HPIY

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Tick-Tock Tick-Tock

Stupid clock…

1...

The teenager sighed, a deep and fulfilled sound. It had been quite a while, she mused, since she had been in a school.

It was…nice…

2...

Okay, albeit half of the time she couldn't care less, but right now it was kind of cool, and sure, she didn't pay much attention back then, but now…

3...

Alright, even now she wasn't paying much attention. It was something about math she supposed, that could leave her bored so quickly.

4...

The plus signs, the division, those damned polynomial equations! She'd rather be fighting demons…

5...

Oh, the teenager sighed, she really did want to be fighting demons, she really wished to be back in the past…

6...

Images danced before her vision, leaving wisps of memories long forgotten, brutally forced to be that way. Sparks ignited a fire, all silent except to her…

7...

A sparkling jewel, pink and innocent looking, deceptive she knew. Silver hair swaying in the breeze, a deep resonating chuckle sounded, followed quickly by a satisfying slap. A soft mew somehow filtered through the noise, and twin green orb sparkled in her eyes, leaving her blinded and helpless and- no.

8...

She would not remember. It was gone, they were gone, and it did no good for those memories to show up. A distraction would be nice, something to keep her mind's eye far away from … that. She whined. Why was math so boring!

9...

She sighed, tilting her head slightly to gaze out the window. She didn't deserve to want to go back, but she couldn't help but violently wish just that. Maybe-

10...

Briiiiing!

The anything-but-graceful bell resonated deep into Kagome, rousing her from the memories that threatened to overwhelm her conscience. She jolted up from the desk she was temporarily seated in, shaking her head afterwards. She needed to forget and push down those memories, and her friend Cho was only a few desks away. She waved, trying to get the girl's attention.

"Cho!"

Recently Kagome had been suffering from bouts of strong depression. At times she was almost the normal teenager she had been before that incident had happened, but at most she was a shell of her former self. It wasn't too surprising to Kagome, the depression she meant. The actual incident in itself was.

However, it did shock her family, enough for them to send her off to London when it didn't go away.

London.

Kagome had been extremely put-off by this. What, didn't they realize she wanted to be depressed in Japan? Nope. If she remember correctly her mother's words were 'I don't care about what you think you need, and I don't care about how angry you will be at me when you finally start feeling something again. Which I know you will. All I care about is getting you away from this house and away from those damned memories!'

How perceptive. It was odd, how well her mother knew here. Intuition she'd guess. She grudgingly admitted that she did feel a little better. Only slightly.

Anyway, it turned out that when Kagome was in elementary school she had befriended this transfer student from China. 'Best buds' as Kagome's mom put it. Kagome personally had no recollection of this incident, but trusted her mother enough to recognize the fact that it was probably true. Cho remember her at least. Through the kids, Kagome's mom and Cho's parents became good friends which was the only reason Kagome thought she was allowed to stay at there house for an 'indefinite' amount of time. That and the fact that Cho's parents were extremely nice.

So now Kagome was stuck in school again, even though it was the middle of summer. All she could squeeze out of Cho about the reason she was in summer school, because personally Kagome thought Cho was rather bright, was that her parents thought the school she was going to was too specified, and they wanted Cho to learn some variety of things. And Kagome was just along for the ride. No way was she staying in that house, alone, with no one but her memories to keep her company.

"Oh, Kagome! Just one sec please!"

That was Cho's reply. The girl seemed to be talking to the teacher about something. Kagome rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. Oops. She hadn't noticed that in her haste to change the subject that she was thinking of, that they had been in a discussion. It looked important too.

Whoops.

Oh well, Cho appeared to be coming over to greet her now and Kagome was about to be safely rescued from the past.

"So what's up?"

Kagome plastered on a smile quickly, thinking of an excuse to give to her friend. Uh, I was thinking about my close friends' death, which I don't want to, so I interrupted your important talk to help me out? Sorry for being so selfish?

"Uh…err…the ceiling?" It was more of a question then an answer.

Cho just giggled. Kagome found it very feminine, and very foreign to her.

"Kagome, you're so weird."

She just grinned sheepishly again, before suggesting that they should start off home. Cho smiled again, grabbed her books and the duo started on the path back to the house. Or rather, Kagome started dragging her friend along the long, narrow walkway that led to Cho's house. Kagome didn't actually know if it did or not, but the tall jade trees were too pretty to avoid.

Besides, they'd get home eventually.

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It would have been a short walk back to Cho's house, if Kagome hadn't pulled them along the path that took twice as long to make there way through. It was exhilarating and a nice walk in the park for Kagome, who was used to running across Feudal Japan. Cho on the other hand seemed to find it agonising. The nice thing Kagome liked about Cho, and she didn't mean to make it seem like she didn't like her if it wasn't for this reason, but what she really enjoyed was that she, and no one else for that matter, knew about her supposed 'sicknesses' and therefore didn't treat her like a china doll.

"Kagome, slow down, wait for me!" Cho drew up to Kagome, having had fallen behind, trying to catch her breath "How do you work up the stamina for this?! We've been going for hours and you haven't slowed down!"

Kagome shook her head admonishingly at Cho. "Why my dear friend, if you can't work up the stamina for a few miles of a walk," a sarcastic snort, very un-feminine Kagome noted, came from the direction of her friend "then what would happen should you find yourself in a life-threatening condition which requires a nice, sound sprint?"

"Kagome?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you find yourself in life-threatening situations often?"

You have no idea. Kagome sighed slightly, before turning to Cho and plastering on a very angry look, that might of scared a few individuals if it wasn't for the obvious mirth dancing in here eyes. Kagome smoothed out the imaginary lines from her skirt and starting stalking away from Cho.

"Humph! Maybe I do!" she huffed.

Cho laughed, which was now feminine again, and jogged slightly too once more catch up to Kagome. She poked her companion in the side.

"You shouldn't take such offence." She pouted slightly, earning a grin from Kagome.

"Nope. But this is more fun."

Cho scowled. "So making fun of me aside, how much longer do you think we have 'til we get back to the house?"

"It's your house isn't it?"

Cho nodded, but extended a finger to a sign they were passing which showed some street name or another that Kagome didn't care to read.

"Yeah. But I usually go home that way. You ran out so fast I didn't tell you, and I wanted to get back at you for running out so quickly by letting you walk the long way, but now I'm the one who's tired!"

"Serves you right,"

"Kagome!!"

The dark-haired teen from the past grinned at her friend, and it was in such a fox-like way that it startled Cho for a few seconds. Who knew her innocent friend from so long ago could look so…sneaky.

"Fine, fine. After all, I obviously get out more then you do," Another poke in the side was Kagome's reward for the snide comment "I would wager we have…about another ten minutes!"

"Yesss!" Kagome started laughing when Cho brightened up considerably and let out the cheer.

"So you don't like physical activity then?"

Cho sighed dramatically. "Never. What made you think that?"

This time it was Kagome who jabbed her friend in the side.

"Meanie."

Cho just started laughing.

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"Ahhh!! It's good to be home!!" The teenaged witch stretched, curling out along the bed.

"Home shmome, you're just happy to be sitting down."

Cho grinned at her friend before slipping on a peaceful smile. "Ah dear Kagome, you read me like a book."

Kagome chuckled at that. "You're so lazy Cho."

"Yup!"

Kagome was lying on her back, her feet sticking straight up and tilting to rest against the wall. Her entire body formed an 'L' shape and her eyes rest on the white ceiling. Cho on the other hand was sprawled out on her bed, they were in her room after all, having had ran to her room and flopped down on the bed as soon as they reached her front door.

Kagome flipped over, tucking her knees beneath her legs. She looked up at her friend, regarding her through sage blue eyes.

"Cho?"

Cho tilted her head slightly so she could see Kagome better. "Hmm?"

Kagome paused slightly, unsure of how to approach the topic.

"If you go to a school that doesn't teach core subjects, well…err…what do they teach you then?"

Kagome had been wondering for a while about this. The stuff they were learning at summer school was simple really, nothing any school wouldn't teach. Her friend wasn't stupid, but from casual observation Kagome could easily tell that she didn't know a lot of the topics they were learning. Some of the math homework Kagome could help her in, and that was saying a lot. The times hadn't been kind on Kagome's math skills, and the three years since she had fallen through the well hadn't taught her much more.

"Oh, it's a far away school. Very different from out here."

Kagome frowned, noticing how Cho wouldn't meet her eyes directly, and still hadn't answered the question.

"Yeah, but what do they specialize in then?"

By this point Cho had sat right up and was looking a little panicky. Why, Kagome wondered. What could possibly be that bad?

"Erm…stuff here and there. Uh, listen, I have to go to the bathroom so…"

Kagome slumped back down and sighed, nodding her head towards her friend. Her eyes followed the young girl until she had disappeared around the corner.

Kagome's eyes narrowed. She was no idiot. If the whole 'I'm-a-miko-I-can-sense-it' thing hadn't tipped her off, it would have been obvious Cho was hiding something anyway. She didn't think her friend realized that she had already gone to the bathroom since they had been home.

It had originally started when Kagome had gotten of the plane from Japan, but she hadn't recognised it until she was back at Cho's house, half-asleep. At first it was just a dull tug at the edge of her senses, nothing that her mind had acknowledged. But gradually, and with a little help from her memories, Kagome had finally had to face the facts.

Cho knew magic.

It didn't surprise Kagome that she hadn't seen it, or felt it in this case. She had been so focused on the fact that there couldn't be anything related to the Feudal Era in her time, no demons or magical beings, that she never even gave the possibility any credit. But it was undeniably easy to spot when you knew what to look for, and it made sense too. Humans couldn't have killed out all of the creatures that lived five hundred years ago, or squashed all of the magic that was so potent in the air back then.

Of course, so focused and intent on the idea that there weren't any spiritual beings in this time, it took Kagome some time to recognise it. And she was so stupid for not realizing a person's awoken spiritual energy when she felt it, especially since it wasn't exactly common in this era.

Actually, Kagome conceded, it wasn't that common in her part of town back home. She had seen several auras like Cho's out here, and wouldn't be all that surprised if she saw even more in the following weeks she was staying here. Of course she didn't dare hope, but still. What if at least magic could exist in her time?

So, the only option was to either get Cho to fess up, or find out on her own. And since Cho was so conveniently returning to this 'specialized' school in a few weeks, who was to say Kagome couldn't 'look around' or 'follow' her dear friend. If the school was so specialized something must be there for Cho's parents to allow her to attend this school. Something possibly magical.

And Kagome was so going to find out what.

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"No, no, I'll be fine here! I'm already eighteen so I should know how to take care of myself for a while anyway!"

Two pairs of dubious eyes locked with the smiling ones in front of them suspiciously.

"Are you sure? You haven't even set a definite time yet."

A bright smile formed just to reassure the parents. "Of course, of course. "She shrugged the worry off with a wave of her hand. "I even have my mother's permission to be on my own for a while. And after all, you guys have to see Cho off at that train station and I wouldn't want to intrude."

"You wouldn't be intruding Kagome-Chan…"

Kagome smiled at the two adults in front of her fondly. Even after all this time they still used the old honorifics that they had back then.

"No, no, it's more of a family thing I'm sure. It's best I start being independent now anyway."

Well, I guess if you're sure…"

"Oh, I am!!"

"Okay then Kagome-chan, we'll be off."

"Okay! I'll see you in about a few weeks!! Bye!!"

Her warm blue eyes watched as the two forms of Cho's parents crept out of the inn, leaving to bid their daughter good-bye as she left for school, before hardening again when no one was looking.

"Finally…" The young woman muttered. She never thought those two would leave! It wasn't that she didn't love them to pieces, but really!! She was eighteen after all!!

It had taken a while, but Kagome had finally figured out how to follow Cho to this 'school' of hers without notifying either Cho or her parents of that fact. Of course, it would be impossible to sneak off for a few weeks without them noticing, and Kagome wanted all of her bases covered in case this place turned out to be interesting enough. Also, since Kagome hadn't sensed any magical barriers or enough colourful auras, which was a sure sign of being around magical folk, she wagered that the school was far away. If she was going to be gone a long time Cho's parents would get suspicious.

Kagome was fairly sure this trip would turn out to be long, and worthwhile she hoped, anyway. After all, Cho's aura was too promising for Kagome not to be right about this for once.

All humans had spiritual power within themselves, not in abundance like say a priest or a priestess might have, but a little bit. Most humans in this era remained ignorant to that fact, their auras looking like a dull grey tint, but there were the few whose auras flared wildly with color, if one knew what to look for. These people were humans who both possessed spiritual power in the loads and couldn't suppress it, or ones who were taught how to use their spiritual power. Since Kagome could tell Cho didn't have the amount of power needed for that kind of aura, she knew that her friend must have learned how to use it. Learned at a school, or at least, Kagome hoped that was it. Otherwise this whole ordeal would be pointless.

Three years in the Feudal Era had taught Kagome lots, and after a few sessions with Kaede and Miroku about spiritual energy ('More like a bazillion' ), Kagome fancied that she knew more about it then your average monk did. Like why was one aura say, a pink color, like Kagome's, or a deep dark grey like that man in the alley way, the imaginary one Kagome was making up for this short explanation.

Simple. Kagome's was pink because of the Shikon no Tama, a story she wasn't ready to go into details at this time, and the man's was a dark grey because he thought a lot of dark ideas in his twisted little mind.

Oh, maybe Naraku had a very, very dark aura. Kagome never had looked.

Anyway, Cho's aura, along with the few others she had seen converging in the small London area she had resided in up 'til now, were dulled, but with some still-existent colors. Each varied depending on who it was. And that was what gave Kagome hope that this was worthwhile.

So after having decided to pursue her friend to this school of hers, all Kagome had to figure out was how. And the answer was really quite simple.

Run to Mama.

She had called her up, initially to reassure her everything was fine and that she was fine as well. She guessed her mother could hear the truth in that statement, because she seemed much happier afterwards. And it was then it had hit Kagome that of her mother was the one who had set up the arrangement with the Chang family, she was the one who could get her out of it.

----------flashback-ish----------

It was already over with, Kagome decided; she didn't really need to ask her mom.

Although she knew her mother would probably agree without questioning her sweet innocent daughter's motive.

And she really wanted to go.

Okay, she could do it, she could do it, she could so do this.

"Err…ugh…ih?"

No, that wasn't doing it that was the opposite of that, which was not doing it.

"Hmm? Is there something else you want Kagome?"

Oh, her dear, sweet mother. She didn't have a clue what Kagome wanted right now.

Okay, she could do this.

"Mama?"

"Yes Kagome dear?"

The girl in question sighed. Get it over with Kagome!

"Mama, I really need a favour from you. It's kind of odd and I can't really explain much about it but…"

Although it was unseen, the mother nodded decisively. "You've found something, haven't you?"

And like her mother, Kagome too nodded, but hesitantly instead of with conviction. She also knew the gesture would not be followed. "Erm….I might of…"

"Alright then! What do you need?"

Whew.

Kagome sighed in relief. Her mother was so helpful, never questioning what her daughter might actually be dong…

"I need an excuse so that I can leave the Chang's for a few weeks…"

Kagome's mother smiled. "Consider it done."

A shaking, disbelieving grin stretched along Kagome's face.

Good.

---------That's---over--now------

Easy-peasy.

Eww, did she really just think that?

Anyway, that was how Kagome ended up in some sort of tavern, picking the first one she had seen in her haste to get away from Cho's parents. It wasn't the cleanest of places, sure, but that didn't really matter. She was leaving right now anyway.

Okay, gave the Chang's my cell number, have an alibi, have permission, and have a teeny, tiny suitcase filled with shrunken objects. Now all I have to do is leave, find the train station, find Cho, and follow her to where-ever it is she's going.

Easy said then done.

Kagome loitered around the tavern entrance for a few more minutes, before working up the courage to step out into the warm, London air.

Let's see, I need a taxi…

So, with one foot in front of the other, Kagome made her way to a populated street, uncomfortably close to the inn she might have been living in. How she convinced her hosts to let her stay there for a few weeks was beyond her. Oh well, it didn't matter right now any-

Oh!! Taxi!

Kagome stood on the tips of her toes, waving her hand to flag down the taxi cab. It reminded her of home, back in Japan it was every one car to two cabs, and two cabs to every eighteen bikes.

She smiled at her own weird joke, more at the attempt then the joke itself.

The taxi driver rolled down the window, tipping his hat towards Kagome.

"'Allo miss, 'ere you be off to?"

Kagome took a deep, shuddering breath, anxious at the unknown prospect, and spoke the words that sealed her fate.

"To King's Cross please."

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