IMPORTANT!!THE FIRST CHAPTER HAS BEEN SPLIT INTO THREE CHAPTERS!!!!
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters. They are property of Rumiko Takahashi.
I pumped my legs harder and my butt slightly rose off the seat as I willed my bike to go faster. I was returning from Temple University, but I was later than usual as I had been talking with Matsuzaki-sensei, my favorite instructor, one last time. We had grown close in the year I was in his class and it would be the last time we would see each other because I was graduating tomorrow (majoring in history). He was kind and easy-going, unlike some of the other teachers I’d had such as Hara-sensei.
Slowly shaking my head, I pushed all of those thoughts to the back of my mind where they would wait until later. Right now I just wanted to enjoy the feeling of this night. Though it was unusually quiet for the streets of Minato, I was enjoying the silence and cool wind as it gently tugged at strands of my hair. I was still caught up in this blissful feeling when a sudden and violent feeling came over me, forcing me to press my brakes so hard I left skid marks.
I had stopped in front of a dark alleyway and as I peered into it never-ending darkness, the feeling increased. It was an aura; a dark aura. Barely suppressed, it threatened to break through the barrier that held it. Even without consulting my own aura which was suddenly more attentive, I knew who this dark aura belonged to and it was certainly no human.
It was a youkai.
Over the past couple hundred years, the youkai population had suddenly decreased as the human population rose. Many were killed and those that survived went into hiding. The youkai that are present in society today are the wiser ones who have hidden amongst the humans in more populated areas. The youkai world might not be what it used to be, but they have still, as far as I know, split the land of Japan into four, creating their own little world in ours. The only difference between now and the past was that humans are dominant. With the demons spreading out to other countries, the amounts in Japan have ultimately lessoned. The population in Tokyo, even, is not as large as it could be.
Apparently a new youkai is in town, I thought and swung my leg over the bike so I could set it down. Every youkai in this area that can’t conform and doesn’t want to get purified within an inch of his or her life lies low. I walked into the alleyway cautiously, trying not to flinch as the demonic aura pressed down on me. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle, but I was taken by surprise at the amount of youka residue left. The only way there could be this much is if there was…I refrained from groaning out loud and quickened my pace. Sure enough, at the end of the alley was a dead body, which appeared to be crumpled in on itself.
Glossy eyes stared up into space, the mouth still frozen in a silent scream. The body itself looked like it could have been there for dozens of years as the muscles beneath the stretched skin was diminished, leaving nothing to the imagination. There was no blood or cuts on the person’s clothes. In fact, it would have just looked like someone merely collapsed if it hadn’t been for the miasma leaking from the victim’s mouth. I squat down and examined the body closer. There were scratch marks on the neck and where it was cut open in some places, the deadly poison seeped out in thin tendrils.
With a deep sigh, I sat back on my haunches and looked around. No witnesses. I was about to stand back up to place an anonymous call to the police when a flash of white caught my eye.
Kneeling back down, I noticed the white was a piece of paper clutched in the dead person’s hand. It fluttered around wildly and I got the impression it wanted me to pick it up. I gave a shallow snort even as I bent down to take it. Following orders from paper, are we? It wasn’t perfectly smooth, but it wasn’t crumpled either. I smoothed it out on the leg of my jeans and held it up to the sky.
HE RISES.
I felt a shudder pass through my body as I read the two words. He rises? What could that mean? As I looked from the paper to the body and back again, I vaguely hoped that it meant a god of some foreign cult or something equally unimportant. But even as I hoped, I knew it wasn’t true. This obviously had to do with the youkai world. And, though it was no longer a practice even by dark priestesses, raising the dead was a knowledge no one knows of. So who is it? I glanced at the body one last time before I left the alleyway. Rather, WHAT is it?
§ § § § §
“Hanajima Kaoru…Haninozuka Miyu….” I fiddled with the sleeve of my black graduation gown as I impatiently waited for my name to be called. “…Hibiya Jin…”
Headmaster Kotobuki Rei listed the names in the slowest way possible and it felt like he was getting slower. Luckily the graduation ceremony for Temple University was inside the auditorium instead of outside so we wouldn’t have to sit in the ridiculous heat. Even so, it still felt like we should be outside with the amount of people crammed in this room. As Kotobuki announced the next person to receive their diploma, I gave a sigh of relief; I was up.
“Higurashi Kagome.” He boomed with slightly more vigor than the others.
I smiled a little and lifted the hem of my gown so I could walk across the stage. As I approached him, Kotobuki held out my Bacheloretes diploma, I placed my right hand on it and bowed low. When I straightened, I paused a second so that my family could take a couple pictures. In the second that I stopped, a shock of bright silver hair among the crowd drew my eyes. I froze.No, it’s not possible.
“Ehem,” Kotobuki cleared his throat and I flushed, realizing that I had been up on the stage for too long and everyone was impatiently waiting for me to leave. Taking the rolled up slip of paper, I crossed the stage as calmly as I could and went back to my seat. I sank down into my chair with barely suppressed shock. Who is that? Why are they here? Is it a demon? I decided to snake my aura across the room, searching for any hint of a demonic presence that would be out of place. Besides the familiar few demon parents of a couple fellow graduates, I sensed none. So then he or she is human. Then what was up with the silver hair? I haven’t seen that color for years.
“…class of 2010!” seeped into my mind and I hardly had time to leap up when everyone threw their caps into the air. Shouts filled the room and echoed off the walls. All of my excitement over graduating suddenly gone, I stood alone as the people around me milled away laughing and talking. I slid the cap off my head and gave it a small toss.
“Happy graduation,” I murmured and turned to find my family.
I found them standing outside waiting for me. My mother, Higurashi Ayako, was talking with Souta, but when she saw me, stopped and gave me a big hug.
“Oh sweetie,” she cried as she squeezed the life out of me. “I’m so proud of you! You got your diploma!”
“Thanks Mama,” I wheezed as she stepped back.
Souta stepped forward and hugged me gently. “Mom wouldn’t stop taking pictures,” he declared and pulled away. “She even got one of you scratching your nose.”
I made a mock-horror face and we all laughed.
“I’m sure your grandfather would have been proud to see this day. May the kami bless him,” my mother said and I noticed her eyes got watery for a moment before she smiled again a bit too big. “In any event, why don’t you go say farewell to your friends and meet us at the bus stop. I cooked your favorite.”
“Yaki soba?” I asked hopefully and she nodded. “Alright, I’ll be right there.”
When my mom and Souta walked away, my friends, Arisa, Mai, and Izushami, immediately pounced on me, taking picture after picture. When they were finished, black and green dots danced in front of my eyes.
“Alright guys, that’s it. No more,” I pushed them away and I heard a chorus of sighs.
“Come one Kagome,” Izushami whined. “One more picture?”
“Yeah,” Mai agreed, flicking a strand of black hair that had fallen to the cover one of the characters on her yankee coat. “It’s not like it’s going to kill you.”
“At the very least we’ll all go blind,” Arisa said.
I stared at the three of my friends with interest. Izushami is a bubbly and outgoing American, Mai used to be a yankee but she’s softened (a little) after she left them, and Arisa is soft spoken and not very outgoing. Since the three of them are so different, it was hard to get them to agree on anything.
“Fine,” I gave a defeated sigh, but still smiled widely as my friends crowded around me once more.
“Hey, Freshman!” Mai called out to a gawky looking teenager who was walking by. Poor thing was scared out of his pants, the way she called him out.
“H-h-hai?” He stuttered.
“Take our picture for us, will ya?” she asked and threw him a camera. He fumbled with it for a second then steadied his shaking hands.
“Okay. Ready? One, two, three.”
Just as we all smiled, my gaze flickered to a figure walking away. It was that same person with the silver hair! I had to talk to them!
“Arigato guys,” I gave them all quick hugs as I tried to keep the silver haired person in my eyesight. “Send me copies of those pictures; call me sometime and we’ll get together! See ya!”
I took off after the person, lifting my gown so I could run faster.
“Hey! Wait!” I shouted at the person and, finally reaching them, grabbed onto their arm.
The person turned around and I stepped back, shocked. This was definitely not what I expected. What DID you expect, Kagome? I wasn’t entirely sure, but I knew the person in front of me was not it.