listen in a bit before I made myself known. "Hey sis did you see that last goal? I totally rocked that shot!"

Kagome gained a genuine smile and ruffled the boy's hair "Yeah that was great Sota, you're going to be best one on the team this year. You've gotten much better since the last time I saw you practice."

The boy blushed a bit "Yeah well I didn't have much to do other than practice while you were with Inuyasha. Oh hey Kagome when we get home will you teach me how to use a sword like you do?"

"I don't know Sota, I don't know how much mom would like both of her children playing with sharp pointy things."

"Oh come on Kagome please. You have your bow and arrows plus Tenseiga, all I have is a soccer ball. Please show me, maybe I have powers like you do. Oh maybe I can be a monk like your friend Miroku!"

Kagome let out a laugh "I hope you don't become a monk like Miroku, he was the most perverted con-artist I have ever met."

"But he was pretty good with his staff wasn't he? Maybe you could teach me how to use one of those, I know that you learned how to use one."

"I do admit Miroku was pretty good with his staff, but he honestly didn't use it all that often. He mainly was dependent on the wind tunnel in his hand Sota, the staff is not a very good weapon. They break way too easily."

"Well then teach me how to use a sword! I mean somebody has to help protect mom if demons are showing up again." The kid stopped and gave Kagome a look. "By the way I thought that you said that demons didn't exist anymore, Inuyasha said the same thing. What is going on Kagome?"

Kagome sighed "I really don't know Sota. The strange thing is one of them was an incarnation of Naraku which shouldn't be possible. Naraku is long dead. Some of the other ones have mentioned Naraku as well. I need to find out what is going on and fast. I need to put a stop to it fast otherwise I'm not going to last on my own for long. The demons keep getting stronger and while I may have trained with Sango and Sesshy I won't be able to deal with a medium or larger level demon by myself."

The kid pounced on the opening that she had left for him "That is why you should train me with a sword, I could help you fight the demons!" The kid looked very excited by the idea.

"Um no." Kagome said with a look that said 'that will never be an option'. Then she froze up and looked around a bit.

"Kagome what is that feeling?" Sota said looking around like Kagome was.

Kagome seemed startled a bit "You can sense it Sota?" he nodded his head "Well then maybe you do have some powers. A demon is close by, I swear this is my second one today. Why don't they just leave me alone?"

Sota laughed a bit "That should be pretty obvious Sis, you do have the jewel which is what they want."

Kagome sighed "Yeah I know you brat, no need to remind me." Then a small creature appeared on the other side of the field. Kagome saw it and actually laughed "Really? That is what I was feeling? I could have sworn that I was sensing a more powerful demon."

"That's a demon?" Sota asked her.

"Yeah, a very low level demon."

The demon saw Kagome and started screeching and running at her "Give me the jewel you lowly human!"

"Really I'm lowly?" Kagome sighed and calmly reached behind her back. I thought she was reaching for her sword, but to my surprise a bow and a quiver of arrows appeared on her back. She knocked an arrow onto the bow and let it fly like she had been doing it her whole life. The arrow struck true and it disappeared in a flash of pink dust. Kagome sighed again "This is getting really annoying."

"That was so cool Kagome. Show me how to do that please!" Sota pleaded with her.

"For the last time Sota no. I don't think mom would want me teaching you." Then Kagome stopped and looked around quizzically.

"What's the matter Kagome?"

"I still sense a demon, but I shouldn't. I killed that one." I stricken look appeared on her face "Unless there is a second one." She attached a second arrow onto her bow looking around frantically. I started looking around as well, but didn't really see anything.

Then out of nowhere a demon flew down and ran into Kagome from behind. Kagome went down and stumbled down the bleachers. She lost her bow along the way. "Kagome!" Sota shouted her name. I figured it was time to help. I got my badge out and ejected me from myself. The flying demon came for Kagome a second time. Kagome grabbed something from under her skirt, which really surprised me. She threw a glowing pink dagger at the demon, but it just flew out of the way. Kagome was a person of endless surprises. Kagome got her sword out and got in a ready position waiting for the demon to come to her.

But to all of our surprises the demon changed direction. It stopped going after Kagome and went after her brother instead. We both watched in horror as the demon grabbed Sota and started flying off with him. "SOTA!" Kagome screamed.

The demon started making circles above Kagome. "You stupid human, you will give me what Naraku wants. Give me the jewel Miko or I will kill the boy." Kagome had a horror stricken look on her face. The demon gave an evil chuckle "I will give you three hours Miko, until then this boy will stay with me. I will be waiting Miko, you better hurry unless you want this boy to die a horrible death." Then the demon flew off and disappeared behind the tree line.

I watched Kagome collapse onto the ground. I made my way over to her, I'm not even sure if she will be able to see me. I guess the only way to find out is to try. I stopped right next to her "Kagome?"

She looked up at me and I saw the tears falling down her face "I-Ichigo?" she snuffed "What are you doing here? And what are you wearing?"

"So you can see me." I said simply.

She looked at me confused "Of course I can see you, why are you here? I'm a bit busy at the moment."

"I was actually looking for you. I wanted to apologize Kagome, about my earlier behavior. I am a bit protective of my friends."

She gave me a sad look "I know the feeling, but I'm sorry now really isn't the time. I have something I really need to do." She got up but almost immediately fell back down hissing in pain. I looked down to see her knee cut and bleeding. Kagome looked back up at me and seemed to really see me for the first time since I got her attention. "Ichigo why do you have a giant sword on your back?"

Before I could answer there was a flash of gold. We both looked where the flash came from and I saw the ghost with no chain from earlier. "You wouldn't know but he is a Shinigami Kagome."

"Lady Midoriko, what do you mean? Don't soul reapers need to be dead? I don't really think that Ichigo is dead."

I decided to answer that one "Oh the thing is I'm a substitute soul reaper, my powers were given to me by a friend so I could protect the ones I care about."

Kagome just sighed while Midoriko laughed. When Midoriko laughed Kagome glared at her "Oh Kagome you meet the most unusual people." She kneeled down by Kagome and placed her hand over her cut knee. Her hand glowed gold and Kagome's knee healed itself.

"Thank you Midoriko but I could have done that myself you know. There is no need to show off." Kagome told her.

"Me, show off? I would never Kagome, I was only letting you conserve your energy to rescue your brother."

Kagome rolled her eyes "Yeah that is what you were doing." To my surprise Midoriko blushed a bit.

Kagome sighed "What am I going to do Midoriko, it's too strong for me."

"Why don't you just give it that jewel that it wants?" I told her. To me it was an obvious thing to do.

Kagome gave me a tired look "I literally cannot Ichigo."

"Well why not? Is that jewel more important to you than your own brother?" I yelled at her. She really needed to get her priorities straight. I may not know what is going on but I do know that her brother was more important than a jewel.

Kagome flinched a bit at my tone, she looked down at the ground and almost started crying again. "That is not the problem here Ichigo." Midoriko told me, she gave me a sad look "The jewel is inside of Kagome and there are only a few ways to take it out of her without killing her in the process."

This time it was my turn to flinch. "Oh sorry, I-I didn't know." Her situation reminds me a lot of Rukia's. I came to a fast decision "Alright then, if you can't give them the jewel then I will just have to help you rescue your brother."

Kagome looked up at me shocked "Why would you help me?"

I looked her right in the eyes "Because I seriously misjudged you and I want to make it up to you."

Kagome took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it out "I don't really want to get anyone else involved with this but I have a feeling that you are going to help me whether I want you to are not aren't you?"

"Yeah pretty much." I told her.

"Alright fine. You can help. You know how to use that sword of yours right?"

I scoffed at her "Of course I do."

Kagome stood up and went over to get her bow "Alright then, let's go find us a demon."

Please Review and tell me what you think of this chapter!