An InuYasha alternate fanwork by Wolfye Productions.
All InuYasha characters are © Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Communications, Inc., Shonen Sunday, Sunrise and Nihon TV. Characters are used without the express prior permission of the aforementioned. Story concept, other characters and original situations are © Wolfye Productions; this fanfic is written for entertainment purposes only.
Part 02: Mysterious Happenstance
Kagome hummed quietly to herself as she walked down the busy sidewalk downtown. It was just two days after she had moved into her small dorm room, and now she was roaming the shopping district by the college looking for a part-time job. Hojo was busy all day today with meetings with counselors, so he couldn't come along with her. So she had decided to go by herself. Maybe she'll pick up something for him while she was out.
Wow, she thought to herself, Hojo's going to be busy during college, majoring in structural engineering. Already he had tons of counselor meetings to go to, and school doesn't start for another four days! Was she ever going to see him during college?
A commotion down the street caught her attention. As she drew nearer she saw that it was a boy yelling at a red-faced old man over something. The boy was very animate in his carrying-on, arms waving wildly about while his voice got louder and louder. His frustration was obvious to passers-by as he continued to scream at the old man.
What followed next was a bit shocking to her; she had stopped in her tracks to watch the verbal contest, which was getting more and more heated by the minute. Without warning, the old man, who looked to be five times the boy's age, reached out and smacked the boy sharply across the face.
Stunned, the boy stopped in mid-sentence and cupped his reddening cheek. One could actually see the handprint the old man had made, testimony to the old man's strength despite his age. Taking advantage of the boy's momentary lapse, he slipped quickly into the shop they were standing in front of and shut the door.
The loud bang of the door woke the boy up, and he quickly looked around in embarrassment to see if anyone had witnessed his loss of face. His violet eyes locked with Kagome's across the street, and her breath caught in her throat.
This boy looked to be the exact replica of human InuYasha. Short, unruly bangs hung wildly about his eyes, shading them from the outside world, as if they're sole purpose in life were to protect those violet orbs from the devastations of the real world. There was a sadness in those eyes, and her heart ached anew to see it.
But the boy took no recognition of her. Instead, his violet eyes narrowed as they flashed an angry red at her for witnessing his downfall that morning. Throwing a menacing look in her direction, he turned and swiftly ran down the street, his form disappearing around the corner.
Kagome recovered her composure a minute after the strange boy disappeared. Her heart was beating like crazy. Was that InuYasha's reincarnation? No doubt, he had his facial features and his human eyes, but he didn't seem to recognize her at all. But then, if he really was a reincarnate, he wouldn't remember anything of his former life, just like she had no memory of Kikyou's life before her.
Her feet moved of her own accord, and she soon found herself running in the direction she saw him take. Turning the corner, however, gave no more hints as to where he had run off to, and so she stopped dead in her tracks, depression anew in her wounded soul. He had left her yet again.
The blaring ring of her cell phone brought her unwillingly out of her trance-like state. It was Hojo, dear sweet, all-knowing Hojo. She was convinced that somehow, no matter where she was, he knew what she was feeling because he always found her in her darkest of moments to save her and bring her back to life. This was what she had come to expect of him over their long years together. She could always rely on him to be there for her, even if she never told him why.
"Kagome."
"Hi Hojo," she said, trying to sound like her normal cheery self over the phone. "Are you done with your meetings?"
"Yeah, isn't that great?" His voice was warm with the compassion she so needed right now. Good old Hojo. "Hey, where are you right now? Wanna meet up for lunch?"
Lunch sounded great. Food would take her mind off of this little incident. Perhaps it meant nothing at all. Perhaps the boy was not InuYasha's reincarnation; it was just her misleading herself and her own eyes to see things that were not really there. She'd done it before.
"Sounds great! I'm in the shopping district by campus. Want me to meet you somewhere?"
"Yeah, there's this great ramen shop on the corner of Shiku and Hanna. It's called Jimen. I'll meet you there in twenty minutes.
"Okay," she confirmed and hung up.
Her feet started moving again, making their way back to the main street. While her feet directed her to the ramen shop, her mind wandered. Was she hallucinating back there? Was she starting to see things again? She thought she had put the worst behind her almost two years ago, but she had always known why she had broken up with Hojo. Because she really hadn't; and that was the biggest skeleton she kept in her dark closet.
Her steps took her right past the shop where she had first seen the boy, and her eyes casually glanced in through the large windows in front. It was a used bookstore. She paused when she saw the small hiring sign in the corner of the window. Well, she was out here to look for a job, wasn't she? That's right, she told herself. There's no other reason why I would stop right here, at this very store.
Before another thought could surface to stop her from her actions, she slipped inside the quiet shop and handed the old man her resume.
A/N:
So this fic is moving pretty fast along it's plot lines. So far so good. Any and all reviews are much appreciated!