She should have known that this was coming. They were, after all, making history. If you knew about the future - the past - would you go back - forward - and change it? Ignorance truly is bliss.
Note: The characters and setting of this story do not belong to me. Sadly enough, they are the property of the creators of Inuyasha. Other than that, enjoy!
Ignorance is Bliss
Chapter 1
Kagome loved everything about the Warring States Era.
She loved camping out under the (pollution free!) night sky: feeling safe with Shippo to her right, Sango to her left, Miroku next to Sango, and Inuyasha watching over them from his tree branch. She loved petting Kirara and giving Shippo candy: laughing as Sango slapped Miroku. She loved riding on Inuyasha's back, watching his (adorable!) dog ears twitch as he listened to sounds no human could hear. Yes, Kagome enjoyed everything about the past.
Except for one thing (well, two things, but Naraku was a given).
She HATED falling behind on her schoolwork.
In the years before her fateful fifteenth birthday, she had done considerably well in school. She may not have been the class genius, but she ranked pretty high and worked very hard. She still worked hard (harder than ever) but, after her tumble down the well, she simply had no time.
Her grandpa would tell her that what she was achieving was more important than tests and scores. Her mama would smile and tell her that she was doing great. Souta would encourage her and Buuyo would mew agreement, but Kagome would still feel miserable.
Even so, it was only after failing her 5th history test in a row that Kagome realized she might not make it to the next grade.
After this epiphany, Kagome did the only thing she could do; she panicked.
"Eri, what would you do if you were failing history?" Kagome addressed the girl sitting next to her. It was after school on a lazy Thursday afternoon; Kagome had dragged her three friends to WacDonalds, hoping to get some helpful advice.
Eri blinked, slightly startled by the question.
"Failing! Kags! You can't be failing! History is your best subject! Yuka cut in. Ayumi nodded in agreement.
"Not anymore," Kagome angrily stabbed a fry into the ketchup, "I flunked the last test. There's no way I'm still passing." She popped the fry into her mouth and viciously chewed.
"You have been gone a lot lately," Eri observed.
"Yeah. All those diseases: the blue-footed fungus, heart burn, joint problems, muscle surgery, and Alzheimer's. That must have been awful!"
(Why oh why couldn't her grandfather be normal for once?! Kagome inwardly cringed at her new list of ailments. Alzheimer's?!?! That's suppose to be incurable!)
"And you're still getting all that trouble from the two-timing boyfriend!" Ayumi continued, "Haven't you dumped him yet?"
"Inuyasha?!" Kagome raised her hands in protest, wondering how the conversation had gotten so off topic. Her 'two-timing boyfriend' seemed to be the only thing her friends were interested in anymore. "For the last time, he's not my boyfriend!"
"Ah-ha! So he has a name!" Yuka cried in triumph.
"Dog demon?" Ayumi raised an eyebrow in slight confusion. "What kind of name is that?"
"True. It is a bit……abnormal."
"Perhaps it's a family name?"
"Or a nickname?"
"A street name?"
"You aren't suggesting he's a gangster?!?!" Ayumi and Yuka both turned to look at Kagome. Even Eri looked intrigued. "Well, is he?"
"No! Of course not!" Kagome sighed, "Now, can we please get back to my history problem…."
Kagome's pleas fell on deaf ears as Yuka and Ayumi continued to talk amongst themselves. Sighing, Kagome rested her head on the table and resigned herself to another 'Inuyasha discussion'.
"Well, if he's anything like his name suggests, you have to be careful Kagome. You really should dump him." Yuka lectured.
"It's not as simple as that," Kagome mumbled half-heartedly. Yuka's eyes widened and Ayumi looked shocked.
"You don't LIKE him, do you?" The two chorused in unison, eyes filled with glee. Kagome mentally groaned and decided that leaving seemed like the best option.
"I have to go," Kagome stood up and attempted a smile, "I'm babysitting Souta tonight and mom's expecting me home soon." She placed some money on the table and picked up her book bag. She had almost turned around when she heard Eri call:
"Wait up, Kags. I'll walk home with you."
Kagome paused long enough for Eri to stand up, dust off her skirt, and pick up an armful of books. It was only after they had walked out of WacDonalds and halfway down the street that Eri looked at Kagome and smiled.
"Sorry about Ayumi and Yuka," Eri switched to a teasing, pseudo-motherly tone of voice, "We're just so happy that our little Kagome's all grown up and in love." Eri gave an over dramatized sigh: clasping her hands in front of her face in a classic theater pose. Kagome dug her elbow into Eri's ribs, laughing.
"Cut it out!"
"Kags," After another few bouts of laughing and teasing, Eri had calmed down enough to say what she'd wanted to say, "If you need help in history, you could ask someone to tutor you." Kagome grimaced at the idea; there was no way she could convince Inuyasha to let her come home often enough for tutoring.
"That's probably not the best idea."
"Well, there's another option: our teacher is offering an extra credit opportunity to a few students," Eri's words instantly captured Kagome's attention, "It's a research assignment on the Warring States Era. Remember the mystery of Tuzuki's castle? You have to research it, formulate a hypothesis on what actually happened, and write a report on that. Points are awarded for how convincing your argument is. You should ask our teacher about it. I'm sure he would let you participate….."
Kagome nodded, ecstatic. This was perfect.
It was late Saturday night: 7 days since Kagome had arrived home and half a day before she was expected to return. Her yellow backpack was propped up against the wall: bulging at the seams and filled to the brim with clothes, food, textbooks, and various other commodities. Inuyasha would be arriving to escort Kagome down the well first thing in the morning and he was surprisingly adamant on punctuality.
After double checking her first aid kit, Kagome walked up to her desk and pulled up her chair. Opening up the internet to her computer (a recent Christmas gift), she typed in a search for Tuzuki Castle. She immediately got thousands of results.
This wasn't really surprising: Tuzuki castle had become a pretty famous mystery, mainly because it made no sense. Clutching a sheet of paper that contained her teacher's instructions for the extra credit opportunity, Kagome clicked open the first promising site and started reading.
It turned out to be redundant: a simplistic background report that regurgitated information Kagome already knew.
Tuzuki had been a daimyo that owned a rather inconspicuous but surprisingly wealthy piece of land. One night, his castle had simply disappeared, leaving all the residents dead. The only ones who survived the incident were a group of monks that had had taken up holdings in outlying regions where the castle used to be. They had woken up to a rather rude shock.
The strangest thing about this mystery, though, was the lack of bloodshed. If blood had been spilt, it would have simply been another battleground: destroyed by war or demons or worse. Instead, the corpses simply appeared to be asleep. Personally, Kagome wasn't ready to rule out the option of 'demons' just yet.
As Kagome navigated her way through a few other bum sites, she ran a series of calculations in her head. Tuzuki Castle had disappeared exactly 500 years in the past during the Warring States Era: what were the odds that the disappearance would be occurring sometime soon on the other side of the well?
Now curious, Kagome typed in another search for the exact date of the castle phenomenon. She smiled and did a mental victory dance at the answer. Tomorrow was the first day of April. The castle would disappear on the night of April 30th, 500 years in the past. If she waited for a month and managed to convince Inuyasha and the others to pay Lord Tuzuki a visit, she might get a first-hand account of what actually happened.
Elated, the dark haired teen ran a third search on details of the disappearance. Luck seemed to favor her as she conducted her search: the first site that she encountered was a journal entry written by a priest that had help to bury the dead residents of the castle.
Clicking open the link, Kagome began to read:
…The corpses lie on the ground, untouched. They appear to have died in their sleep and lie where their beds in the castle used to be. There is almost no bloodshed and the priestesses have confirmed that none of the corpses were poisoned. It brings a shudder to my bones as I ponder the nature of their deaths…
…The monks that have survived the disaster sit on the ground, fingering their prayer beads and muttering incoherent phrases. Their eyes gaze into emptiness: they appear to be in a shocked stupor. We have done our best to comfort them; the priestesses are preparing a brew that they claim will ease the troubled minds of the survivors…
…Most of these bodies have been indentified as belonging to the staff and heads of the castle but, as we performed burial, we found a handful of corpses that belong to strangers. We are puzzled to find that all except one of these unknown bodies are mangled beyond recognition. These few corpses are the only signs of violence in this otherwise peaceful battle field. The one recognizable body is of a young male with strange silver hair, wearing a red fire-rat hatori and carrying a broken sword…
Kagome reread the last sentences, staring at her computer in shocked disbelief. Was this account suggesting……?
She mouthed the words and felt something tear at her heart.
The one recognizable body is of a young male with strange silver hair, wearing a red fire-rat hatori and carrying a broken sword…
No. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be possible. Kagome shook her head in denial.
But who else wears a fire rat hatori?
If that corpse was who she thought he was, then Inuyasha would be dead by the end of the month.
Author's note:
Ok. This my first story, so please review? Encouragement and critcism will be appreciated, especially critcism on writing style. I'll try to update as soon as I can (aka in about a week).