March 3rd -- Morning, Friday

Shinju's day always began very early. Perhaps it was due to her father, his constant coaxing that there was always training to do. She always had to stay in shape, and even though she worked out a lot after school, she always started her mornings with a nice brisk run. It helped her wake up, and keeped her focused in the morning.

The blaring alarm went off, and with a slight grunt she reached over and turned it off, peering blearily at the time before she begrudgingly rolled out of bed. No matter how many times she would do it, she hated mornings. A yawn escaped her as she pulled herself up, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands as she made her way towards her dresser. Jogging clothes were picked, as they were easy to snag: a pair of grey sweatpants and a grey sweatshirt.

It was only for the slight chill the morning brought, and would soon find way into her sports bag, replacing her uniform which was tucked away, neatly folded inside.

It didn't take long to throw on her jogging clothes. The part that took the longest was her hair. She brushed it through a few times before restraining it in a ponytail. It was long, longer than she would have liked, falling below the midpoint of her back. The only reason she kept it at that length was because her mother had hair like that.. She did in all the pictures at the Yamamura residence.

Shinju's eyes strayed towards the picture as she brushed her hair in the mirror, the picture taken a few months after her brother was born.. shortly before her mother passed away. She was very young, he was an infant, and besides the picture, her hair was the only lingering connection she had of her mother.

The brush was set down, her bag of school books and uniform gathered and slung over her shoulder, Shinju made her way quietly through the house so as to not wake up her dad or her younger brother. Once outside, she took a deep breath and smiled. It was a nice day.. if only she didn't have to spend it at school.

Once her sneakers were tied on she began her jog, steadily running with the extra weight of her books as resistance on her back. Running through Tokyo was always fun in the morning, as such a busy city was mainly quiet in such early hours.

That Shinju and Kagome had never glanced at one another previously was not an anomally. In a city, people crossed paths with one another frequently, sometimes every day. In some cases, they traveled the same streets every day and never met. That one saw the other now was perhaps a wrinkle of fate. Having evaded her trio of friends that morning -- not particularly wanting to talk about last night's date with Houjou-kun -- Kagome turned her head to make sure that the girlish voices behind her weren't the three of them sneaking up on her . . . and caught sight of Shinju.

Of course it had happened before -- that she'd seen someone who'd reminded her of Miroku, of Sango, of even *him.* The sudden, overwhelming flood of familiarity was not uncommon. Just two weeks ago she'd seen a child who'd reminded her of Shippou and had been compelled to trail after him, following him until he'd squealed with terror and run to cling to an adult's leg. (She'd been forced to flee at that point, mentally berating herself all the way home, convinced she'd never do something so stupid again.)

And yet here she was, about to do something again, unable to take her eyes away.

A lot of people were starting the hustle in the morning, Shinju's sneakers slapping the pavement of the sidewalk as she jogged along, keeping her rhythm fluid and even. Her backpack maintained the rhythm, the items inside bouncing up and down with every jogged step, while her breathing maintained a slow calm rate.

Nice, even, rhythmic.

Someone caught her eye, and she glanced up ahead. A girl, wearing the same uniform as her, was standing there, staring at her. Shinju found herself staring back, rather quizzically. Did she look weird? The urge to cut across the street to avoid the girl was overwhelming, but then that would be too obvious.

The girl looked familiar, but that was probably due to the same school thing. Was she in a class of hers? Shinju couldn't place it. An eyebrow remained raised as she kept running, staring right back at Kagome with a WTF look on her face.

Of course, she was no longer paying attention to where she was going, and ran right into a man who just got out of his car. Shinju's eyes widened, knocked back a bit from the impact, staring up at the man rather flustered.

"S-Sumimasen!" She studdered out, but the apology came too late: the Japanese man went into a tirade of how kids today have no attention spans, and how they should focus more on where they're going, in Japanese. Shinju blushed furiously, mumbling another apology. Rubbing the back of her neck rather sheepishly, she glanced off to the side, wondering if that girl was still staring at her.

Now the school has something else to laugh at me for.. She thought, mouth twitching downward in a faint scowl.

Kagome wasn't, it must be admitted, behaving in any sense of the word "polite," still staring, lips slightly parted as though about to speak -- though still not quite managing. As Shinju collided with the man, she winced visibly in sympathy, flushing slightly as though she'd caused the accident herself. (Which technically . . . perhaps she had.) But her eyes did indeed return in spite of themselves.

Was it too stupid to say something? In another moment Shinju might pass by entirely . . .

Shinju found her eyes meeting Kagome's, and from a distance the girl could clearly see the other's face. Her twin dark brown eyes blinked twice, slowly, the confusion setting in.

The other girl wasn't laughing. In fact, she wasn't even acting like others she's seen before. She wasn't intimidated, that was for sure, otherwise she would have turned and ran. Shinju wasn't very popular among the boys because they definately knew she could beat them up if she wanted, and the girls laughed at her because she was too 'manly'.

And yet, this girl... she wasn't doing anything. Kagome looked confused, and it made Shinju feel confused as well. Finally, unable to take any more and determined to find what the girl's problem was, Shinju pivoted slightly and turned, walking on a diagonal back to where Kagome was standing.

If the other didn't know any better, Kagome might very well see Sango walking up to her, minus the eyeshadow and side burns.

"Can I help you?" Shinju inquired once close enough, folding her arms across her sweatshirt.

All right, this was a new situation. They hadn't ever walked *up* to Kagome before and asked for explanation. Recklessly, Kagome's mind plunged about for an answer; the fact of Shinju looking so much like Sango as she'd walked closer hadn't particularly helped her powers of concentration.

"I-I'm sorry," she offered at last, rather lamely. Her hands tightened on the handle of her bag. "You look so much like -- enn." Pause, hesitate, try again. "I feel like I should know you . . ."

Had she been a man, this would have been a horrible pickup line. But what other explanation could she offer?

That half studdered thought partially affirmed what Shinju was thinking, and the girl started feeling annoyed. Was this an attempt at being funny?

"That's probably because we go to the same school." She replied, a tad dully, almost as if she was tired of the conversation at hand. "I tend to look different without my uniform on."

"That's not it." The words came out quickly -- too quickly for proper thought, leaving Kagome with the awkwardnes of them hanging in the open air. Her hands loosened, then tightened again. How was one supposed to explain such a thing to a stranger? One who obviously didn't know what she was talking about? Wells, the past, flying bone boomerangs, magical shards, fire cat youkai . . . it would all sound entirely too crazy.

She tried to pull together a smile, tipping her head slightly, trying to escape without embarrassing herself further. "I'm really sorry. Probably my mistake after all. Shouldn't have bothered you."

With a slight bow, she turned to go -- and would unless prevented.

Shinju's annoyance faded quickly as she realized the hastiness of the other girl. Her cheeks blushed with a faint crimson, and she shifted under the weight of her backpack.

Was she too... harsh? It had been a very long time since someone was actually nice to her, and here she had snapped at some innocent girl. For what? For looking at her strangely? It wasn't like her to intentionally be mean to someone, and Shinju felt terrible for it. Guilt tugged at her, watching the other as she started walking away. Nervously, Shinju bit her bottom lip, before stepping towards her.

"Wait." She outburst, looking off to the side, as if she was wrong to interject. "I'm sorry, I mean.. I didn't mean to sound so rude." She narrowed her eyes a moment, before raising her eyes back to Kagome.

If she was heading to the same school as Shinju was...

"If you're heading to school.." She trailed off, glancing down at Kagome's uniform. Her social skills were through the asphalt today. "I mean.. if you're heading there now.. we could walk together I guess.." She nervously shifted again. Holding a normal conversation with someone was something she hadn't done in a long time.

"I mean..." She sighed, and closed her eyes a moment. "Sumimasen. My name is Yamamura Shinju. I apologize for being such a jerk." In turn, she added her own sort of bow, although her eyes stayed closed. Perhaps she was afraid to see the girl ignore her and resume walking away...

Kagome did pause at the "wait," looking back with surprised eyes, not having expected to have been stopped any more than Shinju had expected her to be nice. "Enn . . ." Her face brightened into a smile, this one more open. "I'd like that. And . . . I'm Higurashi Kagome. Don't worry about it; I must have looked really strange to you too. I swear I don't stare at people on a regular basis." Her laugh was a bit nervous in turn.

Actually, she hadn't even realized that Shinju went to her school . . . but that part was kept to herself. No need to seem any stranger than she already did. Shinju seemed nervous; no sudden moves seemed to be in order.

Shinju's bow finally stopped as she rose to her normal height once more. Smiling softly in return, there was a faint flicker of recognition in her eyes, but nothing more beyond that. Which was to be expected, after all... chances are she did hear Kagome's name before. It wasn't uncommon, even if they did go to a large school.

"Nice to meet you, Higurashi-san." Her respectfulness certainly hadn't changed countless centuries. "That's alright. I'm not used to being stared at on a regular basis, either." She rubbed the back of her neck, slightly nervous, before starting to walk in the direction of the school, hoping that Kagome would follow.

Human beings are naturally attuned to changes in movement, and thus as Shinju moved, Kagome followed without thinking, falling into step beside her. "Kagome is fine, really," she found herself saying. Not much surprise in that, though; with this girl it seemed only right. "I'm not even a senpai, right? You look like you're in my year . . . Second, ne?"

Shinju nodded slightly with a soft, friendly smile, oblivious of the older man staring at her as she walked on. One who grew firmly with the constructs of respect and showing it, the permission was noted but wouldn't be abused, not yet.

"Hai, ninensei desu." She affitmed the girl's words, feeling more at ease that her familiarity with the girl was justified. They were both second year. "People tell me I look older for my age." She shyly smiled, indirectly referring to the slight height she had over Kagome. "Some say I look like I should be graduating."

((Thread continued here: http://community.livejournal.com/soulsreborn/2252.html?thread=12492#t12492 ))

Even as the sun streamed through Ichiro's hair, a gusty March breeze blew, reminding him that spring had not yet sprung. Just one in the throngs of businessment taking to the Tokyo streets this morning, Ichiro was thankful, not for the first time, that he stood nearly half a head taller than most of the other pedestrians. Ichiro ran through business in his head constantly. He was already working on the details of the next month's financial agreement with the German consulate. He stopped at the crosswalk automatically, following the crowds. As the light changed, he stepped into the street.

His eyes subconsciously registered her. He didn't even realize it until he'd nearly reached the opposite sidewalk, and the hair began to stand on the back of his neck. Spinning around, he saw only the retreating backs of two school girls. Why did they seem so familar? He didn't know any school girls. Katsu never brought home girls, either. Maybe they were children of people who worked at his company? Company picnics were practically crawling with brats these days. Both girls had seemed familiar, but the one with slightly wavier hair made him tense. He was hardly ever tense, and certainly no schoolgirl, nor grown woman for that matter, had ever made him tense. He tried to shake the feeling, but he simply could not shake the sensation that he was forgetting something very important, and that it had something to do with the wavy-haired girl. Blinking hard against the unusual sensation of confusion, he assessed his surroundings, reoriented himself, and struck off once again in the direction of downtown.

"Well, it's only a year away. I don't know about you, but it's hard for me to even think about." Kagome settled into the conversation with a thoughtful smile, as though she actually were speaking to Sango. "I don't even know what I'm going to do yet. Ojiichan might like me to settle in at the shrine, but . . . I'm not sure that's what I want. There's too much ou --"

Blink. A sharp one. Ichiro's passing appearance stabbed sharply into her brain, and Kagome startled still in her tracks, twisting back over her shoulder to look back at him. But . . . that was even more impossible than the impossibility walking next to her; the hair was wrong, the eyes had been dark.

". . . out there," she finished, the words dribbling out like a bit of liquid that she'd forgotten to swallow. Pull yourself together, Kagome! Quickly to Shinju, she added, stepping onward, "What about you?" Buy herself some time. She didn't dare sneak another look.

Shinju smiled a bit more, feeling comfortable with the conversation as well, as if she had known Kagome for a long time. But that was impossible. Kagome just had a very open and very friendly personality. Stil, the feeling of actually being at ease while talking to someone was very welcomed, even though Shinju wasn't accustomed to it.

Suddenly, Kagome's sentance broke off and Shinju stopped almost as soon as she did, staring back at Kagome with a look of both surprise and confusion. "Kagome-san, what's wrong? Are you ok?" She blinked a few times slowly as Kagome quickly recovered, furrowing her eyebrows once more before walking on as well.

Very nice, but rather strange...

"I can't travel too far, as I have to stay and help with my father's dojo. It's been in the family for generations, and he intends on keeping it so. Usually it's passed down to the first born son, but since I broke tradition and was born first, well.." Her father was actually very gung ho about it going to her. At least, until her brother came of age and determination. As she trailed off, she turned, and scrutinized Kagome's face slightly as they walked on.

"You sure you're alright?"