Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha

Open sesame.

Kagome was running down the streets of Tokyo with the nekomata in front of her. She didn't speak directly to her in order to avoid curious stares, but it seemed Kirara was taking her back the same way they had traveled by car. In the end though, Kagome couldn't help herself but jog up beside Kirara pretending she was her pet whom she had taken out for a morning jog, even though the illusion was probably not a very convincing one as her formal clothes was far from suited for exercise. It was ten o'clock already and the streets were packed with people they had to navigate between. It took a while, but eventually Kagome had followed Kirara until she could recognize the surroundings; it was the street leading to Eri's home. Kirara ran down a few city blocks until she took another turn that lead them on a new street.

Although Kagome was in excellent shape thanks to her adventures in feudal Japan, she was still a human and needed to stop and catch her breath. "Hey, Kirara." Kagome panted and called on her friend while she leaned against a wall, immensely happy she decided against wearing high heels today. "First I thought we were going home and further on to Kentaro's house, but then you changed direction towards where Eri lives, and now you have changed direction once again!" She breathed hard, but felt her pulse go down from the previous levels. "Exactly where are you taking me now?"

"Mew" Kirara said and stared back with her big red eyes. The people who passed looked at them curiously but otherwise left them alone.

"Just a moment more please, I really need to catch my breath," she continued and looked at her surroundings. "I can't believe how far we have ran. If we are going to run longer, I am afraid I will need to take the bus! Is it far yet?"

"Mew!"

"Oh, thank goodness, I though you would take me outside the city. That would be way too much," Kagome took a last gulp of air and straightened up again. "Ok, I am ready, let's go."

Kirara turned around and began jogging with Kagome right behind. They crossed over to another street and a few more thereafter again, but true enough, after a little while Kirara stopped and sat down on the pavement, looking from her and over to the other side of the road. Kagome stopped beside her, still breathing heavy but fortunately far from knocked out. The street was a quiet one, Kagome couldn't see many people on this or the other side, a couple of cars were lined up on each side of it while a lonely one drove down the road away from them. Most of the buildings here seemed to be thirty to forty years old, but two on the other side stood out. One of them was a fairly new and tall building of glass, and from the sign of it Kagome could read it was a hotel. The neighboring building to the left was on the other hand, something completely else. It was a seven or eight story high building that obviously had seen better days, and those days were most likely before the war. The brick building had most of its windows barricaded while old paint and puss was falling off in huge chunks. Between the buildings was a dark alley, littered with garbage.

Kagome stared, "Ok, what's the chance that you want me to go inside the new and shiny building?"

Kirara glared back at her and answered with a dry "Meeeew…."

Kagome rolled her eyes, "Of course not, why must it always be one of those places. But listen, I understand all this has something with Kentaro to do, but you never did explain what has happened. The only thing I understand is that this has to be urgent since you wanted me to come at once, and that place doesn't look like somewhere a kid should visit alone," she said while pointing with her finger.

Kirara nodded and mewed at the same time while staring intensely back at the creepy building. Her tails wagged dangerously low, as if she was a canine. Perhaps being around Kagome's dog demon had influenced her more than she thought.

"So, there is no doubt he is inside?"

Kirara hissed positively.

"Alright, but you have to show me exactly where he is and tell if something comes up. Inu Yasha isn't around to protect us this time remember. He is… together with Eri." Kagome suddenly became thoughtful, "I really hope he doesn't say or do anything… to cause a stir. Not that it is his intention; he is just not particular good dealing with people, especially people he doesn't know."

Kirara gave her a guilty look. She knew very well how they all depended very much on the ill-tempered half demon every time trouble was brewing. Kirara sat there, waiting a little longer before she finally rose again and walked quickly over the street with Kagome close behind. As they crossed the street, two bellboys in red uniform walked into the hotel with luggage. Kirara only gave them a short glance, but in the back of her mind, they somehow looked familiar from somewhere.

Kirara of course took her into the alley, which reminded Kagome of every suspicious alleys she had seen in movies, and she could imagine any kind of criminal hiding in there. The alley wasn't paved and an old wooden fence separated the new and old buildings, "Are you sure you want me to go in there?" Kagome asked silently when she stopped in front of the back door and looked up. No light was lit in the few open windows, and the grey clouds above made little contrast against the building's dark silhouette. "This place seems pretty much abandoned to me. Are you positive Kentaro is inside?"

Kirara gave her a nod.

"Alright then," she said, walked up to the door and carefully pushed the handle, only to find it locked. "I suppose you don't know about another way in?"

Kirara turned around and took her to the cellar window. Kagome crotched down and studied it for a moment before she gave Kirara a sad look, "I am afraid the window is too small for me. If I tried squeezing through I might get stuck, I guess I will have to try the door again and see if I can find a way to open it." Then she gave Kirara a surprisingly excited look, "You see, there is something I have wanted to try for ages and now I got the chance to see if it really works."

Kagome walked up to the door again with a curious Kirara by her side, and after a stolen look from side to side to see if anyone might be watching her, she pulled a tiny hairpin from her hair. "This always works in movies, now lets see…"

Kirara of course had no idea about what the priestess meant by her last statement or what she was going to do with the tooth picker she had hidden in her hair, but she followed closely when Kagome bended the tip of the hairpin, put it into the lock and tried to turn it around. Five agonizing minutes then followed while Kagome tampered with the lock before her sharp ears picked up a snap!

"No, no!" Kagome whispered and pulled the hairpin out again. The tip was broken and the door still shut when she tried to open it. "I should have known this didn't work so well in the real world as it does on film," she said and put the broken hairpin into her pocket. "It is times like this I wish I could say Open sesame."

Kirara gave her yet another curious glare.

"I will explain later," Kagome chuckled and stared scrutinizing at the lock. "But if I could…, maybe? Perhaps it is worth a try after all." She looked around herself once more to be sure no prying eyes were staring at this time either, then she closed her own eyes and laid her hands ever so gently on the lock and started focusing on it.

"Please, let this work" she prayed and tried to summon her powers. Except from a few occasions, she had rarely used her powers to actually do anything else than locating jewel shards and purify demons so far. As a priestess it was expected of her to heal illnesses, performing rituals, communicate with the divine and occasionally fight evil, not pickpocketing and breaking up locks. But then again, Kagome was far from any ordinary priestess', mikos or shamans, as some would call her profession. Born into a modern secular age and with very little formal training in her art, she had to improvise. And with that followed plenty of unconventional ideas, picked up from schoolbooks, tall tales, technology, movies, science and popular culture. Traditional ideas, taboos and ancient customs was certainly not going to put limits on her!

Her mind focused hard on trying to bring forth that power which flowed so easily each time she fought demons. And little by little, she felt a tiny stream build up inside her. She had to admit she never had given her extraordinary powers much thought before; the only time must have been the time when they had been sealed away. In retro perspective, she found it strange how easily she had adapted to them, no question from her side whatsoever. The power flowing through her body filled her with warmth and made her hands start to glow ever so slightly, it sang to her like a heavenly voice and Kagome imagined the lock's construction in her mind, using her imagination to show her powers how the device could be opened.

Suddenly her eyes flared open and she smiled mischievous;

"Open sesame!"

And suddenly….."Click"…., the lock opened.

"Hehe. Works like magic," Kagome grinned and pushed the door open. "If everything fails and I flunk in school, I might have a career as a burglar instead!"

This chapter became a little shorter than my usual ones it seems, but I wanted to have a scene were Kagome had to use her powers to do something unusual. After all, even though she is untrianed, her mind doesn't have the restrictions that comes from regular training with fixed rules so she might be more open to new and unusual things. Besides, she also has the adventage of having a far bigger imagination than people living in the feudal era^^ Please review and tell me what you think.