Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, but I do own this idea.

Terminology

People/Names
Jukeisha – honorific for a convict/offender
Taijiya – demon/youkai slayer or hunter
Houshi – most often a Buddhist priest or monk
Youkaihanta –ghost buster, spirit hunter
Ningen – human being, mortal
Gekkahyoujin – matchmaker, cupid
Ookami – a wolf (i.e., ookami-youkai)
Oji-san – a formal way of saying "uncle"

Things
Youki – typical demonic or youkai energy/aura
Jyaki – wicked demonic or youkai energy/aura

SOULMATE:
YOU'RE A SOUL YET I'M YOUR MATE?

5: Clash of Colors

"A man should control his life.
Mine is controlling me."

—Rudolph Valentino

"How are you, Kagome?"

I nearly groan at the recognizable voice, forcing myself to turn around and face my "superior" fully. Why, why now of all times? I shoot him a heated glare as his beady eyes sweep my body, taking in my ruined shirt and its bloodstains. Why in the hecks is he asking about my wellbeing and whatnot when he has pure evidence that something bad did happen? Again, why does he want to see me now? My teeth grind together involuntarily, and my fists clench, but he either doesn't take note of or care about my distress.

First, he summoned me the other day just to tell me how much I suck—no exaggeration there—and how I needed to step up my game that was non-existent before he told me to get to it. Now he wants something else of me. Dear gods, what does this supernatural being want?

You know what I just noticed erratically? How Yue-Laou never clarified if he was dead or not. I've always assumed he was due to him being in the land of the Kami and Buddha, but he's never really informed me if the Chinese legend about him being immortal is true or false.

Then again, in the legends, there was never any poor teenage girls forced into being his successors, either.

Dammit.

He sips from his tea cup casually and gestures to the pillow in front of him, also placed on the cloud. "Sit," Yue-Laou insists in a gentleman's voice, and I grimace, but comply anyways. My boss closes his eyes thoughtfully for a moment before stating, "I will not ask how you obtained those wounds or why you fainted. But—"

You know that once someone says that word and takes a pause afterwards, a pile of dung is heading your way.

"—since you're already here—"

I resist the incredibly strong urge to jump off the cloud and into the abyss of the sky. Either that, or dump his precious tea on top of his cocky-butt head.

"—I thought I'd help you out with your soul mate predicament."

I blink a few times; my heart skips a few beats and speeds up unpredictably, and I feel my stomach clench as well. Then I finally gather enough guts to ask, "What're you talking about, 'Laou?"

"Your quota, Kagome," he reminds me patiently. "You aren't meeting your quota."

I sigh, automatically calming down, though I steam a bit at the mention of this quota. "What am I supposed to do?" I hiss like a poisonous snake, though he's not really absorbing the venom. "Prance around the freaking city, hooking up random pedestrians? Uh, we tried that once, and have you forgotten where that got us?" Yep. Being looked at as a freak when suggesting to two complete strangers that they'd be "perfect for each other".

Yue-Laou exhales tiredly, setting down his tea. Uh-oh. I know I'm in trouble when he decides to give me his full attention and not bother with the tea that pretty much consumes his entire schedule. "Kagome," he starts, and I roll my eyes slightly at the overused title. "I know you don't want to bring attention upon yourself, but if you don't do anything, then I won't be able to help you."

I bite my lip, holding back a retort. He's right, my conscience tells me. You could quit—if you didn't need his help, you would've quit by now. I remember when I came up here after trying to help him out, insisting he rid me of my powers, but he needed an apprentice in Japan, and not to mention it turned out that I needed and still do need his help. As long as I act as his trainee, he'll try to help me—too bad I forgot to do my job.

Not even my journal knows why I have to put up with this.

I bite back a sigh. "Fine," I murmur none-too-politely. "So, what about the quota?"

A small grin appears at my change in attitude before he picks up his tea again. "I want to make a proposition with you, Kagome."

Yay for scheming. "What kind of offer?" I ask, eyeing him warily.

He smiles wider. "There are a few couples who have obstacles in their path they need to overcome before uniting with one another, Kagome." The look I give him clearly states that whatever he's saying is whipping past my head. He ignores it anyway, so I'm just stuck with an urge to break some pencils for a few seconds. "It's not a long list; just a few couples that need a little push."

I raise an eyebrow. "What's the catch?"

"Catch?" he echoes before shaking his head. "There's no catch."

Liar. "Sure," I say, not able to help the sarcasm that honey-coats my voice. "And my life's a stroll through the park." My eyes turn into slits as I demand, "'Fess up already, 'Laou."

"Well…" He pauses, breaking eye contact for a short moment as he takes sudden interest in that gods-damned tea cup. I swear, he's never seen without the thing and random food item of the day. "I decided to make it easier for you." I raise an eyebrow. "You see, these eight couples all include people you know or will know in Tokyo—maybe not as of yet, but at some point, you will know them. I thought it'd be easier if the people you needed to help were ones you came across at least a few times a week, yes?"

I blink. "What couples?" I ask after a pregnant silence. Something hits my head, and I look down to see a scroll that, let's face it, looks even more ancient than Yue-Laou and Jii-chan combined—and that's pretty old. I wonder how he'd made this list so long ago when I remember that souls are reincarnated here; every youkaihanta knows that.

I stare at the sky where the parchment flew from before shrugging nonchalantly and making a move to open the scroll. But when I do, there's only one couple listed:

Higurashi Shoji + Higurashi Kaede

I immediately blanch before screaming, "YOU WANT HIM AND HER TO HOOK UP? YOU SICK BASTARD!"

Yue-Laou feigns hurt. "Now, Kagome, this is merely your grandfather and great-aunt," he insists. "They know each other because your grandfather's elder brother was her husband, yes? Your grandmother has passed, as has your great-uncle; these two's legend goes that way: to unite with another after their love's deaths."

I should probably explain reincarnations and whatnot right now. Souls carry abilities, character traits, and tasks with them into the next life; if they had a purpose, then their next life will also serve it. Judging by my life so far, the person in my past life was a strong spiritual being who fought evil and had no ordinary life; their parents probably passed when they were at a young age, and they most likely had a younger sibling like I do Souta, who I probably knew in my previous life as someone else. I really doubt my past self had the ability to see red strings, however. Depending on whether or not you died peacefully and whether you were good or evil, your next life is either better or worse than your previous. Seeing as I've lived a pretty crappy life, I'm guessing I didn't die so tranquilly in the past or the one before that—and since I'm mostly a good person, I'm pretty sure it has something to do with how I died instead of what I died as.

Wait— I pale. "My great-uncle hasn't died yet."

He looks up at me, surprised, his mouth opening and closing. Then he looks away uncomfortably, which is unlike him, the person who begs for eye contact. I automatically droop in realization before he even says, "You'll be expecting the call around three o'clock, around the time your school lets out."

I rub my face tiredly, suddenly feeling drained. Well, that's the shittiest way to find out your relative died. "And you want me to bring them together so shortly after a death?" I ask, trying to hide my irritation and grief. I never really knew my oji-san personally, but it's still a death in the family.

Yue-Laou turns back to me, so I've obviously made him think I'm not at all bothered by his complete stupidity. "Perhaps you are right: it is too soon," he murmurs, staring down at the list in question. "We'll do them later; let's try another." I reopen it to see a different pairing on it this time.

Houshi Miroku + Taijiya Sango

"What?" I say, a little surprised as my mind wanders away from my poor oji-san, Tsuyu's grandfather. "Their last names mean 'Buddhist monk' and 'slayer'? What in the hells…?"

Yue-Laou nods. "Both are orphans taken in by the Shikon Five," he tells me. "Sango was brought in with her little brother to a demon slayer section whereas Miroku was taken in by his guardian, also a monk, Mushin."

Wait—Miroku… Shikon Five… "HOLY SHIT!" I shout, actually making my boss jump from the out-of-the-blue exclamation. "That's the guy I saved this morning, isn't it?"

"Yes," he says. I'm glad he watches over my life and does research from here so I don't have to explain stuff to him; it feels kind of nice not to have to explain things. "Now, explain to me why you didn't bring them together then?"

Dammit.

"I was running late for school," I confess. "Besides, I didn't think, Oh, 'Laou will love me for bringing them together! I'll get a congratulatory hug for sure!" He blinks a few times at my sarcasm, not really recognizing it for what it is, and I sigh. "Never mind. But, what's the obstacle?"

Please don't tell me a boyfriend or girlfriend died…

"He's a pervert."

Ah. Great. That made things so much easier. "So, I'm supposed to change him or make her overlook it?" I ask, raising another eyebrow.

Yue-Laou opens his mouth to answer when a booming voice suddenly looms over us. "What the fuck do you mean, 'Get out'? I'M NOT GONNA 'GET OUT', YOU STUPID FUCKING WOLF! YOU 'GET OUT'!"

Inuyasha. He's the first thing I see when I open my eyes, the clouds, sky, and mythical being suddenly gone and now replaced with an irate inu-hanyou and history teacher fighting.

Um…

"You flea-bitten mutt, you'll wake her up," Tamaru-sensei murmurs, glaring at Inuyasha. "Now get out before I make you, half-breed." So I wasn't imagining things; my teacher can really see ghosts, and at that, tell that Inuyasha's part-youkai.

Wait—wolf? I look at Tamaru-sensei closely, but there's nothing off about him. What the—? Oh. The way he said "half-breed", as if degrading Inuyasha… I didn't know that hanyou existed until I met him, so I don't know what people would think of them, but apparently, Tamaru-sensei doesn't think too highly of them. I doubt a human would think of themselves as something higher than a humane demon (or demon with a human appearance), so maybe Tamaru-sensei is a youkai in disguise able to hide his youki.

Inuyasha's growls snap me out of thought. "Half-breed… Why, you fucking—"

"Down, boy," I command sternly, eyes hardening. The legendary half-demon's gaze flickers from Tamaru-sensei to me until he seems to back off, readjusting his relaxed, cool stance on the bed beside me. I blush slightly when I notice how close we are on the cot and how my skirt has ridden up a little. We're probably in the nurse's room; I'm still in my school uniform and not hooked up to any IVs, so I know we're not at the hospital.

Besides, the school flag on the wall is a dead giveaway.

"You're awake," Tamaru-sensei says with a smile, earning another growl from Inuyasha.

I give him a dull look. "Obviously, dipshit," I mutter, receiving an amused expression from Inuyasha and shocked one from my teacher. "You have no spiritual or demonic aura," I note to Tamaru-sensei before focusing on them both. "So, does anyone want to tell me why my teacher can see my yuurei-hanyou neighbor, and why said neighbor is even at the school?"

Tamaru-sensei smirks. "You're observant," he comments, and I roll my eyes. I'm only observant because I wasn't really asleep, but in the land of the gods with a mentally-challenged gekkahyoujin figure. "You didn't even ask what happened or where you are. At that, you're fun to banter with."

And at that, Inuyasha huffs and kehs. "She ain't—"

"Stop flirting with me and answer the Kami-damned question," I demand, eyes narrowing as I sit up effortlessly. Inuyasha fumes in protest at my interrupting him, but deciding I'd rather not have a verbal World War take place in the nurse's room, I continue talking—or questioning—my history teacher. "Or are you trying to avoid it?"

Tamaru—save the "sensei" for class—looks even more entertained. "Very observant," he mumbles before saying in a casual tone, "I can see the half-breed mutt because I'm ookami-youkai, thus able to see yuurei." He then slips off his watch, revealing two pointed ears and a tail hanging off the office chair he's sitting in. His blue eyes twinkle as he announces, "Not bad jyaki, but pure youki, as you can tell, Higurashi-miko-sama."

"Kagome," I correct, then my eyes scrutinize his appearance. So, I was right about him being a demon in disguise. Go me. "Your real name isn't Tamaru, is it?"

"Kouga" is what he replies with instead of a yes or no. A cocky smirk overtakes his features. "I'm one of the many good youkai who've gone into hiding in the modern-day world as ningen."

"Oh, isn't that interesting," I snap. "Youkai living as humans—woo, so cool!" I give him a blank look. "Please, exit the room."

Kouga's eyes widen, I guess now realizing I'm very business-like—yet, let's face it, evil—after waking up. He's either that, or shocked that I haven't freaked out from hearing what he just told me. He nods, but whispers, "I'm still going to have to talk to you about Kotatsu Jukeisha's case." Then he leaves, and I sigh, already knowing that was one of the reasons he was in here instead of teaching class.

Man. My first day of school has been crappy.

I turn to Inuyasha, who still hasn't really noticed just how close we are. I wipe at my skirt, smoothing it out, before turning to him and saying a single word:

"Asshole."

Have I mentioned how much I love cursing today?

His black eyebrows knit together underneath those ruffled silver bangs. "What the fuck did I do?"

"Why in the eighth hell are you at my school?" I question. Oh, are you getting this, people? Two potty-mouths in the same room. Joy to humanity, am I right?

Inuyasha fehs. "The kit interrupted my nap, saying he smelt your blood in an alley nearby and some spiritual power being used. I went to check it out, but you weren't there, so I followed you to your school."

I aww at him, and watching his face display clear annoyance, smirk. For some reason, after I wake up, he's fun to bother. "What'd you know? You do have a brain and feelings." You know, even though he's bipolar.

"Wench," he mutters, though I ignore it. Then sudden aggravation crosses his face. "Why ya handling the existence of youkai living as ningen so well?" he wonders with a suspicious expression.

I shrug. "Demons aren't stupid," I answer. "I figured all good youkai weren't extinct; if jyaki-massed demons still exist, then there must be full-youki beings, too, right? Besides, Kouga was dropping bigger hints than he meant to." Inuyasha nods in understanding, and I sit up fully. I stare at him, and he returns the favor by staring back. It's a clash of gold and sapphire, a mix of storm and sun, and a vast differentiation like black and white, yet for some reason, when I picture our eyes meeting, I don't feel that we're so different.

I have the feeling I was just now being too impractical for my own good.

"Well…," I finally murmur, desiring to break the too-comfortable silence.

"Well…?" Inuyasha's eyes stray on mine, and though I gaze back, I can sense his leg bouncing somewhat nervously.

"Well, why are you still here?" I ask finally, raising a brow.

His leg stops bouncing as realization and recognition flashes through his honey-colored eyes. "We should go," he murmurs, never breaking eye contact. I somewhat take note of how easy and desiring making eye contact with Inuyasha is while I hate doing it with Yue-Laou, but am too focused on Inuyasha to give it much thought.

Funny, how even when we acknowledge the fact that he should leave and I should go back to class, we don't make a move to exit.

Kouga pokes his head back in. I jump at his unexpected appearance whereas Inuyasha growls. The wolf demon who's my history teacher says, "I've been waiting; I'll be escorting you back to class."

Oh. Huzzah? "Okay," I say, sitting up, and Inuyasha automatically follows. Instead of going through the wall and walking back home, though, he trails behind us as we return to the classroom. I can't comment on it, however, because the door's still open and everybody will hear me talking to thin air, which will make them undoubtedly question my sanity. When we get back in, Ayumi—the shyest and wittiest of my new classmates, apparently—is teaching the class about the Heian era. She smiles at the appearance of "Tamaru"-sensei, and takes her seat in front of me. Yuka and Eri devour me with their eyes—they're probably the most, um, talkative of the three—but I overlook them as I sit down and focus on the lesson.

Or I at least try to. It's kind of hard to pay attention in class when a freakin' inu-hanyou spirit is leaning over your shoulder, watching you take notes, and growling at your teacher. Kouga, for the most hand, ignores Inuyasha and continues on with his lesson as if my acquaintance—or are we friends?—isn't snarling loudly in a threatening way.

Boy, am I glad only beings who can see ghosts can hear them as well.

The entire day goes that way: me, trying to learn and be a good student, while Inuyasha lurks barely a foot away, almost as if acting as my shield. He growls at anyone who looks at me, but of course, his efforts are proven fruitless since no one can hear him, much less feel it when he swipes at them angrily, as if warning them to keep their distance. I swear, the guy's like an overprotective father, or even worse:

Controlling boyfriend.

Dear Kami, say it isn't so…!

Most of the day is a blur due to my lack of concentration. I go home with a backpack full of homework and a hanyou nagging in my ear. "Keh, how'd you put up with that? Learning and dealing with all those people? Feh, so fucking irritating. Why don't ya just kill 'em?"

After the first three essays of complaints he writes in verbal form, I start to consider purifying him. I'm sure Shippou wouldn't mind; he might even help me exorcise Inuyasha's soul, if he gets lucky.

"WENCH!" he shouts.

"WHAT?" I screech back, glaring at him for making my eardrums bleed metaphorically.

"Did you hear me?" he asks irately, raising an unimpressed eyebrow. I shake my head, and when he sighs and grows serious, I know I should've been listening when it was said. He informs me exasperatedly, "My hearing picked up on some kids in the back of your class. They were talking about something involving kids being kidnapped and murdered near water areas."

I give him a soft look, one that moms give their kids right before they tell them they're wrong. "Inuyasha… Kids go missing all the time. It isn't my job to keep track of them."

"No, that isn't the main point," he insists, his eyes narrowing. "They don't know it, but how they described what was going on… It sounded like a kappa."

That stops me in my tracks. Kappa: the most famous youkai in our culture. A mix between a monkey, turtle, and frog—ugly, mischievous, evil. Sometimes, they're harmless pranksters that fart obnoxiously or peek up girls' skirts, but other times, they're kidnappers and killers. They're ruthless, taking small children for food, stuffing them up before feasting upon them heartlessly. They live in water areas like lakes and streams, though it said that in modern Japan, they live in our sewage systems. Their methods of killing…

I don't even want to describe it.

"Kappa… You think they still exist?" I ask, tilting my head as we reach the shrine.

Inuyasha looks down at me, an unknown knowledge shining within those sun-kissed orbs. But instead of the answer I expected, he leaps up to the red gate, leaving me to climbing the stairs. At first, I didn't think he said anything. Then I remember hearing a barely distinguishable, "I don't think; I know."

I stare at the hanyou as I walk up the steps. He quickly seeks refuge in his typical tree, Goshinboku, not even bothering to offer to help me with anything, such as housework or bringing Shippou's body to safety. I sigh before heading into the house.

Inuyasha… You're so strange.

A/N: I really don't know what I was doing with this chapter. Really don't. But hope it turned out well. :D