Chapter 1: New Beginnings
"I'm off!" Kagome Higurashi called over her shoulder as she left her childhood home. Her mother and grandfather's responding call echoed after her as she crossed the threshold of the shrine. Her pace was brisk as time was ticking dangerously close to when she was supposed to meet up with Eri to walk to school today. Kagome hadn't been able to sleep a wink the night before and now she was paying for it. 'Stupid brain for thinking too much when it's time to sleep,' the priestess mentally chided to herself.
Time seemed to slow down as she passed a particular building on the grounds. Tall trees cast a dappled shadow over the expanse of the Higurashi well house reminding her of the time that passed, and a time that will continue on without her. Kagome had to hold back the instant urge to stop her walking and brush her hand upon the door. Touching the well house could instigate opening the (rather poorly) sealed door and furthermore open up old wounds. The priestess had to chuckle lightly at the layers of ofuda her grandfather plastered on the entrance, the spiritual energy would barely be able to catch her attention if she weren't looking for it.
Even so, Kagome's stomach twisted into sour knots as she forced herself on. The morning was bright and warm against her face, a simple comfort for the day of new beginnings and a reminder to look forward. And she would not be late to her first day of high school!
"Kagome! Hurry up, I don't want to be late!" a voice called at the bottom of the shrine's vast stairs. Eri was waving her towards her friend with a grin on her face. Eri's grin brightened at the pout on Kagome's face, she gave her friend a little nudge on the shoulder. "Come on, don't give me that look. Can't blame a girl for being excited to get goin'!"
"I suppose I can't," chuckled Kagome with a small smile as they began walking towards their new school. Farther down their way, Yuka and Ayumi joined the two girls as they continued on. Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi hadn't changed much since middle school, which meant that their friendship was still there. Albeit, rather strained until this point. With all of the days she missed due to her time traveling and all the lies she had to dish out to placate them, there had been a distance between the trio and Kagome.
Yet even after the closure of the well, Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi obligingly jumped back into her life. They were still the laughing, fun people she would hang out with so often. Their familiar cadence was reassuring, and listening to them talk excitedly about their new high school helped wash away her previous discomforts.
"What about you, Kagome?" The question from Yuka caught the priestess off guard, so much so that she wrapped an arm around Kagome's shoulder. "Girl, you sure know how to daydream. Are you thinking of joining any clubs at Tōō?"
"Honestly, no," Kagome replied with a sigh, her eyes looking up into the sky contemplatively. "With my barely passing middle school, I might just try to stay afloat while I'm there. Besides, I don't know what I would join."
"Kagome, you have to join the track club with me! We could kick all their butts with our combined speed," Eri interjected, small fires burning in her eyes while she pleaded to her friend. Kagome lightly snorted at the suggestion. She did not like the thought of running in front of people. 'Even if it's a demon chasing me, no thank you.' Ayumi was about to pipe up with her own suggestion, but her words were beginning to drown out as the sidewalk began to crowd with more people wearing Tōō Academy's uniform. Distant murmurs and large gates indicated their imminent approach.
The girls couldn't hold back their wide eyes stares as they entered the school grounds, the place was massive and packed with students perusing the club tables. Eri led the charge by marching towards the track club's table to sign up. Kagome had to avoid her friend's best attempt at puppy dog eyes in addition to the track club's captain trying to catch her attention. The situation didn't last long as Yuka and Ayumi wanted to continue seeing more of Tōō's clubs.
In the end, Ayumi managed to get Yuka to sign up for the gardening club with her. As the two chatted animatedly with the club members, the priestess breathed in a sweet, floral breath. The table was decorated extravagantly with massive ferns and shockingly bright blossoms. On the table itself sat a small pot filled with deep red spider lilies. The curling, lanky petals were beautiful, unlike any flower that Kagome had seen before. Why did it fill her with such sorrow to look upon it?
"Come on, Kagome, you have to at least try to look at what they have!" Yuka complained once she and Ayumi were finished. The trio of girls shared a thoughtful look for a moment and with a nod they began to push Kagome forward.
"Let's start with the volleyball club!" exclaimed Eri, who was arm linked to the priestess's right side. Even with her squeaks of indignation, Kagome was pushed around all of the club stands all of which she politely declined upon seeing their hopeful faces.
At their final stop a tall rack of shiny, elegant bows stood proudly next to the kyudo table. At it sat a girl with pretty dark brown eyes, looking bored out of her mind, was watching her male companion who chatted with a couple boys that seemed to be signing up. Once she caught sight of Kagome, the girl's demeanor instantly brightened with a smile.
"Ah, good morning! My name is Kaoru Ito, I'm vice captain of the kyudo club.'' Kaoru stood up with a polite bow. "Have you shot with a bow before?"
"I'm–"
"She has," Ayumi hurriedly claimed. "Kagome's really good too! We've seen her shoot in middle school!" The other two nodded fervently, much to Kagome's chagrin. While not a complete lie, Ayumi (and none of them for that matter) had ever seen her shoot. They only saw the remnants of a frustrated practice session. Kaoru's smile widened even further, even at Kagome's obvious hesitation.
"We welcome boys and girls into the ancient art of the bow! If you know how to handle one then we can get started much sooner." The emphasis on the word girls caused the male next to scoff, earning a mild glare from Kaoru. "Don't listen to him, not enough girls sign up for this club."
Kagome could feel the looks from her three friends, pressuring her to sign up. The priestess gave them a look of irritation. Catching it, they took the hint and walked towards a nearby bench to chat with some other first years. It almost sounded appealing to join the kyudo club. She hadn't shot so long and she could use an outlet to hone her skills with the bow and arrow. Yet, looking upon the rack it filled her with dread. There was no way that Kagome could face it, even her sacred Azusa bow felt wrong in the modern era. 'Even if I wanted to, I'd probably flounder and look like a total idiot.' said a familiar, bitter thought.
"Sumimasen, Kaoru-san. I appreciate the off–" Kagome's decline was once again interrupted by Kaoru handing her a kyudo club flier and a phone number messily scribbled on it.
"If you change your mind, send me a text, ne?" Kaoru's smile was contained and polite, obviously unable to mask the disappointment at the rejection. Kagome took the piece of paper with a polite bow and walked off as fast as she could. The kyudo club's vice captain's aura dimmed considerably as she walked away.
'I can't keep disappointing everyone like this,' Kagome resented as she walked towards the group, her eyes glued to the pavement.
"Aomine-kun!"
It was a sudden jarring collision that interrupted the priestess's bitter thoughts. Kagome stumbled, causing the girl with bright pink hair to descend towards the ground. Just before Pink Hair could, Kagome quickly grabbed her arm preventing a crash. It may have been a while since her time in the Feudal Era, but she hadn't lost her swift reflexes.
"S-Sumimasen! I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going," Kagome said apologetically, gently helping Pink Hair back into a standing didn't seem to be any bruising or scrapes on the girl much to her relief. "I can't believe how clumsy I can be."
With a nervous laugh, Kagome helped Pink Hair back to standing. Once upright, she said nothing, rather she stared directly into Kagome's eyes, a piercing deep pink analyzing cerulean blue. Before the priestess could break the awkward silence, the girl blinded her with a dazzling smile.
"Oh my god, your eyes are gorgeous!" Pink hair gushed, clasping her hands around Kagome's. "I'm Satsuki Momoi! I should be the one apologizing, running into you like that. I was trailing my idiot friend over there who doesn't know how to slow down!" The girl, Momoi, punctuated her sentence with a meaningful glare towards a tall tan male by the basketball club table.
"A-Ano, Momoi, would you let go, please?" The priestess felt warmth spread rapidly across her cheeks at how forward and familiar Momoi was grasping her fingers. With a smile, Momoi let go of her hands.
"Sumimasen, I get excited when I meet new people! What class are you in…" Momoi trailed off.
"Kagome Higurashi, class 1-B if you were curious," the priestess supplied with a polite smile.
"Aomine-kun and I are also in class 1-B!" Momoi exclaimed, her pink eyes sparkling. Suddenly, she pulled out a phone and presented it to Kagome. "Since we're in the same class, we might as well exchange numbers. Ya know, for homework and stuff."
Momoi stuck her tongue out cutely and winked as she held the phone forward. Unable to find the power to say no, and since the phone was already in her hands before she could speak, Kagome typed in her phone number. With a wave, Momoi took off towards the aforementioned "Aomine-kun" at the basketball table. As she watched Momoi walk away, Kagome couldn't help but smile at the girl and her outgoing nature. It was a little jarring, but it was nice to know she would now know someone in her class. Eventually Kagome returned to her friends to head towards class. Her explanation for the hold up would be saved for later.
-00-
The final bell rang signaling the end of the day.
"You definitely owe us some Maji Burger since you refused to join any clubs, Kagome," Yuka chided as they approached the burger shop. It was their tradition after all, to go to the nearest fast food place after school to divulge any and all personal matters. Kagome obliged, still feeling guilty from rejecting all of the clubs' invitations from that morning. While her friends chatted and ate their food, Kagome quietly sipped at her milkshake.
"You know, I'm curious about that Satsuki girl you ran into earlier, Kagome. I feel like I've heard her name before somewhere." Yuka brow creased as she bit into her fries.
"Duh, Yuka. She was the famous manager of the Generation of Miracles!" Eri said. Kagome blinked. 'Generation of… what?'
"Oh, they're that famous team from Teiko, right? I heard they had Kise Ryouta on their team." Ayumi and Eri sighed with a blush at the mention of the former Teiko player's name.
"Of course you'd only know them from the model, Ayumi!" Yuka snorted. Ayumi indignantly snatched and promptly ate a couple of Yuka's fries for the tease, earning a small 'hey!'
"Are they… a football team or something?" Kagome attempted to engage with the conversation with an innocent enough question. When her friends' response was a series of perplexed looks, the priestess concentrated on her milkshake once again now with a red tint to her face. Eri opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a male's rough voice.
"They're about to get their asses handed to 'em, that's what!" declared a boy sitting behind Kagome's head. She turned around to get a look at the intruder. He was rather terrifying to look at with his dark red hair, large frame, and intense burnished stare. Not to mention the mountain of burgers that were piled in front of him.
"Who are you to say that about the Generation of Miracles? And who are you to be listening to our private conversation!" Yuka regarded with an accusatory fry towards the eavesdropper. The red head blushed at the statement and attempted to sputter an answer.
"Sumimasen about interrupting your conversation. Kagami's just very passionate at the idea of beating them in upcoming games, so don't mind him," another boy with ghostly features said passively, his words agitating the red head, Kagami. Kagome couldn't help jumping at the sudden new person added to the conversation. The boy was sitting closest to her side of the booth.
'So how the hell did I not sense him?!' she thought incredulously, nearly choking on her drink. Now that he had her attention, his aura presence was clear, but Kagome had never encountered a human who eluded her abilities before. 'Interesting.' The two boys sitting together seemed like complete opposites of each other. Their interaction made Kagome reminiscent of times when a composed monk would smooth over confrontations from an agitated half demon.
A short time later, the girls were finished with their food and left the burger shop. The sun was stretching lazily over the buildings, hues of orange and pink blending behind fluffy clouds. Once the shrine was within her sights, Kagome waved Eri off into the evening.
The day had been long, the idea that she was currently a high school student still had not sunk in quite yet. However, even with the strange feeling, Kagome couldn't suppress a small smile when she looked at her phone and saw a text from Momoi. She put her phone away without opening or responding to it. It wasn't really fair to the kind pink haired girl, but…
Kagome wasn't quite ready to move on.
A/N: Hello, I'm back! I'm really excited to be writing this new fic. After watching Kuroko no Basuke, I simply couldn't help myself. Be patient with Kagome, she'll encounter a certain Aho here soon enough!