I would like to explain something I said back in the author's note at the beginning of Chapter 1. When I said that the stories in this site wasn't what I was looking for I didn't mean that they sucked. I meant that they were not what I was looking for. When I began reading Prince of Tennis / Inuyasha crossovers I did not want a Kagome who was perfect at tennis. I did not want a Kagome who just happens to be able to kick Ryoma's ass. That doesn't mean the FanFictions that did have Kagome doing those things sucked; it just meant that it was not what I was looking for.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, Inuyasha or any of its characters.

New Beginnings
(2) The Beginning of Everything

"Hey," Kagome greeted quietly, not wanting to wake the rest of the family up as she descended from the stairs. "Why are you up so early?" Sure, she hadn't been with Ryoma since they were seven but she had always taken him to be the sleeping beauty type of guy.

Ryoma stared at Kagome without answering her question and was only a little annoyed when she stared straight back without flinching or looking away. "Morning practice," he finally answered and then shifted a bit uncomfortably when silence fell between them. He realized that he did seem a little too distant and silent to his cousin who had been nothing but nice to him but truth to be told, Ryoma did feel a little awkward around her (not that he would admit it to anyone). Years of not seeing someone you used to take baths with can do that to a person. "Why are you up so early?"

Kagome laughed. "Oh, I'm usually awake at this time." She thought back to the time where Inuyasha would kick her away to hunt for his precious jewel shards. "I guess," she said slowly and softly," I just got used to it."

Pausing in the middle of tying his shoelaces, Ryoma's head snapped up to her and he stared as if she had grown two heads. Which, in his case she might as well have.

Kagome giggled and waved him off. "So, tennis practice, huh? May I come watch?"

He hesitated. "Sure."

Tezuka was not pleased.

Kikumaru had, of course invited Higurashi-san to watch their tennis practices so he wasn't completely surprised that she had come. However, he didn't think it would be so soon and that Echizen might have also wanted his cousin to watch. Wasn't he always the one that complained that people cheered too loudly during tennis matches? And practices? And just life in general?

Higurashi wasn't loud though—thank god—unlike all the other squealing fan girls and Horio. Higurashi was the ideal tennis fan, sitting outside the fences watching the practice matches silently despite looking a tad bit bored. Then again, Tezuka wondered for a brief moment if he would prefer it if Higurashi was loud and obnoxious because that was something he (and the other tennis members) were already used to and could easily ignore.

But no, Higurashi was a distraction.

And he could see why (he isn't asexual despite what Fuji says). With her large blue eyes, wavy black hair and how she just fits perfectly in the school uniform, Tezuka would admit that she's rather pretty. But pretty doesn't become an excuse to stop doing drills for a chance to talk to her. Apparently, Tezuka thought, that Second Year think it is.

"Matsumoto," he called out in his stern (what his old middle school Regulars liked to call), captain, don't-you-dare-mess-with-me voice. "Thirty laps!" A bit harsh, he knew so he silently blamed it on Echizen who should have left his cousin home.

Instead of immediately abandoning his flirtation with Higurashi and jumping up to run his laps, the Second Year turned and gaped. Despite being a Second Year it was only Matsumoto's first year in high school tennis and he obviously hadn't had Tezuka as a captain before. "B-but—"

"Forty!"

"Just run your laps, man," someone hissed. "Trust me when I say he'll make you run triple-digits if you keep arguing."

Kagome almost snickered but she caught sight of Tezuka's glare, which, much to her surprise was directed at her. She flushed under his intense glare and looked away.

Just as he was about to walk away Tezuka heard the girl mumble, "Bastard." He twitched in shock. "Bet he thinks it's all my fault. Reminds me of a certain dog." Then: "Or two." And: "What stick got stuck up his ass?"

Unsure how he was supposed to respond to words he obviously was not supposed to hear—or, at least, he hoped he wasn't, Tezuka walked stiffly away from her only to catch Echizen's usual smirk and knowing look. Apparently, the younger boy not only had eyes that could "see all" but ears that could "hear all" too. He stiffened up further and refrained from assigning laps especially since he has no legitimate reason.

That guy seriously needs to learn how to loosen up, Kagome thought, oblivious to the uncomfortable atmosphere she had caused Tezuka. She watched lazily, chin in her hands with her elbows propped up on her knees as people continued hitting the tennis ball back and forth with such intensity Kagome swears that there had to have been some type of supernatural strength behind it all. She shivered; I've spent way too much time in the federal era.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome caught sight of a girl with her hair pulled up in a high ponytail and instantly turned towards it. She took in the girl's figure, eyes tracing familiar curves and sighed. Everything is reminding me of the federal era, Kagome thought. She sighed again and closed her eyes, her trained ears filtering through noise, listening to the girl's voice as she chatted happily with her friends. She imagined the flickering flames of a campfire and Sango talking happily with Shippo.

Stop.

Kagome gritted her teeth, hearing them grind together and snapped her eyes open again. She watched the Sango-like figure for a few more seconds before turning her attention back towards the tennis courts where Ryoma his apparently famous Twist Serve (she knew this from the awed voices of fellow watchers) and wondered what was so special about it. Nothing could prevent the twitch she had when the ball sailed upwards and smacked her cousin's Third Year opponent in the face. I always knew he was some sort of sadist, Kagome thought.

She sighed—last time, she promised herself—and watched as Ryoma and a new opponent began hitting the green tennis ball back and forth a couple more times. Good lord, this is boring, Kagome thought. Then again, she had spent the past year of her life chasing demons across Japan… When a yawn threatened to erupt from her, Kagome decided that it would be a good idea to leave tennis practice watching to the people who were actually interested in the thing and familiarize herself with her new school.

She stood up and brushed the dirt from her uniform just as Momoshiro decided that Echizen had enough showing off on his own and that he needed to perform a special move of his. Unfortunately, he was much too caught up in his upcoming attack to hold back his racket and strength and sent the tennis ball flying straighter, faster and more powerful than he should have. It flew faster than most people could react, straight through a hole in the fence and it took him milliseconds to realize that the ball was heading towards Echizen's cousin. "Higurashi-san!" he called out in panic. "Wat—"

Once Kagome felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up, she reacted. Her reaction was slower than she would have liked, however. If the Jack Knife was a demon Kagome would have already been dead. But chasing demons, dodging attacks whose speed rivals the speed of sound and fighting against a half-demon who wanted to dominate Japan had made the Jack Knife seem like child's play to Kagome. Kagome turned her head sharply towards the charging ball and jumped back at the last second. She would have been able to dodge it if she hadn't clumsily landed on her foot wrong and throwing her entire balance off, sending her falling towards the ground. Her heart pounded violently in her chest and Kagome reacted without thinking.

The tennis ball hit her barrier with a loud pop before recoiling and flying off in the opposite direction. It hit the fence hard and landed on the ground, smoking. Holy shit, Kagome thought.

Silence.

Then everybody started talking at once.

"Higurashi! Momoshiro called out, running out of the tennis courts and towards her, parting viewers that had gathered around the fallen priested like the sea. "Holy—" he cut himself off. "Are you okay?"

Kagome groaned. "I'm fine."

"She just got hit by the Jack Knife!" someone called out in shock, voice carrying above the additional murmurings of the gathering crowd.

"Oh my god," a freshman said. "Where were you hit?"

"I said I was fine," Kagome snapped, trying to calm her racing heart. She clutched her hands into tight fists underneath her, trying to keep them out of view as she attempted to pull her wild priestess powers back into her.

What just happened? Kagome asked herself. She closed her eyes tightly and replayed the scene in her head. The ball shouldn't have reacted to her barrier that strongly unless… Oh dear lord, Kagome thought. That ball was filled with demonic energy! She swallowed hard and looked up at Momoshiro, wondering if he was hiding something. Once the crackling energy of her died down Kagome allowed her senses to expand out; taking in the familiar feelings of her powers interacting with her surroundings and then shuddered when it came in contact with the still-smoking tennis ball. It is filled with demonic energy, Kagome thought. But… She looked over at Momoshiro again and frowned, sensing no demonic energy from the him. So confusing.

"Take her to the nurse's office." Tezuka said, his voice soft but able to cut through the chatter of surrounding students and shutting them up. He made his way towards Kagome and the crowd parted for him.

"I'm fine," Kagome emphasized as she scrambled to stand up. She yelped slightly as a sharp pain stabbed through her ankle the moment she decided to put weight on it. It took her by surprise and she fell again.

Tezuka frowned. "You are hurt."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Kagome mumbled, rolling her eyes.

Tezuka's frown deepened.

Kagome felt a twinge of shame, realizing just then how rude she was being to someone who was obviously concerned about her. "Sorry," she said, looking up and into Tezuka's brown orbs. They were unreadable, not even a flicker of emotion and it made her think of cold amber eyes. She looked away and noticed for the first time that everyone was staring at her. Kagome flushed; must she be the center of attention everywhere she went?

"Um," she squeaked out. "I'll just go to the nurse's now…" She stood up slowly, not wanting to put too much weight on her wounded ankle and frowned when no one took the hint. "Don't you guys have some tennis balls to hit or something?" she asked.

The crowd parted, slowly at first but speeded up when Kagome began glaring.

"Buchou," Ryoma said softly. "I'm taking Kagome to the nurse's."

"Ah."

Kagome looked up in surprise although she looked satisfied too. "Ryoma! It's totally fine, you don't—"

Ryoma pulled her arm before she could get another word out and dragged her towards the school. He ignored the glare from his captain (for man-handling his injured cousin) and the looks from his teammates (for showing possible concern towards someone).

"I do know where the nurse's office is, you know," Kagome said softly. "There's the school map posted just outside the school. You really don't need to escort me there." She grinned cheekily, trying to show emotion she did not feel, "Unless, of course, you're worried about me or something."

Ryoma did not respond to her obvious tease. He remained silent for a few moments. "What was that light?"

Kagome froze. "Light? What light?"

The young tennis prodigy turned around to face his cousin. He frowned but refused to explain himself, knowing very well that Kagome knew exactly what he was talking about.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kagome replied stubbornly as she picked up her page again only to stop once she noticed the flat look Ryoma was giving her. Kagome sighed, "It was magic, okay?" She patted Ryoma's shoulder fondly. "Now go play tennis. I can walk to the nurse's by myself just fine."

Ryoma didn't make a move. "You never got hit by the ball."

Kagome froze again. Very slowly, she turned towards him and asked, "How did you know?"

Ryoma shrugged, and then began walking away from her and back towards the tennis courts. "The last person that got hit by the Jack Knife broke a few ribs."

Kagome twitched. Ribs? She watched Ryoma's retreating back for a few moments before turning around and making her own way towards her own destination. Demonic energy inside a ball, she thought. But nothing from the person who hit the ball. Kagome groaned. That doesn't make any sense!

Upon reaching her destination, Kagome knocked at the office door and frowned when no one answered. Then again, should wouldn't start for another half an hour or so. Kagome groaned as she opened the doors and made her way into the dark office. The lights flickered on as the sensors caught her movement. "Well Kagome," she muttered to herself. "Time to bandage yourself up. Again." She swallowed hard as she began pulling open cabinets and drawers, trying to find the correct items. Everything is reminding me of the federal era, she thought with a frown. And she was trying so hard to forget…

Kagome hummed softly and placed the bandages onto the table. "Let's see, do I need—"

"Kagome-chan!" someone called out just as the doors to the nurse's office flew open. "Kagome-chan! Oh my god!" The girl was running towards Kagome, long hair trailing behind her before Kagome had time to react. "Kagome-chan!" the girl sobbed out as she pulled Kagome away from the table and into a tight embrace. "I heard from Ryoma that you were back—and then some idiot injured you! Oh! I was so worried!"

What? Kagome wondered as the unnamed girl continued mumbling about the recent cause of Kagome's injury. "Uh—I think you mistaken me for someone else." She said as she slowly pushed the girl away from her as if not wanting to alarm her.

Kagome took in the girl's worried expression and did a double-take. "S-Sango?"

I'm on vacation, by the way, which is why most, if not all my stories are on hiatus. And another thing, if you are interested in my story, watch this story. Not me. I tend to jump fandoms a lot and you'll get spammed by a lot of different stories.