A/N: The promised playlist. It will be growing with the story since I add songs as I work on the chapters.
www. youtube watch? v= 6y85Er8- 5yk&list= PLShFlHYo4-mU5NCtmZois46SQtFz8zVFt
The link will be posted on my tumblr, so head there, if you don't feel like typing that in your browser :D
Beta: Cstorm86

The Girl Sweeps the Yard

It was after lunch and Kagome was dressed in her miko robes. The red and white of the garb was in stark contrast to the vibrant thousands of shadows of green and brown of all the plants growing around the place.

The garden surrounding the shrine area, that was open to visitors, contained mostly trees and bushes that didn't need much tending, the rest was just grass that was cut on a regular basis. Behind the house was a small vegetable and herb garden, herbs being used mostly as spices or in good luck charms. And there was also the forest part of the grounds, growing wild and free. Sometimes her grandfather would sell a tree or two that grew too close to each other or remove dry ones to have some fire wood and make place for new trees.

A few visitors were roaming around the open area, ringing the bell and praying or just soaking in the serene atmosphere of the place. Kagome knew she was going to be the center of attention for many of the visitors, at least at first. The rumors of the new miko would spread fast and some would come to see her performing her duties, even if said duties were as mundane as the sweeping of the yard.

She finished her work and put the broom in the shed when her grandfather approached her. He held a charm in his hands.

"Kagome, dear, could you hang this on the Sacred Tree?" he asked.

"Sure," Kagome took the charm and went behind the corner of the shed where a small box was attached to its side. It housed two pairs of comfortable shoes, that were more easy to walk in through the forest. Kagome kicked the wooden sandals off of her feet and put on her old sneakers, snickering at the contrast of her traditional robe that could fit in the warring states era and her modern footwear. She made sure she had the charm stashed in her sleeve before walking into the shadow of the forest.

She never saw the mischievous Higurashi smirk her grandfather had on his face when he observed her. 'All goes according to my plan. Black rocks are closing on you,' he thought amused. He went to make sure the last two visitors of the shrine were gone before walking after his granddaughter.

Meanwhile Kagome made her way through the forest, dodging the branches and roots that grew across the path to the Sacred Tree. As a child she had made a little game of it, trying to move as quiet as possible, imagining she was Indiana Jones sneaking up on some bad guys in an American movie. When Souta had been big enough he had joined her in the game.

The meadow housing the ancient tree came to view and Kagome smiled, seeing the soft shadows and spots of sunlight filtered through the leaves, all golden and green. It was a picture of serenity, timeless beauty and harmony of nature.

She stopped when she noticed something that didn't fit. A splash of red like fresh blood was at the foot of the Sacred Tree, along with white that was too stark to be just sunlight reflected on the tree's bark.

Kagome stared at the vision in front of herself for a long minute, unable to even comprehend what she was looking at.

There was a boy with indecently long hair that was silver white and looked like it had never been acquainted with a brush. His clothing was as odd as his hair style - it was a red kimono effectively hiding all details of his physique, aside from his bare feet and hands, which were tucked under his cheek as he rested on his side. And he was resting on his side because he was asleep.

As Kagome wasted more time staring at the unsuspecting boy she noticed that there was an old katana laying next to him, but it hardly registered. For her the more important fact was that there was a strange boy sleeping in her forest, his face nuzzling the soft moss and his pose relaxed.

"Hey, you!" she exclaimed, stomping into the meadow, her hands on her hips. "What do you th-!"

She never finished her sentence.

The boy sprang awake. And 'sprang' was a good word there, because he jumped good two meters up in the air before falling to a crouch, facing her, his eyes frantically blinking away the drowsiness of being woken from a deep slumber.

"Don't you try to run away!" she yelled when she saw him looking around. He tensed and glared her way and that was when she had a chance to look at his eyes.

His golden eyes with pupils akin to a cat's, she realized, when at the same time the mane of his hair got pulled down his back and shoulders by always helpful gravity to reveal what had been hidden - a pair of fuzzy Spitz dog ears atop his head. The ears laid back as if they could feel the weight of her eyes on them and wished to find sanctuary in his tousled tresses. The air in the meadow seemed to grow tense, darken and tingle against her skin in a way she couldn't describe.

"Damn!" the boy barked and that brought her out of her stupor. She took a step back, unsure what to think about the sight in front of her. It clearly wasn't a cosplayer that strayed away from a convention. As she stepped back his eyes widened,and then narrowed, his shocked expression turning into a dark scowl.

"Fuck!" he swore again, clearly not happy about being discovered.

"Who...? Wha...?" she stammered out. 'Youkai!' her mind was chanting, partially amazed at the sight of the supernatural (and rather handsome) being, partially stunned to see such a being was real and obviously in a foul mood. She was from a shrine keeping family, she knew a lot of stories about youkai, but she had never seen any. She needed a minute to get over it.

"His name is Inuyasha," came a reply spoken in an amused voice. Both of them looked to the side to see the old shrine keeper smirking at them, standing at the end of the forest path. "And her name is Higurashi Kagome, the shrine keeper you should've approached earlier, dog."

"Grandfather..." Kagome pointed a finger at the white-haired boy. "He... He..."

The said boy growled and sent a glare her finger's way. She immediately tucked her hand against her chest.

"Old fart! You..."

"Don't call my grandfather names!" Kagome scolded the boy, who instantly closed his mouth and just glared at her. She didn't really think about it beforehand, just scolded him as if he was a rude boy, but then when he shut up, she glanced his way, anxious about what he was going to do. Yelling at youkai wasn't the smartest thing to do, according to the folk tales. Angry youkai could do wicked stuff to humans that angered them, maybe she should apologize and give him an offering to appease him?

But the boy didn't move, just glared. The shrine keeper chuckled, finding much entertainment in the situation. He remembered his own introduction to Inuyasha all those years ago.

He had been on his way to the shrine, when a group of soldiers had came to make sure he wasn't smuggling anything, despite the fact that he obviously wasn't. But he was alone and they were probably bored, so they had decided to entertain themselves with a local person. He had doubted they even had recognized he was a priest by his robes or if they simply hadn't cared. He had been sure he was a goner that moment, seeing the five men that were armed while he had nothing beside a bag of food for his family that waited for him at the shrine. They had talked to him, but he hadn't understood their language.

And that had been when suddenly they had opened fire, screaming. He had screamed himself and had collapsed to the ground, frightened but not harmed. They hadn't been even looking at him, aiming their guns at something that had emerged from the forest behind him.

Before he had time to look behind himself he had heard a formidable growl and a white shadow passed over him to land in front of him on paws spread widely, not caring about bullets that hissed about its ears. With a bone-chilling howl the creature charged at the soldiers, who in panic ran to their car parked nearby and sped away, shooting once or twice at the being that had chased them for a dozen or so meters.

The huge white dog had looked back at him, kneeling on the side of the road, staring at him in awe, fright and amazement. When the canine moved its enormous head towards him he had closed his eyes, praying to the gods. He had missed the burst of light, but had felt the furry nuzzle touching his forehead and his reiki rising to meet youki.

'Stop laying around, we have places to go, human,' a gruff voice had spoken in his head.

Grandfather Higurashi smiled fondly at the boy glaring silently his way. 'I guess it's a family tradition to startle new shrine keepers with you, dog,' he thought and was certain the boy's reply would be a snort.

"I already closed the shrine for the day, so we have plenty of time to discuss things without any disturbance," he said and gestured for his confused granddaughter to follow him to a patch of moss where they could sit comfortably. The entertainment wasn't over yet.