Ashes

Prologue

"Balance. Fairness. Equality.

These are the three keys to leadership; all else surround them.

Our world has strayed from these undeniable truths. It has resulted in chaos and bloodshed over the course of the last couple of centuries. Nation fought against Nation, driving their respective governments into the painful consequences of war upon the people: Food shortages, a failing economy, disease for lack of medicine, and consequently uprisings and protests, day after day.

Now is not so different. The country known as Atholma has remained the last relatively wealthy organization since its victory in the war fifty years ago. Yet political corruption has reached it still. The unjust passing of laws, raising taxes to upkeep the country's military based persona, and other such things have all resulted from the many loop holes in terms of who is loyal and who is not.

Now the uprisings have grown into full on rebellions throughout the separate cultural divisions made by the government-called discidiums-fighting against the warped views of the President and his followers. They call themselves the keepers of peace, but the people have mockingly named them Deceivers.

Among the chaos there exists a group that seems to be both the most hated and loved for their actions. Hated for their persistence and loved for their resistance, they call themselves the Phasmatis rebellion. Little is known about them other than their undeniable efforts to stop the Deceivers and their mission of selfishness, aggression, and greed. You would be considered lucky to meet someone of this group; and even then it would only be in passing.

After all, we are faceless ghosts in the night."

-Chapter 1-

How fast could he possibly run? How long would it last? How could it change so quickly? Things he'd once believed, things he'd thought to be truth-all a lie. He'd been lied to. How was it possible? After all the betrayal he'd already experienced, how had he let this happen?

'Get to them!'

'Get to them now!'

The voice with no name scolded incessantly in his ears, the pounding of his heart almost painful. He could feel the hot sensation building up in his muscles as he pushed his fatigued body onward, bare feet beating against the wet pavement in a panicked rhythm.

Panicked-afraid-he never thought he'd see the day he felt it. Those two discolored eyes of his, the left a dark violet and the right golden amber, glowed even in the darkness of nightfall. His parched mouth remained closed, not even making any sudden noises.

High above, the clouds covered the dimly lit streets of the city, an almost ominous energy to feel. The full moon's great brightness still shone enough to outline the darkness in a coat of dull silver, a swift north wind passing the clouds along. It was cold to the skin for this early in August, smelling of nothing but exhaust fumes and a hint of fresh rain.

'Faster! You need to go faster!'

Thick locks of onyx colored hair trailed behind the fleeing figure, blown back by the speed rushing it past his shoulders. The exposed skin of his arms and face were chilled from the sweat, enough to dampen the fabric on the upper chest of his shirt.

Then there was the unmistakable sound of a gun reloading, barely enough warning to turn and see which direction the echoed sound had come from. He grit his teeth.

'Shit!'

"Hold it right there, Eiyuu!" A harsh male voice shouted over the thundering sound of a semi-automatic popping bullets. If this guy knew his name already, it meant he had less time than first assumed. Bright flashes of light sparked to life for every shot made and the gunman's eyes squinted from the force of them.

Dodging swiftly, Eiyuu knew this wasn't the time for a battle with some random agent. Whatever it took, he had to get tothe safe house! That was the only concern; the next step. Everything had now been put in jeopardy because of him, and he had to fix it.

Eiyuu quickly ran on past the shooter attacking him. To make sure they lost his trail turned a few sharp corners, down alley ways and over a chain link fence or two. Even without a weapon, he was unstoppable.

'Just a bit further! Just a bit further!' He repeated within his thoughts, the burning sensation in his legs no longer consciously bothering him. He was numb to the world, his senses dulled and detached, but enough adrenaline pumping within him to push him forward, to goad him on.

Finally as Eiyuu rushed up the tall and rather long flight of stairs, he met his destination. He scanned over the building he stood in front of, the man who had been attacking him somehow no longer an issue. This place, the safe house, was a shrine. He paused to heave for much needed oxygen, still somewhat amazed how chaotic things had become. Nothing seemed too out of place here, at least.

The clean cut front lawn of the shrine prickled at Eiyuu's shoe-less feet as he walked farther in, the cold breeze he'd felt in the city below no longer brushing past his sweat covered skin. The scent of various types of strong smelling herbs wafted into his nose from a garden just behind the building as he studied the area. It was a mostly wide open hill top, dotted with cherry blossom trees and stone benches. It almost looked like something from another era, traditional and aged.

Eiyuu made his way to the side of the two story shrine, to a tree he'd somehow remembered led up to one of the bedroom windows. There was no time to bang on the front door and wait. Climbing his way up, he reached the appropriate window in less than five minutes.

"This window better be open." He murmured aloud, rough and well worked hands grabbing onto the end of the window and attempting to slide it open, only to find it locked. "Dammit!" he grumbled under his breath. Oh yes, Boushin would hear it from him when this was all over.

Seeing no other option Eiyuu began tapping on the glass, knowing who usually stayed here. "Kagome! Kagome open up!" He hissed barely above a whisper between his clenched teeth. The seconds ticked by, and no answer came to his risky noise-making. Eiyuu grew even more uneasy and uncomfortable. Even in his particular circumstance, he couldn't help feeling odd. What other guy did this girl know that would jump up a tree to her bedroom window in the middle of the night with Deceivers on his tail? It didn't help that this wasn't the first time he'd run here for safety.

'This is different!' he reminded himself in a panic. This one time was so entirely different he had no choice but to come, even against previous warnings he'd gotten that he could be caught.

Past memories aside, Eiyuu finally realized the girl was either out of town or just a really heavy sleeper tonight. 'What the hell is wrong with this chick?!' he vented in frustration. Now was definitely not the time to ignore gentleman callers.

"Step away from the window you bastard!"

'Aw shit.'

A large blinding spotlight was flashed at the young man's back as he flinched from the loud noises that followed the first agent's demand. Guns were loaded and aimed while more men surrounded the shrine and what looked like police cars pulled up behind them. The sirens were flashing, the men were yelling, and as Eiyuu turned around with eyes squinting from the bright lights, there was one more surprise that stunned him even more.

Kagome was standing there.

In a suit.

With a Berretta 96.

Aimed at him.

He jolted awake, gasping for air.

His whole body was trembling, the sound of a rapid heartbeat pounding in his ears. His two toned eyes remained fixed on the foot of his bed. Muscles were tightly flexed and tense as he forced his lungs to expand. Strands of long dark hair clung to the sides of his face. An uncomfortable sensation washed over his skin. He was covered in sweat.

The irrational feelings of panic and stress coursed through him in aftershock. His breathing was heavy and echoed through the darkness of his room. Lingering images flashed through his mind, the sounds and smells still seeming all too real. The open air, the burning in his chest from running, the rainwater under his bare feet, the deafening sound of gun fire-it could have been a memory for all he knew.

It wasn't until he regained feeling in his hands did he realize he'd been holding onto something through the entire ordeal. It felt oddly heavy and cold.

Taking a deep breath, the man turned to examine the item and came back to himself at seeing it. How could he forget? The one tie to any sort of sane reality he had.

His Desert Eagle handgun. One of the two he owned. It was engraved on its side with his initials: Y.E, standing for Yasha Eiyuu. A signature imprint for all his weapons. He hesitantly set it back down on his nightstand. Still in a confused haze he scanned about his apartment, as if to make sure everything was as it should be.

He could hear the noise from the busy 'nightlife' outside; horns honking and cars racing by, the occasional person shouting angrily at someone else for whatever reason. The city lights shined through his only closed window like an ominous shroud, shadowed outlines from his few pieces of furniture visible. The small unpainted wooden work desk he'd bought a few months ago sat pushed against the right wall, a cheap office chair in front of it. Various types of metal tools, gun parts, and blueprints lay there as he had left them before he'd gone to sleep. He had a tall lamp in the right corner as well, the cover for it a faded tone of red.

Yasha took another breath, attempting to calm himself. Closing his eyes he raked a hand through his scalp out of nervous habit, feeling ridiculous for reacting so strongly to something like a nightmare. He plopped down on his mattress with an arm covering his sweaty forehead, long dark hair fanning out around him on the sheets. He'd been told by various people to cut it since it wasn't very 'normal' for a grown man to have the chosen hair style, but he had his reasons for keeping it the way he did.

Staring blankly at the ceiling and tuning out all the sounds around him, his mind wandered back to the dream that had woken him. The big parts were already faded and forgotten, but the glimpses of street lights and buildings he did remember had Yasha somewhat curious.

What came to him first was the way the buildings had been Italian based and structured. Atholma's Capitol City, Erune, was one of the only places he'd been to that had carried the country's predominant culture so pronouncedly. It was strange that he would dream of such a place. The last time he had been to Erune was when he was just a squirt, running from the law. Deceiver agents had been after him in the dream too. He hadn't even cared to know of them when he was that young. It didn't fit. The other thing, that weird voice when he had been running towards the safe house; it hadn't been his. More of a strange hollow voice. It had sounded panicked and-female? Why the hell was he hearing some woman's voice in his head?

Yasha chuckled aloud at that. 'Boushin would be proud. The perv.'

Ah, Boushin-Miroku Boushin-was put simply Yasha's 'boss' or leader in the line of work they were involved in. A pretty level headed guy. Worked exceptionally well under pressure and majored in strategic know how. His only real quirk was his over bearing sex drive. He paid for it daily; ending up slapped or socked in the face by whoever was unlucky enough to get groped.

Thinking of his 'boss' brought Yasha out of his personal reflections rather quickly. Boushin wasn't exactly a friend, and more often than not served as an annoying reminder of work and the stresses that came with it. Yasha didn't exactly have a normal job as it was. He didn't sit at a desk all day and answer phone calls for some hot shot business owner or company. In fact, what he did do could be considered illegal.

Of all things, Yasha worked for a rebellion. The Phasmatis rebellion to be exact.

It was the only active one out there that had yet to be crushed by the government forces, better known as the Deceivers. It went without saying the goal was to take them out and reestablish stability of the nation. Perhaps the reason why this organization had lasted so long was because of its unity, it being divided by each of the ten cultural discidiums that existed in Atholma. Each branch of Phasmatis had four main members that were required to have certain skills. Yasha was one of those four. He was the weapons specialist of the Japanese discidium, though he mostly dealt with making and designing guns. This meant sacrificing sleep on a regular basis, and getting called in for emergencies at odd hours.

As if on cue a loud beeping noise sounded from somewhere in the room, a small blue light flashing. With a sigh Yasha got out of bed and walked the distance to his desk where the sound was coming from. The disturbances were from his cell phone. He answered it.

"Yeah?" He hadn't realized he would sound so tired and raspy.

"I have news." It was his partner Sango's voice. She was also one of the major four. She was specially trained to identify all sorts of security and defense in the world of technology and hack into them; she was sort of a nerd that way. Of course, she'd punch your face in if you ever called her out on it. Despite any flaws, she was reliable and trustworthy in the field.

Yasha's eyes narrowed in seriousness. "What is it?"

"Boushin got a call from the capital base. Apparently they think they might have Intel regarding the location of the Deceivers' HQ."

Speaking of the capital-or as they called them, the higher ups-and the Deceiver organization in the same breath was never good. Both were important, the capital division being the head of the Phasmatis rebellion itself and the other basically being the nation's dark shadow. To have news like this was huge, especially now. Boushin was supposed to be in hiding last Yasha had heard, but things had obviously changed.

"What's that mean for us?" He asked, already grabbing a change of clothes from his dresser to get ready and go wherever he was needed. There was no way Sango was calling to fill him in on such news out of courtesy.

There was a shuffling sound of paper on the other line. "We've been ordered to scope out the place. They want to be one hundred percent certain this is legit before anything's done. We can't be spotted."

"These people are way too careful. For all we know this supposed Intel could be a diversion or trap or something. Sounds like a giant waste of time." Yasha argued, the phone pressed against his ear with his left shoulder while he slipped into a pair of formal work pants.

Sango chuckled bitterly on the other line. "My thoughts exactly. But we can't go against orders, you know that. Boushin would have our heads if we jeopardized such a crucial assignment."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll meet you at base in a few."

"Good. Oh, one more thing I should mention. We've got a new recruit coming in soon."

Yasha raised a brow at this while putting on a white dress shirt. "What? Since when do we take on new recruits?"

"Boushin said it was necessary and beyond his control. To tell you the truth, it's got me feeling uneasy." Yasha could hear it in her voice.

"I second that. Do we know anything about him?"

"Only that her name is Kagome," Sango stated. "Boushin wouldn't tell me her last name for whatever cryptic reason."

Yasha stopped his rushed movements, actually dropping his black shoes on the floor from shock. He could have sworn his heart stopped beating.

"Yasha? Hello?"

That name. There was just no way.

"You better not have hung up on me you ass." Sango's voice brought him back temporarily.

"I'll be down in a bit." He didn't wait for a reply and ended the call. He could take on Sango's wrath for it later.

More flashes from his previous dream came rushing back. Kagome-were they one and the same? He hadn't even remembered that part of it until now. Recalling the feeling of betrayal he had felt when she had been pointing a gun at him in that world of illusion, he had known this Kagome person.

The thing about it was, here in the real world, he didn't.

Yasha tried to picture what details about the woman he could remember. She had lighter colored eyes and skin, and what seemed to be darker colored hair? Even that description wasn't concrete. What did it matter? His main concern was why in the hell he had a dream about someone he'd never even met. Another curiosity was how and why she was getting involved with the rebellion in the first place. It was no easy task tracking down a member to ask permission, and the background check carried out if you were approved was rigorous and detailed. Sango had said it had been beyond Boushin's control to deny, so how important was this person for the higher ups to bypass the man's authority?

All the sudden questions had Yasha's head spinning, and it was starting to irritate him. 'Screw this. I shouldn't care about all this. All I should care about is my paycheck.' With a reaffirming nod, Yasha resumed getting himself ready to leave. There was no time for a shower.

Even after how long he had worked for this rebellion, there was still one thing Yasha had yet to learn about the world around him.

There was no such thing as coincidences.

-[]-[]-[]-

"-up for school!" came a distant voice from beyond the darkness of sleep for the girl in question. She was pulled into a state of semi-consciousness, and then quickly fell back into the blur of her dreams without much argument. But after what felt like just a few short seconds, the nagging voice returned. "Kagome, don't make me tell you again!"

A raspy groan finally responded to the call. The petite figure rolled over from her position in bed to stare blankly at the ceiling as her mind cleared out the fog. It took a moment for her grey-blue eyes to readjust their focus after being so deep asleep, but they eventually saw the light shining in from the bedroom window just next to her nightstand.

'Morning already?' Glancing at the small digital alarm clock at the end of her nightstand, Kagome immediately jolted awake in horror.

School was starting in five minutes!

Carelessly tossing her cozy blue covers aside, she jumped out of bed and grabbed the first school uniform she could reach for from her disorganized closet. She then began a panicked dance between brushing her wavy black hair and putting on a clean pair of socks, until there was an impatient knock at the door.

"You're going to be late!" The noticeably soft voice from before, her mother's, continued to nag in a firm tone.

"I'm coming!" Kagome snapped with building agitation. Honestly, it wasn't like she was graduating or anything, today at least. Just thinking of the intrusive stares she'd no doubt receive from teachers and schoolmates upon walking in late that day made her cringe.

'Hopefully someone will be willing to spare me some sort of energy drink at lunch before I pass out.' She thought with dread, decidedly giving up on hurrying since she would be late no matter what, and walked with defeated strides to put her notepad in her backpack.

As she did so her door opened. "The bus already left without you." Her mother half-heartedly scolded, only to huff exhaustedly. "I suppose I'll be dropping you off at twelve thirty again?"

Kagome slowly turned to see her mother's drained expression and the slight disappointment in her eyes. It was a look that could send even a hardcore criminal on a small guilt trip. "Yeah-if you um, wouldn't mind."

This wasn't a rare thing to happen in the Higurashi house unfortunately. Kagome wasn't usually the irresponsible type, but there were occasions she crammed so long into the night she'd plop into bed without setting her alarm. This usually resulted in missing the one school bus that came. Then she would have to rely on her mother for a ride, who most of the time didn't have the car due to her idiot cousins that would steal it for their retarded amusement, only to give it back a few hours later once the thrill was over (as if that would make up for it). The interior usually ended up smelling like drugs and alcohol, and sometimes the tires even reeked of burned rubber. The best part? They couldn't even call what was supposed to be the police, because they were a bunch of greedy bastards that got bribed to pass certain emergency calls, thanks to the crappy economy. Not all law enforcement people were crafty that way of course, but most were.

Problems aside, Mrs. Higurashi nodded curtly to Kagome's answer and strode out of the room to make breakfast for them both before things got too crazy when the car decided to come back.

After taking a bit more time to ready herself, makeup carefully applied and hair neatly tied into a high ponytail, the air became noticeably perfumed with the succulent smell of bacon, catching Kagome's attention instantly. Her stomach had the good graces to growl loud enough for Mrs. Higurashi to hear and she chuckled with amusement while she poked at the breakfast food with a spatula.

"At least I don't have to ask if you're hungry," She teased.

Kagome offered a silly smile as she approached the dining table and took a seat, noting the rest of the house was silent. "Souta made it on time?"

Kagome was watching her cook out of habit, Mrs. Higurashi nodded while her eyes remained focused on the stove. "Yes. He said he'd tried getting you up several times, but that you were out like a light." Another small chuckle, one that only made Kagome feel worse for being such a burden on the family. Being young was no excuse for being irresponsible.

"You know Kagome," The words stole Kagome away from her guilt fest. "I'm almost a little glad you missed the bus today."

This was a shock.

"What? Why?" She asked. Her mother was always preaching educational success, even when most moms now days gave up on encouraging it since financial means for a higher education was no longer very possible for the average citizen.

Turning off the stove flame as she scooped the bacon onto a small glass plate with a paper towel she'd had in her hand, Mrs. Higurashi walked to the table and sat across from her daughter with a motherly smile. "Because well, I wanted to wish you a happy birthday."

The anxiety that had been previously building in her chest vanished as Kagome let out a full on laugh in her relief. "Thanks, Mom." That still really didn't seem like a good enough reason to be glad about missing school though.

"I wasn't done, dear." Mrs. Higurashi said, a bit more serious. What was going on? Suddenly she stood from her seat and made her way into the now carless garage and after a short while of shuffling around and things falling to the cement floor, she came back with a small box in her hands. "I also wanted to find the right time to give you this." And then handed Kagome the black container, which turned out to be outlined with velvet on its surface. A jewelry case?

Taking the gift with one hand, Kagome studied it thoroughly, fingering the outside with her thumbs. After a few moments her eyes watered, realizing the significance of what she held. She'd seen this same box hidden away on a dusty shelf all her life, and when she'd asked about it, had merely been told it was something important from the past. Now it seemed Kagome was ready to find out why that was and what was inside, apparently deemed old enough to value it.

"Go on Kagome, open it." She didn't have to be told twice. Carefully, she pulled upward on the lid, fearful of breaking it. When it finally popped open, Kagome gasped at what she saw.

It was a necklace.

The silver chain caught on the kitchen's man made light, but that wasn't the striking part of the jewelry. The diamond charm that the chain supported was literally carved in a downward arrow shape, its top and ends edged with silver, the top much thicker so it held onto the chain without a chance of breaking off. It was clearly a hundred percent real, and a hundred percent priceless. If this was what had been kept safe for all these years, it must have been very important to her. She wasn't that type of woman to hide expensive jewelry away without having some form of sentimental value with it.

"It was something Kyoushi gave to me some time after you came to us. He was the one who told me to give it to you on your 18th birthday; something about starting a new line of family heirlooms." Mrs. Higurashi smiled dimly at the memory, Kagome now looking at her with a sort of humbling awe as she listened.

Kagome still didn't miss the small reference to the fact she was adopted into the family instead of born into it though. Both she and Souta were, only some years apart from each other. It was nothing to be ashamed of, just different when it came to conversation.

"Originally I was going to give it to you before your friends arrived for the party this evening, but this was as good a time as any I suppose." Ms. Higurashi went on.

Closing the box carefully, Kagome moved from her seat and into her adoptive mother's arms and hugged her, whispering words of gratitude as she shed tears of both fondness and joy, knowing who the gift was really from. Even in death, her only true father still found a way to express his love for her.

'Thanks, Papa.'

-[]-[]-[]-

"They say he'd barely gotten the job as it was." Eri uttered sadly.

Yuka nodded. "Yeah, I saw the wife getting interviewed on TV last night. I can only imagine how hard it would be to lose your soul mate like that, having to take care of their kids all by herself."

Kagome's relatively good mood since that morning's events vanished upon hearing the day's new gossip among her school friends. Having spent the entire afternoon and evening yesterday studying, she hadn't had time to check the news.

It turned out some accomplished geneticist had been murdered the day before in a presumed hit and run. He'd had one of his two daughters with him at the time and she had witnessed the whole thing. It seemed as if everyone nowadays knew what it was like to lose a family member to death, but to have such a traumatic event happen to a family with young children involved? It wasn't unheard of, but no less saddening.

It wasn't just esteemed men winding up dead either. It was anyone and everyone. No one even knew why. Most of the time they were just ordinary everyday people you saw walking down the street, only to find out they were gone the next day.

"I wonder if the police will even investigate seriously." Yuka thought somewhat to herself in a hushed tone, her face crossed between bitterness and uncertainty. "People die every day, and the cases are piling up. What can they really do? Put the guys who did this in jail for a few years only to release him because of overcrowding? Assuming they even make an arrest."

Ayumi disagreed. "How can you say that? Any life is worth trying to avenge! Especially since the family now has nothing else to hope for but the person who did this to get put behind bars."

Eri almost laughed at her friend's antics, "You're just saying that because your mom's a cop Ayumi. Think realistically for once."

"I am thinking realistically!"

Kagome saw the need to step between the two, though it seemed a bit odd since they hardly ever acted confrontational this way. "Hey guys, relax. Everyone's entitled to their opinions." She admitted at least to herself Yuka had a point, pessimistic as it was.

Yuka went to stand beside Kagome, "Let's just forget this, class is about to start." As if to support her point the school bell rang, signaling lunch was over.

As the group walked down the halls in somewhat of an awkward silence, Kagome half consciously looked about the dull faces of the other teens around her as they made their way past, and couldn't help the feeling of heaviness weigh down on her shoulders. A voice in the back of her head chastised that she should be used to the way things were by now, but for whatever reason she just wasn't.

Things were going so downhill, and no one really heard of lives getting saved through the media much anymore. There were rare cases here and there, but not very often. She couldn't help asking the pointless question of Why? Governmental order hardly even existed, the economy sucked beyond belief, and she didn't trust the new President that had been recently elected to make much difference either. She couldn't help wondering if there was any point in hoping for a better future.

"Miss Higurashi?" Someone called out with a sigh, sounding exasperated.

"Hm?" Kagome mumbled, slipping out of her daze.

"Care to share your answer for problem fifty seven?"

She just blinked dumbly for a moment, taking in her surroundings and realizing with slight surprise she had somehow walked into her Algebra 1 class and sat at her desk books in hand, without even realizing. The room had an odd dusty-chemical smell, and the afternoon sunlight came shining in from the large windows on the left wall, she subconsciously noted. The teacher continued to wait for a reply, actually tapping his foot impatiently.

"U-Um-" Glancing down frantically at her open textbook, Kagome quickly did the Mixed Review exercise in her head then snapped her head up, blushing. "The answer would be A, since x couldn't equal five as it's an odd number and doesn't fit into the equation evenly."

When the teacher offered her a satisfied gleam in his eyes Kagome leaned back in her seat and quietly exhaled the breath she'd been holding. She always hated it when Mr. Fukuhara put her on the spot like he had made a habit of doing.

'Just another thing in my life to complain about.' Kagome grumbled, plopping her head on her desk with a sigh, her least favorite teacher going on with his boring lecture in the background.

Upon coming home, Kagome was warmly welcomed by the sweet smell of brownies in the oven and the sight of her younger brother Souta keeping a close eye on it from his spot on the countertop. She snickered at the hungry look in his eyes as if he hadn't eaten anything sugary in days.

"Keeping watch over the goods I see." She teased, strolling over to take a seat at the dining table and setting her bag down at her feet.

Souta nearly jumped off his perch at seeing her walk past him with that amused expression. "Oh hey Kagome, didn't even realize you were home. Happy birthday by the way!" He greeted, offering his cheesiest smile to her, which she simply laughed at.

"Don't think playing nice now will get you anything extra later, smart one." Kagome chastised, seeing his 'kiss up' attitude for what it was. He tried to pull this same stunt every year, and every time it would fail. A part of her secretly enjoyed his half way civil behavior this time of year though. Other than on Christmas, he was the typical little bastard of a brother.

Souta slouched over slightly in his usual pout stance. "Aw come on, show some compassion to your poor kid brother. My birthday isn't for another seven months!"

She just shrugged disinterestedly. "Well that's you're problem, not mine."

There was a shuffling noise from around the corner as Souta opened his mouth to retort, and soon Mrs. Higurashi peeked into the room with her usual smile. "Welcome home, Kagome. How was your day?"

Looking down at her new necklace and fingering it thoughtfully, Kagome decided not to say anything of the school gossip. She was bound to hear about it on the news at some point, if she didn't know already. "It was okay I guess. How 'bout you?"

There was a knowing glint in Mrs. Higurashi's eyes before she nodded in understanding. "Quiet as always without you lively kids shouting across the house."

Souta scoffed loudly in distaste. "Mom, I'm not a kid anymore! I'm going into high school next year."

Kagome walked over and ruffled his hair playfully, "Weren't you the one saying I should have pity on my kid brother?"

"You know what I meant!" Was his weak come back as he frantically pushed her intrusive hands away from his head. Though the two weren't actually related by blood, they had been together so long they might as well have been.

Ms. Higurashi laughed at such a typical display of affection. "Alright, that's enough. Both of you get washed up and ready for the party. I have to finish getting the food and sweets ready, and I don't want any prying hands or fingers sampling the frosting!"

With that the two were shooed out of the kitchen with the flick of Ms. Higurashi's hands, amused smiles on their faces as they walked up the steps to their respective rooms.

Before going to his, Souta turned to his adoptive sister with a wondering stare. "Hey Kagome, how come we always make brownies for our birthdays instead of cake?"

Kagome blinked in slight surprise at his rather random question, but recovered with a knowing smile. "It was something Papa used to do for Mom on hers while they were dating, from what I've been told. Guess it's one of those traditions she didn't want to fade away after he died."

At hearing of Kyoushi, Souta's eyes softened but he said nothing else about it, suddenly taking note of the new jewelry around his sister's neck. "Birthday presents before the party? That's so unfair!" He grumbled.

Kagome laughed at his comical looking pout face, fingering her new diamond pendant fondly. "This was a special exception."