Summary

They'd always traveled on the same train, they just never had a need to speak to eachother. Until now.

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It was the same thing, day in and day out. Wake up, get ready for school, hop on the train. Her routine had become classically normal since her adventures to the Sengoku Jidai ended. Now in her third year of high school, Kagome Higurashi had begun wishing, just slightly, that something extraordinary would happen to her again. Sure, she didn't truly mind the peaceful turn her life had taken, but there were days where she actually missed the action, the adventure, the unknown. Stepping onto the train with a sigh, she glanced around for a seat, noticing this particular car was a little more packed than usual, and reached out for a handle to hold as the warning for the doors sounded. A flash of red from the corner of her eyes had her craning her neck curiously to see what had caught her attention.

A boy, probably her age, with long red hair, was reading a book while holding a handle and swaying with the movement of the train. Shrugging, because she'd definitely seen stranger things in her time-traveling exploits, she lost interest and patiently waited for her stop.

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There it was again. That faint sense of something supernatural quivering in the air before just as quickly disappearing. For months, Kurama had caught the feeling as he rode the train to his stop for school, but had yet to decipher the owner of the pure reiki swirling in the boxcar. It wasn't poised to attack, so he hadn't let it bother him too much. After all, there were untrained psychics and other beings in this realm. It was probably someone that had no inkling of demons even existing in the first place. But his kitsune curiosity gnawed at him to solve the puzzle.

Shaking the idea away mentally, he tried to concentrate on his book. The train shuddered unexpectedly and several people gasped, clutching their belongings and holding their places. One girl near him, in a blue plaid uniform skirt and a navy blazer, squeaked as her hand slipped from the handle she was holding and she tilted for the floor. In the next instant, he reached out to steady her with an arm around her shoulder, asking automatically if she was all right. Blinking rapidly, she lifted her gaze to thank him, and he lost his breath. Sky blue eyes, bright and intelligent stared up at him. And he was walloped by that distinctly pure reiki again, coming straight from her.

She was the supernatural feeling he'd been plagued with.

This girl was a priestess.

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"Ano…" Kagome mumbled automatically, her hands uncurling from his sleeve as the redhead righted her, "I'm sorry for that. I guess I wasn't paying attention." With a sheepish smile, she reached out again to grab the nearest handle and turned away from the boy's piercing green orbs. Those eyes were way too calculating, and she had to suppress the shiver that wanted to skate down her spine. The tingling against the back of her neck wasn't fading either; a sensation she hadn't felt in years.

Demon. The boy was a demon. Or, at least partially. His aura was jumbled enough to her senses that thinking about it was starting to give her a headache.

"No, it's not your fault, miss," he answered smoothly, giving her a disarming little smile when she glanced at him again. She would not blush! Not when she'd seen other demon's that were just as pretty!

"Still," the priestess coughed, staring out the window to avoid his curious gaze, "My apologies."

"No harm done, miss."

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He was honestly a little surprised. This girl seemed to be intent on avoiding small talk with him, which was a bit of an unusual experience for him. Not dislikable, just unexpected. It was a little refreshing.

He was always up for a puzzle; a challenge,

"Mahoutokoro." Watching her almost trip again made him want to laugh, but he viciously suppressed the emotion trying to bubble up through his throat as she whipped around to face him again with those wide expressive blue eyes.

"W-What?"

"That's the uniform for Mahoutokoro," Kurama explained, biting his cheek to keep his expression only politely curious.

"Ah, yes. It is. You… go to Meiou, right?"

"Mmmhmm."

"That's a pretty elite school to get into."

"So is Mahou."

She gasped out a laugh that brought a small genuine smile to her face. Her entire being seemed to brighten from that, her reiki swirling around her lazily. It set his teeth on edge in a way that wasn't entirely unpleasant.

"I suppose it is."

The train slowed, the automated voice calling out its' stop, and the girl looked up with a sigh.

"Well, this is me. Sorry again about all that." The train stopped, and as she moved towards the exit, something in the vicinity of his heart squeezed at the thought of not seeing this unsolved puzzle again.

"Shuichi!" he blurted out, his mouth clicking shut as she glanced back to him in question. Taking a breath, he sifted through the myriad of smells he was immediately assaulted with before he was able to identify hers. Clean, pure; like the world that had been untainted so long ago. "My name is Shuichi."

Her eyes widened in understanding, her mouth forming a little "o".

"Kagome," the raven-haired girl responded automatically, a flush finally spreading across her cheeks in surprise. She hadn't meant to do that, apparently.

Satisfaction curled in his gut at finally having a name to place her with.

"It's nice to meet you, Kagome-san," he murmured, tilting his head in acknowledgement. The alarm to stand clear of the door started to beep, and Kagome gave a gasp of shock as she made a beeline for the door before it closed on her. "Perhaps we will bump into each other again someday."

Though he spoke quietly, she turned her gaze back to him as though she'd heard him despite the horn blowing and the door closing. The train started to move, and he had to bite back another laugh when those blue eyes narrowed in determination and she turned away to sprint up the stairs into the station.

A puzzle indeed. This would be interesting.

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