Chapter 1

Stepping from the orange monstrosity that constituted as a taxi, she took a deep breath and stared up to the top of the shrine steps. Paying the cabbie and grabbing her bags, she began her trek up the stairs, her bags making an odd thump as they hit each step. The closer she got the harder it was just to drag her luggage, causing her to huff breathlessly on the final landing. "Bloody stairs…"

Gathering her voice and her breath she called out to the house in place of an ancient shrine. "Hello, Aunt Asaka?" She listened for a moment, "Anybody here?" She called when no reply was forthcoming. Suddenly as if appearing from thin air, an old decrepit man, back bowed from age, yelled unintelligibly as he waved small strips of paper with writing in the air.

"Are ye a demon? Are ye spawn? Back! Back I say!" He blathered, shuffling towards her.

"Pops! Stop scaring the girl witless!" Scolded a woman from the doorway of the house. "Kaelie! It's so good to see you! Come give your Auntie a hug!"

Scooting around her slightly — read incredibly — insane grandfather, a forced smile made her face hurt. "Good to see you, Grandpa." She murmured indistinctly before giving a sly grin to her Aunt. "Hey Aunt Asaka, long time no see. Is Kagome in?"

"Oh I'm sorry, Kagome's not…Here." Asaka said, informing Kaelie that her daughter was out. Still the woman gave good hugs. Like the unstoppable force she was, Asaka had two of the four bags in her arms and up the stairs before Kaelie could protest. "Come on Kaelie." the diminutive asian woman called from within the house, the taller blonde wondering how in the heck she was going to deal with her crazy Grandpa and eccentric Aunt. There was one question that was baffling her though.

"Where's Sota?"

"Oh he's at school and after school he has track club." Asaka explained blithely, her hand flapping as if dismissing the topic in question. "He should be home in about four hours." Kaelie breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay." She was just glad she didn't have to deal with him now. The last she remembered of the boy, he had been an unruly rugrat with a severe habit of chewing on things, people, and pets including her hair. She would have figured that hair was one of the few things a child wouldn't touch, boy was she wrong. Thus, her new hairstyle. Combed over in a faux hawk, her long blonde hair looked much shorter and was held in place by fairly simple barrettes and clips. Pale peach skin, accentuated by high cheekbones, a long thin nose, and a softly rounded chin, was faintly flecked with soft golden brown freckles.

Once in the guest room, bulky suitcases cluttering the floor, they set to unpacking. Kaelie's aunt wanted to make sure that everything was tucked away nice and neat so that Kaelie could have easy access to her things. Kaelie tried a few more times to siphon Kagome's whereabouts from her aunt, but every time she attempted to, Asaka dodged the questions. They finished unpacking and Asaka left Kaelie to rest while she cooked dinner. Kaelie sighed, dug her ipod from her bag and placed the earbuds in her ears. She clicked play and lay back on the small twin bed. She began humming Mordred's Lullaby by Heather Dale, then slowly started singing the words. She closed her eyes letting the words soothe her.

Kaelie awoke about an hour later to her aunt's call from downstairs. "Kaelie! Dinner's ready!" Kaelie sighed, sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"I'm coming Aunt Asaka! Make sure Sota doesn't eat it all!" Kaelie smiled at the indignant "hey!" she heard from Sota. She placed her ipod on the desk beside the bed then strode downstairs to the kitchen. The wonderful smells made her stomach clench in hunger, and she realized just how hungry she was. Dinner was a fairly quiet affair only the clink of table ware and dishes could be heard. Grandpa spoke softly with Asaka about the days events while Sota recounted his school day for Kaelie, the girl giggling as she pictured some of the pranks he pulled. Not remembering him being quite so devious she grinned and gave him pointers, even including a short story of one of her own pranks. Thankfully her Aunt wasn't paying attention or Kaelie knew she would have been in a lot of trouble. They never did figure out what happened to the cat that one year. Buyo came back a few days later, he was just a lot skinnier. Kaelie looked over to where the fat cat was laying by the door, idly munching on his food. He was simply too fat, Kaelie would have to remedy that later.

Dinner ended soon after, Kaelie helped clean up despite her aunt's protest.

"You should go rest. You've been on an airplane for long hours and you're tired." She chastised. Kaelie gave a gentle shrug and went back to clearing the table. After a while, Asaka's scoldings relented and she let Kaelie help. While they were drying the dishes, Asaka glanced over to Kaelie and smiled. "Will you be going to school here? I know it's probably not the same as Ireland but you should be in the same grade as Kagome."

Kaelie nodded, "Yeah, I was going to continue going to school. I was hoping to take the entrance exams this next week. I mean, if you don't mind me staying here awhile." Kaelie looked over at her aunt a sheepish grin across her face. Asaka gave her a dazzling smile.

"Of course not! We love your company!" Asaka chimed as she continued to smile. Kaelie shook her head at her and smiled back.

When the kitchen was clean, Kaelie said her good nights to everyone then went back upstairs to her room. She grabbed her shorts, underwear, a plain white camisole and her toiletries then headed off to the bathroom for a bath. She shed her clothes and reached behind her neck to unclasp the fang necklace that was always around it. She held the necklace in her hand running her fingers along the fang, and six jade beads with gold scroll work on it. She smiled sadly, reminiscing about her mother. Her mother had given it to Kaelie the day her mother had died. She ran water into the bath and sat on the edge of the tub, running her fingers through the hot water as it filled. She shut the water off then slid down into the water and sighed deeply.

After her bath, Kaelie returned to her room, brushing her hair along the way. She yawned and sat her brush down on the desk, trading it for her ipod. Flopping down onto the comforter, she placed the buds in her ears and pressed play. She closed her eyes, and drifted into a deep sleep.

It was far from a restful sleep, nightmarish images playing soundlessly behind her eyelids. Not enough to wake her up, but more than enough to cause her to be quite grumpy the next morning. Sitting up on the western style bed, she rubbed her face as she grumbled wordlessly. What was that? I mean seriously! I have some weird dreams, but that takes the cake!

Grunting in a less than ladylike fashion, she looked at the clock on the wall before her eyes grew wide. "Im late!" She dashed about the room, flinging clothes randomly as she tried to get dressed and fix her hair at the same time. By far not her best idea she realized as she looked in the mirror. A soft curse left her lips as she pulled it back into a quick ponytail. She blew up as a bang tickled her nose but otherwise ignored the wildly framing bits of hair. "Gotta hurry, gotta hurry. Can't eat, Auntie. Love ya, bye!" She called as she slipped on her converse and out the door. "I should have known better than to do this." She murmured to herself.

She squeaked as she almost slipped down the stairs, clutching her heart and going, "Okay slow down." Hopefully she would make it too the college on time.

Seven schools in less than eight hours was a bad idea. Her feet hurt, her back ached, her head pounded, and if she had one more person look at her like that again, she was going to beat somebody severely. It had not been a good day. Actually that was a vast understatement. Sure she had blonde hair, but that didn't make her a delinquent! She was not wearing contacts and no she did not paint the marks on her skin called freckles! If one more person said so she was going to paint them purple, black and possibly blue.

Trudging up the stairs, she wondered if she was actually going to get to attend school at all. Flinging back the sliding door, she bellowed for her Aunt. "Aunt Asaka! Do you know any college around here that's not going to blame me for having blonde hair and green eyes? Oh and freckles? Apparently people have taken to painting themselves with freckles." Asaka came from the kitchen, her hand over her mouth as she tried not to giggle.

"Oh you poor dear." She cooed in false sympathy. Kaelie shot a slight glare at her aunt.

"Please don't patronize me. I'm not in the mood." She sighed deeply as she tugged at her hair. "Why is it so hard getting people to believe that I'm half Irish? It's not fair!"

Asaka did giggle this time, "I might know a place. I know the super attendant. Come to the kitchen and sit down. I've fixed some rice balls for a snack." She grinned extra large. "And I have fresh plum slices." Kaelie brightened and despite her weariness made it to the kitchen in record time. Her cry of "PLUMS!" could be heard at least a block away by Asaka's estimate.

"No Sota! Mine!" Asaka walked in to see that Kaelie had pushed Sota's head down and held the bowl defensively against her chest. The blonde hissed at the preteen. "These are Mine. No touch." She leaned onto Sota's head with her arm and popped a slice of plum into her open mouth. She breathed a sigh. "My day is so much better now. These are like heaven." Asaka blinked as the bowl was thrust into her face, completely empty with a chipmunk cheeked Kaelie giving her puppy eyes. Asaka giggled lightly at her niece then took the bowl from her hand and went to slice up a couple more plums. Kaelie chewed and swallowed the delicious fruit then smiled. "Thanks Aunt Asaka. That really made my day better." She sat down at the table ignoring Sota's claim for fairness. Asaka went ahead and cut up the rest of the plums, putting down two bowls; One for Sota and one for Kaelie. The obviously bigger bowl was in front of the blonde.

"So…" Asaka started with a slightly choked off laugh. "You didn't find a college because your hair is blonde, your eyes are green and you have freckles. I'm guessing they called you a delinquent." There was a slight snarl from within the plum bowl as Kaelie stuffed her mouth. "Ah, thought so. Any requirements for the college that you're thinking of?"

Kaelie shrugged as she wiped the juice from her mouth. "That it lets me in?" Slightly sarcastic but true. "And please, no green." She remembered seeing pictures of Kagome in her high school uniform and had to suppress a shudder. Green was a good color, just not that way. Sota chuckled as he remembered Kagome's old uniform, snorting as he tried to swallow the rice ball in his hand all at once. He agreed with Kaelie on this one, no green.

Asaka had a wicked grin that she hid quickly as she started dinner. "I think I know of a place. Let me check with my friend and I'll let you know."

Kaelie had been wrong, green was still good. This… This monstrosity needed to be burned. As did the person who decided it was a good idea. What the hell were they thinking? Seriously? Orange and yellow plaid is ten times worse than green could ever be.

She tugged uselessly at the short - very short - hem of the skirt she was currently forced to wear. Aunt Asaka was so getting in trouble. The only way to deal with this was a prank. A horrible, vicious, and completely innocent prank. She was going to need some help. Unwitting help anyways. Stalking back up the damn stairs - did they suddenly get shorter in her anger? - she slid the door open with a loud bang, a cloud hanging over her head as she growled incoherently. Asaka was standing in the living room, a mischievous smirk gracing her delicate features. "Enjoy school darling?"

"Hell no. What is with the people that made these uniforms?"

The older woman snickered in obvious delight. "That bad?"

"LOOK!" She bit out, holding up the skirt just the littlest bit. "It looks like baby barf or something equally gross. I mean, come ON, don't punish us students, man!" She looked at her aunt. "Er, make that woman." Sota snorted in his own amusement when he saw the uniform.

"Hey, that looks like-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, brat." Kaelie growled as she flung the jacket from her shoulders, the softer minty blue making her eye twitch. Good gravy, was this uniform screwed up. Blue, yellow and orange, all in bright, somewhat eye-watering shades and thrown together. She could admit she liked the blouse, a rich cream with golden edging and a soft blue neckerchief. She had two of each set, a summer and a winter, and thanked whomever was up there and listening that her second skirt was six inches longer, flannel, and a delightfully rich navy and royal blue plaid. She could live with that. It was just the summer and spring skirt that irked her very, very much.

"Hey, Auntie?" She called from the stairs. The answering "Yes?" was faint. "I'm going out job hunting after I change. Don't worry about my dinner, I might not be in early enough." The strained "Okay." left her to bounce into the room, uniform going into a pile on the bed. She shimmied into a pair of skinny jeans, a batman baby t-shirt, and carried her canary yellow converse with her to the door. Not the most professional look but she was not going to dress up right this instant. She had enough of that thank you.

Ruffling the hair of her younger cousin affectionately, she slipped on her shoes leaving a bewildered Sota in the doorway. Half tempted to slide down the hillside she crept carefully down the steeps stairs and to the sidewalk. From what she had heard, the nearest place to find a job was at the Umi Umi Coffee Cafe. Apparently, it was quite popular and in need of new workers. She'd start there. Twenty minutes later, blushing and stuttering in slight outrage, she stomped away from the coffee house. There was no way she was wearing a maid's outfit. Just - just no. Not happening. Oh they had been adamant about giving her the job. If she wore cat ears and a tail along with the maid uniform. So, yeah… Hell no. Next!

The Programmer's Guild was just down the street. Their stipulation ended up with her giving one guy a black eye for groping. She was not working with perverts. Good looking or not. Otaku, Bara Books, Teacup Cafe, and the doubtful - and mentally scarring - Princess Pink Eatery were all crash and burns. She sat sullenly at the ice cream parlor, lemon sherbet turning to puddly goo in her bowl. Not even the fantastic lemoniness could make her feel better at this point. She gazed blandly around, spoon twirling idly. The bright red and orange letters though, caught her eye. the HELP WANTED sign in the store across the way had her nearly giddy. From where she sat it looked like an antique store. If there was one thing she knew, it was antiques.

Dumping the soup that had been frozen at one point, she wiped her hands on her jeans as she strode to the door. A tiny bell announced her presence softly. A harried looking woman, middle aged and healthy, came from behind a large frame of what seemed to be a hand-painted portrait. "What do you need? Do you want to look at anything in particular?"

Kaelie grinned and held out her hand. "I would like to be your new help!"

The woman gave a giant sigh of relief as she embraced Kaelie, ignoring her hand. "Oh, thank Kami-sama! I need it! When can you start?"

"Um…" Kaelie wheezed. "Tomorrow?" The squeal of joy in her ear made the blond wonder if her ear drum had burst with the high frequency. The repeated and joyous words of "You're hired, you're hired!" rang in her ears long after the door was closed behind her. She wondered if she shouldn't invest in ear plugs, but she guessed an iPod was just as good.

The next few weeks were fairly mundane. The only thing that was really out of the ordinary was Hikari-san, her boss. Her very, very mad boss. As in, insane type of mad. That woman was anything but mundane. She reminded Kaelie of a hyper active puppy given speed. It was disconcerting how happy someone could be all the time no matter what was going on.

"Hikari-san!" She yelled from the second floor of the antique shop. "I'm gonna be cleaning the stuff in the attic, m'kay?"

"Sure, sure," was the reply. Kaelie could just see Hikari-san flapping her hand in dismissal as she stuck her head in another book that looked like an ancient tomb. The woman should have worked in a museum or library. Flicking her rag with a snapping-POP, she climbed the creaking stairs to the dust covered door. No matter how often the blond cleaned or how well, this place kept dirt and dust like a cloak around its shoulders. She sneezed. She moved around the room picking up stray vases and lamps, wiping them down before setting them in a place they wouldn't get broken. After about an hour she was starting to see a floor and had made it to the back of the room. As she was cleaning a very old jade vase, she glanced over and noticed a very large square, covered by a dirty sheet, leaning against the wall. Setting the vase down carefully on an old dresser she stepped cautiously over to the wall. Pulling back the sheet, she saw that the square was actually a mirror half her size. It was beautiful in it's construction and looked to be at least two to three hundred years old. The frame was made from a dark wood and bent and twisted along the edge of the mirror. At the very top of it a magnolia flower, also carved from the wood, bloomed from the center of the frame. Kaelie ran her hand along the frame appreciating the gorgeous piece of history. She grabbed her cloth and began wiping down the frame, giving it a good gloss. She kneeled down and as she went to polish the glass something within the mirror gave and she felt her body tipping forward. She yelped and closed her eyes as she noticed a strange tugging coming from the depths of her stomach, she threw hands out in front of her expecting the sharp sting of glass before she landed, hard on the ground.

"Ow.." She raised up on her hands, they throbbed with pain from catching her fall. She leaned up and rubbed her head, "Son of a b-" her words were cut off as she looked around. Instead of the mirror, broken beneath her she was laying in what looked like an underground cavern. It was cramped to the point that Kaelie couldn't even stand up. She gazed around seeing if there was a way out. She gasped as she saw the mirror and the attic. What the hell? She thought. Kaelie didn't know where she was, but she knew that it couldn't be somewhere good.