Chapter 3
It is finally the holidays, and Forks is now covered in a thin layer of ice and snow. And while the winters in Forks is a lot colder than that of Tokyo, Kagome is used to harsh and extreme weathers from her travels in the Feudal era. During the break, the miko split her time between spending it with the Cullens, with Sam and Leah, and with her uncle Charlie. Currently, the miko is having a warm cup of coffee with Charlie in the living room as the elder man read the newspaper.
Charlie suddenly looked up from his paper and directed his attention to his niece. "Rene called me last night."
Kagome blinked at the name. "Aunt Rene? What did you guys talk about?"
"Well, Rene married again. His name is Phil."
"I guess congratulations are in order." Kagome said. "But, that's not the only thing you guys talked about, is it?"
"Well, Phil plays in a team of minor league baseball, and he travels quite a bit. Rene will be travelling with Phil, and she wants a stable place for Bella to stay in till she finishes high school." Charlie answered.
Kagome's eyes widened in surprise. "So aunt Rene want Bella to move to Forks till she finishes school?"
"That's the plan. You don't mind another person in the house, right?" Charlie asked his niece.
"Of course not, this great news!" The miko reassured her uncle, "I haven't seen Bella in ages. And it would be good for the two of you to be reacquainted with each other. You haven't seen Bella in a while either, no? And we should redecorate the empty room beside mine for her!"
The older male smiled at Kagome's enthusiasm, "I suppose so. And if I remember correctly, her favourite colour is purple."
"Well, what are waiting for? Let's go shopping for paint and furniture!"
~oo0oo~
News of Bella's impending arrival reached the ears of everyone in Forks within a day. And when Kagome went to visit the Cullens a few days after the news, Alice bombarded her with questions about her cousin.
"Ohhh, what's Bella like? Are the two of you close? Is she older than you or younger? Does she know about supernaturals like you do?" Alice asked. The tiny vampire was about to ask more, but was interrupted.
"Alice slow down. Give Kagome a chance to answer them." Carlisle said.
At the moment, the Cullen family plus one miko were all in the dining room, and Kagome was enjoying a bowl of delicious oden made by Esme. For someone who can't eat human food, Esme was amazing at cooking. And Kagome also really appreciate the fact that the motherly vampire made her favourite food in the world.
"As far as I know, she doesn't know about supernaturals; but that could have changed in the past couple of years. Bella was introverted, and it was always me dragging her out to play with Jacob and his sisters; but she's a nice girl, always very considerate of other people." Kagome had a thoughtful look on her face, as she thought of memories involving her cousin. "She's actually really mature for her age. In fact, she always brought band-aids with her, because I was really clumsy and was always getting hurt."
Emmett laughed at that, "No surprise there, you are still really clumsy."
Kagome threw her chopsticks at the brunet, and Rosalie elbowed him in the stomach. "Be nice to Kagome."
"See, this is why I like Rose better than you!" Kagome said as she graciously accepted the new pair of chopsticks that Esme fetched for her. Gods, this woman is practically a saint.
"Also, those band-aids were for her as well! She was even clumsier than me!" Kagome grumbled at Emmett. "Bella and I were pretty close when we were kids. She would take care of me, and I would take care of her. We were practically sisters. I really missed her when she stopped visiting Forks in the summer. And now that I think about it, we were almost born on the same day!"
"Hey, now that you mentioned it, when is your birthday?" Alice asked.
"Bella's born on the 13th of September, and mine is on the 14th." Kagome answered her.
"Oh my god! We didn't celebrate your birthday!" Alice cried out in panic. "Why didn't you tell us! We would have planned you the best party ever!"
Kagome waved her in dismissal. "Don't worry about it Alice, I didn't know you all that well back then."
"Alice, we can plan a late birthday party if you really want to." Edward suggested.
"Yes! That's brilliant!"
"Um, you don't have to…"
"No! I insist! We must give you a party!"
"Seriously, you really don't need to…"
"I never planned a party before, so please don't deny me this chance!"
"Um…"
*insert puppy eyes*
"…"
"…"
"Fine…"
"YAY!"
~oo0oo~
When Kagome arrived at school on the first day of the winter semester, two of her human friends, Jessica and Mike, made their way to her side. 'They are definitely going to ask about Bella. This really is a small town where everyone knows everyone.' Kagome thought.
"Hey Kagome!" Jessica greeted the miko cheerily. "How was your break?"
"It was good, though uncle Charlie and I were busy setting up the room for my cousin." Kagome answered with a fond smile.
"Oh yeah, everyone's heard about Isabella Swan." Mike laughed. "What's she like? Is she pretty?"
Kagome rolled her eyes at his second question. Was he desperate for a girlfriend or something? Plus, it was so darn obvious that Jessica has the hots for him. "I haven't see her in years, so I wouldn't know what she's like now. But she was a nice girl when we were younger. We always looked after each other. Also, she prefers to be called Bella."
"Sooo, when is she coming? I heard she will be joining us this month." Jessica asked.
"Bella will be arriving here next Monday, so she'll start school on Tuesday. I'll introduce her to you guys next Tuesday."
Mike grinned at Kagome. "That'd be awesome! Now, if only you can introduce us to the Cullens, that would be even better!"
The miko giggled at her friend's comment. "I tried to get them to join you guys during lunch, but they always decline."
Jessica grumbled while Mike laughed, "Well, I guess you are real special, 'cause I've never seen the Cullens interact with people other than each other."
'You have no idea how special I am.' Kagome merely smiled at his words.
~oo0oo~
The next Monday, Kagome went home immediately after school. She and Charlie agreed that he'll go and pick Bella up and she'll stay home and start preparing dinner for the family; god forbid Charlie from cooking! He tried to microwave a jar of tomato sauce with the lid on! Kagome has no idea how her uncle survived all these years without knowing how to cook. Just as the miko set the timer on for the oven she heard Charlie's car pull up to the house, and the teen swiftly moved to the front door to meet her cousin.
"Bella, Kagome, you both remember each other, right?" Charlie asked the two teenagers.
Kagome observed her only cousin. It has been a long time since she has seen Bella. Her cousin has wavy brown hair and chocolate brown eyes that she inherited from Charlie. To Kagome, Bella still retained the childish innocence she had when they were younger, she still looked timid and quiet, but there's also a mature air around her.
"It's good to see you again Bella, it has been far to long, I hope to get to you again." Kagome smiled at the slightly older girl.
Like Kagome, Bella also observed her. Bella had always thought of Kagome as strong and more independent than her, she never cried when she bruised her knees when they were little, and she would always drag Bella out to play. However, the brunet noticed that her eyes were aged and tired, and she seemed almost a little sad despite the brilliant smile she had on. Mentally, Bella wondered what has caused Kagome to be this way.
"Same here, Kags." Bella smiled back and noticed how the miko's eyes lit up at her old nickname.
"Come on, me and uncle Charlie will show you to your room." Kagome said as she took off a few baggage from Charlie's hand.
The trio made their way up to the second floor and to Bella's new room. The room was painted in a light shade of blue, and there were some pictures hanged across the wall to give it more welcoming atmosphere.
"Me and Kagome painted the walls, and we also chose some purple bed sheets." Charlie gestured towards the bed. "You like purple, right?"
"Yeah, purple is cool." Bella nodded with a small smile at the thoughtfulness.
"Ah, that's good. I'll be downstairs if you girls need me." With that said, the male disappeared downstairs.
Kagome blinked at the brief interaction between father and daughter. "Well… that was kind of…"
"Don't worry about it. Charlie knows that I need my space." Bella told her.
Kagome raised an eyebrow at 'Charlie' but didn't question her. "So, do you want help unpacking?"
"Sure, I don't see why not. We can get to know each other again while unpacking."
A couple of minutes after the girls started unpacking they heard a honk from outside. Both cousins looked out the window to see who it was.
"Oh, its Billy and Jacob, let's go down and say hello." Kagome suggested. "Uncle and Billy like to go out fishing a lot, so you'll be seeing them pretty often."
"I guess we can unpack a bit later." Bella shrugged with a small smile. She was really glad that Kagome was here, she really missed the calming presence of her dear cousin.
Kagome and Bella forgoes their task of unpacking and walked to the front yard to greet their guest.
"Bella, you remember Billy Black?" Charlie asked while leaning against a red truck that was not previously there.
"Of course." Bella smiled and reached to shake the handicapped man's hand. "You are looking pretty good."
Billy laughed. "I'm still in perfect condition. I must say, I'm glad you are finally here. Charlie hasn't shut up about it since he was told you were coming.!"
Charlie rolled his eyes at his long time friend, "Keep exaggerating and I'll roll you down the hill!"
"Ha! Right after I ram you in the ankle!" Billy rolled his wheel chair towards Charlie who dodged and the adults started their little game of let's see who can hurt who.
Kagome almost face palmed at the childish antics of the two grown men. Jacob merely laughed at his father and Charlie and made his way to his towards his childhood friends. "Hey, I'm Jacob. The three of us used to play together in the summer."
"Yeah, I remember." Bella smiled at the taller teen and then stared incredulously at the two fathers. "Are they always like this?"
"Unfortunately." Kagome sighed.
"Well, it got worse with age." Jacob told the bewildered looking brunet.
The adults (cough kids) were soon done with there little games and made their way back to the three teenagers.
"So, what do you think?" Charlie asked Bella.
The girl furrowed her brows in confusion. "What?"
"This." He patted the red truck beside them. "This is your homecoming gift."
Bella's eyes widened. "No way! This is for me?"
"Yep, I recently bought it off Billy." Charlie explained.
"And I also fixed up the engine." Jacob decided to also input his comment.
"This is perfect! Thank you so much!" Bella was beyond shocked. Her family had a car back in Arizona, but it was always Phil or her mom driving, she never really got a chance to drive, and now she's given her own car!
Kagome giggled at her surprised and excited expression, "Well, go on, why don't you give it a try?"
~oo0oo~
The following day came, and Bella drove both herself and Kagome to Forks High. While the miko normally jogged to school, since she declined Charlie's offer of getting her a car and she wanted to stay in shape, she decided to go with Bella today and tell her dear cousin about the school.
When the two got out of the car, it was blandly obvious that everyone was staring at the duo with interest.
"Is it me or is everyone staring at us?" Bella asked.
"Don't worry about it, this is a small town, so its rare for us to get new residents." Kagome explained to her. "Everyone is curious about you; it was like that for me as well."
"Oh." Was all Bella could say to that.
As the cousins entered one of the school building, they met a very bubbly Asian teen. "Hi! You must be Isabella Swan, the new girl. I'm Eric, the eyes and ears of this place and anything you need. Tour guide, lunch date, shoulder to cry on, you name it."
Bella looked at Eric and then send Kagome a 'is he for real look'. Kagome merely shrugged at her. Eric could be… eccentric sometimes.
"I'm more of the suffer in silence type of person." Bella responded, a bit unsure of the teen.
"Ohhh, that's good headline for your feature! I'm on the school paper, and girl, you are front page news to us." Eric told the two excitedly.
Bella blushed in embarrassment. "Ah, please don't. I'm not news, so please don't feature me."
Eric pouted. "Aw, fine."
"Bella never liked unnecessary attention; I guess that part never changed." Kagome merely shook her head at her friend's little dilemma. "Hey, Eric, don't you have Mr. Varner's class first period?"
"Sure do." Eric perked up at this.
"Bella has that class as well. Why don't you lead Bella there and tell her about school?" Kagome suggested.
"That's a brilliant idea Kagome! I will tell Bella all she needs to know about Forks!" The male said excitedly.
"Kags, I d-" Bella was about to protest.
"Bells, you got to make new friends here, and Eric will tell you all about Forks. Remember, I only moved recently as well."
"Alright then." Bella sighed. "Lead the way Eric."
"The class is this way~ Now if you need any help with school, I can hook you up with tutors, study notes, medical note..."
~oo0oo~
During PE class, Bella met Mike and Jessica, and the two cheery teens led the brunet towards there table for lunch. Just as they sat down, Eric squeezed in between the group, "Hey Mike, I guess you and Jessica met Bella already."
"Kind of hard not to when she smacked a volleyball at my head." Mike grinned at his friend.
Bella's cheeks quickly gained a nice shade a red. "Ah, I'm sorry about that, I'm terribly clumsy."
"Hehe, I wish I was there to see that." A dark haired girl sitting beside Jessica said. "Hey, I'm Angela."
"I'm Bella, but I guess the whole school already knows that." Bella smiled awkwardly. "Do you guys know where Kagome is?"
"She's probably hanging out with the Cullens right about now." Jessica answered.
"The Cullens?"
"That's them, right there." Jessica pointed towards the group of gorgeous people that just entered the cafeteria. "They are Doctor and Mrs. Cullen's foster children and they moved here two years ago."
"They also keep to themselves a lot. Though they seem to have a strange friendship with Kagome." Angela said with a thoughtful expression on her face. "It was a surprise to everyone that they integrated her to their group so quickly."
"They are also kind of weird because they are all together. And I mean together together." Jessica gestured to the first couple in the group. "The blonde girl, Rosalie, and that big dark haired guy, Emmett, they are a thing. I'm not sure if that's even legal."
Angela rolled her eyes at her friend. "Jess, they are not blood related, so it's totally okay."
"So? They are still siblings, so it's weird. Anyways, see that tiny black haired girl?"
Bella looked at tiny girl with a pixie cut hovering beside a tall blond male who had an almost pained expression on his beautiful face.
"That's Alice, she's really really weird. She's with Jasper, the guy who looks like he's always in pain. Doctor Cullen is basically a foster father and a matchmaker for all his kids." Jessica scrunched her nose as she explained this to Bella.
"Well, maybe he'll adopt me." Angela said dreamily, causing Jessica to snort and Bella to giggle.
"Unfortunately for you, I don't think that will ever happen." Jessica teased.
Bella turned her attention to the last male that walked in with her cousin. He was absolutely the most gorgeous male she had ever laid her eyes on. He was tall with messy bronze coloured hair. There was just a mysterious dark aura about him that drew her to him. She cannot take her eyes off of this male.
"Who's he?" Bella asked as she stared at the male beside Kagome.
Jessica looked at who she was asking about. "Oh, that's Edward Cullen, he's a total hottie. However, it seems that no one here is good enough for him. Like I would care; but don't waste your time with him."
"I… I wasn't planning on it." Bella stuttered out. "Um, is he with Kagome?"
"Hmm, I don't think so. Despite how close they are; I don't feel like those two would end up together." Jessica said.
"I asked Kagome about it, but she told me it would never happen, because she already love someone else." Angela commented. "But she didn't tell me who it was."
"Really? I didn't know that." Jessica said in surprise.
Bella didn't comment on it, but for some reason, she felt relieved that Kagome isn't together with Edward.
~oo0oo~
When Kagome walked into the cafeteria, she immediately noticed that something between Edward and Bella. That something was only visible to someone who is extremely spiritually aware of her surroundings.
'Their red string of fate…'
AN: Bella is born on the September 13th and Kagome is born the 14th according to some websites (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و so I decided to use them. Bella has finally made an appearance and is getting along quite nicely with Kagome :3 And as for the readers that asked me if this will be a Sess/Kag fic, welllllll… you'll find out（ΦωΦ）