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One of a kind

Chapter two

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Two high school girls walked merrily down the street at 10 p.m. after their shifts were over at their part-time job, one of them kept glancing nervously at her partner while the other girl merely glanced at her from the corner of her eye; there was obviously something the girl wanted to say.

"Is there something wrong Tohru?" Her soft, worried voice snapped Tohru out of her thoughts and she blushed in embarrassment at being caught staring... Her mother had told her many times it was rude to stare!

"N-no it's just that... um... You didn't have to walk me home. I mean it's not that I don't like you o-or that I don't appreciate it- I just don't want to be a bother to you and you live so far from where I live..." Kagome giggled and smiled fondly at the rambling girl, causing Tohru to stop and look at her curiously.

"Tohru you'll never be a bother, don't let anyone else make you think otherwise and besides, I have to make sure you get home safely since it gets pretty dangerous in this city at night." Tohru was about to protest but thought better on it. 'That's right, she knows martial arts like Yuki and Kyo... I can't believe I almost forgot! It's really nice of her to escort me home though, I have to repay her somehow!'

Kagome stifled her laughter at the look of extreme concentration that was on Tohru's face, she looked so funny doing that! Shaking her head as if to dismiss the thought, the former time-traveler glanced at the forest area coming up ahead in wonder. "Is your house through here, Tohru?"

The girl blinked, having been wrapped up in her thoughts up until then "Oh, yes. It's just a little further." Inwardly Tohru was freaking out; she hadn't even told Uo and Hana where she lived yet and Kagome was about to find out, even though she had just met her the week before. 'Oh why didn't I think this through? I forgot my key so either Shigure, Yuki or Kyo will have to open the door... What would Kagome think if she discovers I live with three men, two of them being our classmates?!" Tohru bit her lip nervously, a hand on her shoulder stopped her teeth from doing any further damage.

"Tohru, I think we're being followed by someone..." Came a hushed whisper from Kagome, who was looking at the surrounding foliage through narrowed eyes. Tohru gasped, her stomach twisting with nervousness, but was quickly shushed by Kagome. "It's alright, everything's fine. Just keep walking, ok? When I tell you to, go hide behind the tree over there, please." Tohru nodded, not knowing what her new friend was up to.

They walked a little further then Kagome steered them to the left and told Tohru to hide. She continued walking for a bit before out of the corner of her eye, Kagome saw the oncoming shadow of their "stalker" and slid her feet a few inches apart one from the other. As soon as a hand gripped the priestess's shoulder from behind, she took hold of it with her hand and reached the back of his collar to grab on. With this done in a flurry of movement, the man was tossed over Kagome's shoulder and onto the ground in front of her.

"What the fuck?!" A loud cry of pain and outrage came from the ground and the figure got to his feet. Tohru gasped "Kyo?!" The brunet poked her head out from behind the tree and blinked owlishly at the boy.

Kagome raised an eyebrow at the orange-haired teen; she got rid of her tense position and took on a more relaxed one. "What are you doing here?" Kyo looked up in surprise, "Kagome? The hell are you doing here?!"

A sigh escaped her lips while she rubbed the bridge of her nose in irritation, "I was walking Tohru home, to make sure she wasn't bothered by creeps likeyou. I didn't picture you as the stalker type." Kyo turned red, whether it was with anger or embarrassment, Kagome had no clue. "I live with her, idiot! Why the hell would I stalk anyone?!" This time both of Kagome's eyebrows disappeared underneath her bangs and she turned to Tohru for confirmation.

"Yes... I live with him, Yuki and their older cousin Shigure..." Tohru twiddled her fingers waiting for Kagome's response.

For the second time that night, Kagome sighed and patted Tohru on the head making the girl blink in surprise, "Do you want me to keep this a secret?" a nod was her reply "Well then that's all there is to it. I won't tell anyone" she smiled, "Let's get you home though. It's getting pretty late..." A glance at the dark night sky confirmed her statement.

Tohru and Kyo were surprised by the aloof reply, Kyo had expected her to be part of his rival (Yuki)'s fan club and freak out; maybe even start spouting accusations about how wrong that was and so on and so forth. Too bad though, he wanted to tell someone off after a verbal spat he had with Yuki earlier...

"... Um... Yeah, so where's your house Tohru?" She perked up and smiled "Right this way..." Kyo sighed and turned her towards the opposite direction she had been going in "The house is this way idiot- Hey! What was that for?!" the last part came out like more of a grumble while the teen rubbed the spot on the back of his head that had been smacked by Kagome.

"Watch your language, cat." Grinning, Kagome pinched a suddenly tense Kyo's cheek, Tohru's nervous chatter filling her ears.

"Aah Kagome, why did you call Kyo a c-c-cat?" Tohru mentally cursed her stuttering, even if she couldn't really help it since the Sohma secret could be at stake.

The girl could only shrug. "Just because... Well, to me, his presence just screams CAT, Hanajima told me she feels the same thing in his electrical waves." She answered simply, releasing Kyo's face from her (surprisingly firm) grip.

Beads of sweat gathered at the back of a certain cat spirit vessel's neck.'She says it like it's the most normal thing in the world' He knew he'd have to be careful about what he said around the odd girl from then on.

After what seemed like an eternity to Kyo, they finally arrived home; Kagome's constant teasing was going to drive him crazy. Tohru had forgotten her keys inside her room and Kyo left through the window in his room, so the only thing left to do was knock... or pick the lock. Knocking it was then.

Tohru knocked twice on the traditional Japanese door, rocking on her heels waiting for someone to open it and thinking about a way to break the awkward silence that suddenly befell them. "When did you learn martial arts Kagome?"

That seemed to do the trick, since the girl's blue eyes shined with happiness and a smile spread on her face, "A few months after I turned thirteen. I began to travel a lot with a few friends I met and I was taught by them," her smile became nostalgic. "I... moved away, I won't be able to see them anymore. It's ok though, because I have lots of good memories of them that I'll always treasure." Before any of the other teenagers could say anything else, the door opened.

"Ah Tohru, you're back! We sent Kyo to pick you up- oh there you are Kyo. And who is this lovely young lady?" Shigure immediately noticed the third member of their party, perking up when he noticed a telltale high school uniform on her. 'Yay, High school girls, high school girls~!' He cheered to himself.

Oblivious to his thoughts, Kagome bowed politely and introduced herself. "Good evening sir, I'm Kagome Higurashi. I just came to escort Tohru from her job so she got home safely. So... I'll be heading back home now." Before she could even take a step back, the man before her held up his hand in a clear "stop" gesture.

"My name is Shigure Sohma, a pleasure to meet such a well-mannered girl but I'm afraid that it's gotten very late and it's dangerous for a girl to be out on her own. Wouldn't you care to spend the night here? By the looks of it, you go to the same school Tohru does." The brown haired girl mentally thanked Shigure for asking what she'd wanted to, the thought of Kagome being assaulted or anything of the sort while on her way home was quite frightening.

Fervently, Tohru nodded. "Please stay, it's not safe to be out alone at this time of night." Kagome had been so ready to decline (in a polite way, of course) but the look in those wide, pleading eyes made her say otherwise. "O... Ok. Thank you for your concern. I'm sorry for imposing like this..." Needless to say Kagome felt a bit embarrassed if her reddened face was anything to go by. 'I barely met them last week and I'm already overstepping my bounds.'

Tohru smiled brightly in reassurance. "You're not imposing at all!"

Shigure stepped aside to let the teens inside the house before walking in and shutting the door behind him. He only made it ten steps into the hall when he heard a familiar "boom" noise come from upstairs.

'Oh boy...'

Surprisingly enough, there was no scream, no freaked out girl running away or anything like it. Instead Kagome trotted down the stairs at an easy pace, blinking up at him when she spotted him. "Have you seen Kyo? I wanted to ask him something."

A lazy call came from the kitchen. "What'd ya want?" She smiled slightly and nodded to him before skipping to the kitchen.

"I've been meaning to ask you this all day! Is that your natural hair color?" Shigure could hear sputtering and shook his head, quickly going up the stairs to find a confused and dazed Tohru kneeling on the floor, along with Yuki transformed into his zodiac animal in front of her, looking astounded and relieved.

The novelist raised a brow inquisitively. Yuki was the one to answer his unspoken question. "Miss Honda was walking to her room when I stepped out of the bathroom. As you can see we bumped into each other. Strangely enough, Miss Higurashi turned around before I transformed and said she would be... right back." It looked like an incredible stroke of luck on their part.

"Ah yes, Kagome is downstairs with Kyo." Shigure chuckled, "They were in the makings of an interesting conversation." Tohru was about to ask what he meant by that but was interrupted by a booming sound and an explosion of smoke, meaning Yuki had just transformed back into a human. Also, this meant he did not have any form of clothing on him. The brunette quickly covered her eyes with her hands and let the teen scram back to his room to change. "He's gone to change now Tohru, it's safe to look." Tohru tentatively removing her hands and stood up intending to go check on Kagome when she heard Kyo shout.

The scene that greeted her when she arrived was an funny one, considering the odd position she found them in. Kagome had gotten a hold of Kyo's hair, tugging on it while Kyo complained and pinched her face trying to get her to let go.

"I already told you, it's my natural hair color! Now lemme go!" His response was another tug before Kagome released her hold on him and freed her face from his grasp while pouting, "Fine... Oh, hi there Tohru. Did you hear that weird sound earlier?" She asked, looking closely at the pair's reactions.

Tohru froze and Kyo tensed up again. "Heh you're delusional, I didn't hear anything..." Kagome shot the boy a glare and pinched his cheek. Hard.

"Ow! Damn it Kagome, stop doing that!" The girl merely stuck her tongue out at him in a childish manner, not really caring about how she looked at the moment. Kyo furrowed his eyebrows and settled for glaring at the raven-haired teenager with annoyance, yet also a hint of enjoyment in his disposition. Tohru blinked a few times before a large smile grew on her face and she hid a small laugh behind her hand as the two in front of her held a glaring contest, until Kagome snapped her fingers in Kyo's face causing the teen to blink in surprise before he called out "Cheater!"

The one-sided argument did not go any further than that, Tohru made sure of it by catching Kagome's attention and leading her upstairs to her room. This time, the brunette saw Yuki stepping out of his room and was able to avoid bumping into him. The corner of his lips twitched upward at the sheepish smile on the soft-hearted teen's face and he sent a nod as a greeting to the girl behind her. "Good night Miss Higurashi."

The formality caught her off guard, though she recovered quickly and returned the sentiment, giving Yuki a small wave as she stepped into Tohru's room. "G'night, hope you have pleasant dreams." The door then shut with a soft click and the host of the spirit of the rat was left to his thoughts in the middle of the hall.

Kagome shot up from her place on the floor, darting her eyes around in every direction while her fists were balled up around the soft fabric of the futon beneath her. Her eyes landed on a spot in the ceiling, and she calmed her breathing so she could hear the small creaking noises coming from it. Kagome rubbed her eyelids with one hand while the other covered her mouth to stifle a yawn.

Who in their right minds would be up at this hour? The priestess blinked away the remnants of sleep from her eyes before she stood up as quietly as her ability allowed her and walked over to the window Tohru had left wide open. I should really speak to her about this, anyone can just climb up here and get into her room. A wave of cool night air swooped in from the window, blowing her hair back and fully waking her up in the process; she shivered when the wind brushed against her neck.

She was in a pair of pajamas Tohru had lent her for the night. The top was a blue, buttoned up, long-sleeved, fleece shirt with matching blue pants. Kagome stretched her arms far above her head, stopping after she felt the satisfying pop of her joints going into place, and leaned out the window to see if the sun had even started rising yet. Her eyes were barely able to make out the dim rays that were beginning to rise from the east but it was still quite dark and any normal person would have had quite a bit of trouble making their way around the place.

Creeeeaaak

The sound filled the silence of the bedroom and now Kagome did not hesitate to leap out the window and onto the roof. Her landing was wobbly and unsteady, a hand shot out to grab her shoulder before she could fall backwards and steadied her; her savior was mildly surprised to find her on the roof. Maroon eyes blinked down at her pajama clad figure with confusion and the hand on her shoulder slowly retracted back to the older teen's side.

Kyo stared at her for a while longer before he questioned her. "What are you doing up here?" He cast a suspicious look her way, to which she snorted.

The girl shifted to sit next to him. She gave him an amused stare and a lopsided grin before she answered. "Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing. I woke up because of all the noise you were making, I thought you were a burglar or something."

He scoffed, a dubious expression crossing his face to hide his guilt for waking her up. "Now what the hell would a burglar be doing on the roof?" Kagome shrugged, "I don't know, maybe he's a shingle collector and wanted to steal some?" It sounded ridiculous even to her ears. She broke out into a fit of giggles once she caught sight of Kyo's incredulous face, the boy himself let loose a chuckle before he flicked her temple in a slightly admonishing way.

"That's stupid and you know it." She stuck her tongue out at him jokingly, but then remembered her previous intentions and turned towards where the sun was starting to rise. "Why are you up here?"

He too turned to see the sunrise with pursed lips, "I... couldn't sleep." The carrot-top blatantly avoided her eyes.

Kagome frowned in concern. "Did you have a nightmare?"

The orange-haired youth instantly became guarded. "What? Pffft, me? Tch. No-o..." He stumbled over his words, trying to deny her otherwise innocent question.

"O-Kay then tough guy, but you can talk about it if you want. I won't tell anyone if you do."

Again, Kyo stared at the younger teen in clear disbelief though only he rolled his eyes, "I guess, it wasn't a nice dream... Just some bad memories..." Kagome nodded, completely understanding what the cat vessel was referring to. Awkward all of the sudden, the miko cleared her throat, "I should thank you then, since I wasn't having very pleasant dreams either." Kyo raised a brow, expecting her to elaborate; Kagome only shrugged and turned back to the brightening sky.

After a while of comforting silence Kagome decided to go change into her uniform, even though it was wasn't even six in the morning and school didn't start till seven thirty. The black haired youth stood up and stretched, "Is it ok if I make you guys breakfast? I'm sure everyone else is still sleeping and I'm almost certain that your appetite will start acting up soon, mine already has."

Kyo's stomach decided that that moment was adequate to announce its hunger and it rumbled loudly in response to Kagome's words, making a red hot blush spread across the orange haired teen's nose in embarrassment. The flustered teenager jumped over to the tree next to the house with a mumbled "Come on" barely reaching Kagome's ears and she was happy to comply.

Once he had successfully led Kagome into the kitchen, Kyo left her to her own devices and walked out the archway at a brisk pace. Kagome could almost see a pair of triangular ears twitching wildly on his head. Shaking her head, the fifteen-year-old set off on preparing a varied breakfast for her gracious hosts. It felt nice to be cooking for someone other than herself, she really missed being able to do it every day like she used to in the Feudal Era with all of her friends. To be honest, Kagome hadn't realized just how much she missed it up until that moment.

By the time Kagome was done, it was already 6:26 in the morning if the oven clock was right and she could hear movement coming from upstairs. The food was quickly set up on the low table in the dining room, where Kagome found Kyo sitting in one of the cushions while deep in thought. Blue eyes narrowed and the teen stiffened under her stare. "Jeez Kyo, you could have at least told me where all the dishes were." She put her hands on her hips and looked at him expectantly.

"What?" Kyo scowled and Kagome crossed her arms, "Don't you "what" me, come on and help me set the table already." The teen got to his feet with a grumble and a couple of dark mutters when Kagome's glare turned icy. And so, the rest of the house's occupants came down to see a freshly prepared breakfast set up elegantly on the table and a sulking Kyo glaring at the food as if it had just insulted him.

Tohru, Shigure and Yuki all looked quizzically at the teen, thinking that the food had been prepared by him. Having noticed their stares, Kyo huffed and gruffly said: "Keh. Don't look at me, I didn't do any of this stuff. If you're gonna blame anyone, blame the weirdo in the kitchen." As soon as he finished speaking, Kyo was hit in the forehead with a wooden ladle.

"Who are you calling a weirdo, cat-boy?!" All heads turned in the direction the indignant shout had come from, where a miffed Kagome stood in the archway leading to the kitchen with a tray full of steaming tea cups in her hands. Kyo immediately sat back up with his hand on the aching spot on his head. His maroon eyes were ablaze and his temper was rapidly rising. "What was that for?!" He nearly hissed and held up the offending cooking instrument for her to see.

Kagome shook her head, "We both know you could have dodged that if you had wanted to, silly cat." Kyo stopped mid-yell and blinked, taking notice of the hidden meaning in Kagome's words. He was quiet then, with a small blush dusting over his nose, much to the relief and surprise of the spectators.

Shigure smiled and clapped once in anticipation, "Ah~ isn't this a nice surprise? Why can't all of our guests be like this?" His dark eyes watched Tohru hurry over to help the girl place the tea on the table and Yuki stare thoughtfully at Kagome.

'I wonder what's going through your head, Yuki.' The dog of the zodiac waved his thoughts away however, when the enticing smell of tamagoyaki, miso soup and grilled fish wafted over to his nose. He sat down and eagerly took the first bite of his morning meal, greatly enjoying the taste of the rolled omelet on his plate. It looked like everyone else felt the same -except Kagome, who ate normally- and ate up whatever was served to them rather quickly.

"My, my, this tastes great Kagome. Where did you learn how to cook?" The girl in question cocked her head slightly to the side, as if recalling a distant memory. "My mother taught me, trust me though, she cooks a whole lot better than I do."

Tohru smiled, happy to learn more of the girl. It might be her imagination, but when she had first transferred, Kagome seemed quite lonely and Tohru was more than willing to change that.

'If she lets me, that is…'

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