Amaya (uh-my-a) Higurashi loves History — it's basically the only subject she does well in at school — but it never really interested her to actually go there with her adoptive sister, Kagome. At least, not until she's attacked by a demon claiming to be her brother. Somehow, she manages to stop it from hurting Grandpa, and throws the bones in the sacred well upon Grandpa's command. As she walks up the stairs, however, something presses against her chest, causing her to stumble backwards into the well and into Feudal Japan! And as if that's not strange enough, some guy with odd markings and unnatural abilities basically threatens to kill her after saving her! What the hell!?
Join Amaya as she travels with her sister, Kagome, and her friends in search of answer.
But are answers the only thing she's searching for? Or is a certain full-fledged demon the center of her interest?
Night Rain
(1)
(Brother)
The sun was high in the sky, shining almost blindingly bright. My hair refused to stop sticking to my face, so I pulled it into a ponytail, tying it up with a spare hairband I had around my wrist. As the time ticked by, I noticed that everything was quiet.
Too quiet.
Without warning, a squirt of water hit my face.
"No fair!" I shouted down, wiping the water dripping down my cheek.
Siri stuck her tongue out. "That's what you get for hiding in the sacred tree, you cheater!"
"No one said we couldn't hide in trees!" I argued.
"It goes without saying, you hoe!" she shot back.
"Amaya!" Mom's voice came from inside the house. "Come here, please!"
"Okay!"
"Someone's in trouble~" Siri sang.
I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at her childishly before shimmying down the large tree, taking each branch carefully. When my feet hit the ground, I run to my front door, sliding it open and looking around the living room.
I found her in the kitchen, standing over the stove.
"What's up?"
She looked over her shoulder at me, smiling. "Would you mind helping your grandfather clean out that old shack? I don't think his back can handle it."
"I said I could take it!" Grandpa's muffled voice is annoyed and airy.
Mom giggled lightly, turning back to the miso soup as she shook her head fondly. "Please?"
I chuckled and nodded. "Sure, mom. I'll just say goodbye to Siri."
"And put some decent clothes on afterwards," she added, eyeing me.
I looked down and laughed uneasily, rubbing the back of my head. The white spaghetti-strap was clinging to me like a second skin, soaked with water and see-through, revealing the purple bra underneath. My green, school uniform skirt wasn't much better, practically molding to my legs.
"Right," I said, "My bad. I'll go change now."
She shook her head. "No. Hopefully, the hot sun will help them dry a little. We wouldn't want them to wrinkle waiting for you to dry them, would we?"
"Guess not." I grin, heading out.
Siri was sitting on the wooden bench under the tree, staring up at the large branches.
"Incredible, isn't it?" I said, following her gaze.
She nodded. "The branches are all so huge, but it still seems to go up for miles."
I laughed. "That's because it's old. Grandpa says this trees been here for over five hundred years."
"I don't think a tree can be that old, Aya," she said, looking at me.
Trust me, I wanted to say. It really is that old, but held my tongue.
Kagome had once told me that that's how she and Inuyasha met: the sacred tree. She said she could tell it was the same one as in our world because of markings from an arrow embedded in its bark. We had actually come out that night to find it and sure enough, there it was, higher up, just below a giant branch.
"But it's still pretty cool," I said.
"Amaya! Where are you?" Grandpa yelled.
"Crap," I muttered. "I got to help grandpa for a few hours, so I'll have to reschedule our water fight."
She snickered as she stood up. "Convenient how you have to reschedule it right when I was winning."
I scoffed. "As if. If you want, we can just start from where we are now."
"You're on, Higurashi. But don't complain when I beat you fair and square."
"Like you could," I said.
"Amaya!" he shouted.
"Coming!" I turned around, glancing back at her. "I'll see you tomorrow!"
She nodded, smiling as she waved before walking down the long stairway. "Bye!"
Grandpa was just beyond the Higurashi Sacred Shrine, rummaging through the junk shed. Boxes and boxes were stacked up, each one looking worse than the other.
"Sorry, Grandpa," I said, walking behind him. "Siri and I got distracted by the sacred tree."
He smiled at me, laughing an airy laugh. "Amazing, isn't it? How much history is piled into such a beautiful and strong tree."
I nodded, returning his smile.
"Did you know the Bone-Eater's well is actually a product of a sacred tree?" he asked, looking at the label on one of the boxes.
"No," I said. "How is that possible, though? The sacred tree has never been cut down."
"Actually, the sacred tree is also known as a Tree of Ages. It has last eons despite rapid change within its environment, hence the name "Tree of Ages". There once was an entire forest with nothing but Tree of Ages, much like the one we have here. Over six thousand years ago, they were the homes of a powerful demon."
"How come there aren't as many Tree of Ages now?"
"Because a massive fire wiped them out a thousand years ago."
"A fire? How'd a fire start so long ago?" I asked.
"That, my dear, is the real question." He smiled. "Now, enough chatting, let's start."
I nodded. "So, we're cleaning these out?" I looked at the rundown boxes.
He shook his head. "Of course not! We're just blessing them to keep the spirits at rest. And to sell a few of the items at the stores."
I chuckled. "Alrighty then. So how do we do it?"
"Actually, I'll be the one doing it since I am the elder with more experience. And, no offence, Aya, but you seem to lack the spiritual powers needed for it."
I shrugged. "None taken."
"First things first." He pointed at a stack of boxes in the front. The label on them read Imp Feet. "Take those and line them up next to each other. That way, it'll be easier to exorcising them."
"Eye-eye, captain!" I saluted jokingly.
He chuckled as I grabbed a box, placing it a few feet from him. I lined five boxes directly beside each other before stepping back, letting Grandpa do his thing.
He held a sutra high in the air, two fingers by his mouth as he murmured, "May the earth guide you to the heavens and may no calamity fall upon your untouched beauty!" He tossed the sutra onto the tops of the cardboard, looking satisfied.
"Er, grandpa, was that even a real blessing?"
"Wha— of course it is!"
"Okay, okay," I amended quickly. "I'm sorry."
This routine continued for most of the boxes. Some were so old the labels had been tired out, so we had to open them to see what was inside in order to label them properly. Each one had something less interesting in it. I think one box even had a plate in it. Talk about great artifacts *insert smart-ass snort here*.
A few boxes in, however, things started getting interesting. Every time I stepped into the shed, it seemed like something was pulsing, beating as if it had a heartbeat. I couldn't seem to figure out what it was, though. Eventually, a few boxes shy of the last box, I picked up a certain package that was pounding. Whatever it was must have had batteries or something.
"What's taking you so long?" Grandpa demanded, getting impatient. "Not tired already, are you?"
Ignoring the beating, I hoisted it up and carried it to the rest.
Suddenly, the pulsing got worse. Now, it was vibrating, giving my fingers a strange tingling as it continued shaking. Out of reflex, I let it drop to the ground, making a surprising hollow sound. It rattled and, before grandpa could even grasp the situation, the lid popped open and air shot out, knocking both grandpa and I to the ground.
"It's been possessed!" Grandpa cried. "Amaya, get away from here!"
But it was like I was frozen on spot, staring at the thick fog starting to inch its way towards me.
Grandpa stood up, tossing sutras at it. "Be gone, evil demon!"
They instantly caught fire and fell to the ground in ashes. "You filthy human," it rasped. "You dare throw things at me? I'll teach you to act out of place!"
The white smoke started concentrating in one spot. I watched with wide eyes as a shadow of a hand started forming, long, white fingers materializing from nothing but smoke.
I quickly made my way to grandpa, standing in from of him with my arms outstretched. "You'll have to go through me first!"
To my surprise, it laughed. "Ah, so it was you who woke me."
A man smiling respectfully stepped through the smoke, bowing. His navy blue hair was cropped just below his ears and was messy, like it hadn't been brushed. His clothes reminded me of the feudal era, the black kimono specked with purple swirls, like royals, and the wooden shoes seen only in historical Japanese movies. His lilac eyes held something close to admiration in them.
"Who… are you?" I breathed with wide eyes. If it wasn't for the short hair, I would think this strange man was my twin.
He laced his fingers with mine, the smile on his face almost nostalgic. "I've been waiting for you, Princess. Oh, how I've longed to see your face." He brought my hand to his cold lips, kissing the tips of my fingers lightly. "You're much more beautiful than you were 500 years ago, milady."
I blinked, regaining myself, and snatched my hand back. "Who are you?" I demanded. "Better yet: what are you?"
Amusement crossed his features. "It's me, Lady Hikari, your brother Hinote."
My eyes narrowed. "My name isn't Hikari, it's Amaya."
He wrapped a thin, white arm around my waist, pulling me closer. "Amaya means "night rain," no? That suits you much more."
I shoved him away, unable to understand anything he was saying. "Stop touching me, damn it!"
His face turned grim as he stared at me, purple eyes sparking to a crimson red. "Please reconsider, milady. If not, I'll be forced to make you remember." Wind whipped his kimono everywhere, sandals breaking under the stress. His blue hair suddenly burned, morphing into a blazing red as his nail sharpened. "Please forgive me."
"Amaya!" I vaguely heard grandpa's panic behind me.
He slashed at me, getting my bare arm. Five, deep gashes started oozing blood. I tried to avoid his next attack by ducking, but my foot caught a particularly wet part of grass from my earlier water fight, causing me to slip. He only managed to get my cheek, thankfully, a thin gash forming. Helplessly, I grabbed his wrist, trying to halt his assault.
His wrist started smoldering, though I couldn't feel anything.
He yanked away, holding his injured forearm. It was tinged black, like it was burned. "A priestess!?" he shrieked. "How could you, Lady Hikari? How could you go to their side!?"
Priestess? Their side? What!?
My questions were wiped away as his boney fingers clasped around my throat. Like I weighed nothing, he lifted me off of my feet and held me in the air. "Get rid of them! Get of them now! Hurry and lose those awful powers or you'll never be able to return!"
I gasped for air and kicked him, trying to get out of his grip. He cried out again and dropped me, holding his stomach with both hands. I landed on my butt and stared as Hinote's face contorted in agony.
"Get away, Amaya!" Grandpa pulled me from my mind.
I looked around for something, anything, to use as a weapon while he was distracted and caught a glimpse of a water gun just a few feet away from me. I grabbed it quickly, squirting the remaining water on him.
His screams fill the air as he physically started to melt, dripping to the ground in a puddle until fading completely.
I stared at the small bones left in the wake, unable to move.
What just happened?
"Amaya, are you okay?" Grandpa rushed over to me. "You're all covered in cuts."
"Grandpa? Amaya? Are you guys okay?" Mom gasped. "Oh my god! What happened here?"
What was he? Was he… was he a demon? But… there was no way! Demons didn't exist in this time. This was my time, this wasn't Feudal Japan. And who was Princess Hikari? What the hell did he mean by "wrong side"? Had he called me a Priestess? Wasn't that what Inuyasha referred Kagome as? How was that even possible? Was that why the water gun acted as if it was acid or something — because of those "awful" powers?
"I don't know…" I whispered out loud. "I just don't know."
"Honey?" Mom put her hand on my shoulder, gently shaking me.
I shook off the confusion and straightened myself. "I'm not sure what happened," I muttered.
"We were attacked by a demon!" Grandpa rasped. "Hurry, Amaya, throw those bones into the Bone-Eater's well before he resurrects himself!"
"Resurrects himself?" Mom repeated. "Oh my."
I cringed at the thought and collected the bones, heading for the shrine. When I reached the doors, however, a cold chill crept up my spine, making me shiver. My stomach was suddenly nauseous, like there was something bad about to happen. Slowly, as if it would break to do it too fast, I slid the wooden doors open, eyes scanning the inside.
Empty.
What was I expecting? Some demon god?
Shaking my head, I stepped down the stairs and faced the well, looking down it. I couldn't see the bottom, however, just a black abyss.
I hope Kagome comes back soon.
The familiar warnings struck my nerves, causing me to feel uneasy again. Quickly, I tossed the bones in the well and turned to leave, not bothering to wait for them to hit the bottom.
Just as my foot hit the first step, something pressed against my chest with enough force to knock the air out of me and I lost my balance, falling backwards.
