A/N: Hello and welcome to my newest fanfic. Yes, I know that it is completely different from my previous works (from WoW to InuYasha ... what a change of story). But this was what I felt like making. As this chapter is uploaded, I have completed the first 16 chapters. This is mostly Cannon, though some of the scenes will be slightly altered (due to me fitting in my OC as though she was originally in the story), so this fanfic is slightly AU. I will mostly follow the manga, but I may be tempted to use the anime/movies, but I haven't quite decided yet. And I plan to upload every Sunday (my time, not sure what time of the day though... you'll just have to see).
Warnings: This story is MA-rated; there will be some dark themes like abuse and rape in later chapters (warnings will be in the respective chapter). Also, there will be lemony scenes as well as real lemons in later chapters (you have been warned and will be warned in the respective chapters).
Genres: Mainly Romance and Adventure, but also Angst, Drama, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort.
Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha: this series and all of its wonderful (and gruesome) characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I do, however, own Aiko and her background story, and plausible other OCs that may appear throughout this series (I've not completed writing this story as of yet).
But anyways, I hope you'll enjoy reading this.
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Chapter 1 – Down the Well
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"Happy birthday, Kagome-chan," I said enthusiastically to her.
We were standing outside of our school, both gotten off at the same time. She beamed at me as I said 'happy birthday' to her.
"Thank you, Aiko-chan," Kagome responded almost jumping on the spot with visible glee.
"You didn't think I would forget you, did you?" I asked her after I gave her an affectionate hug, ignoring my bruised rib.
"Why would I think that? You've never forgotten it before."
True to that. I've known Kagome since I was six years old – she had only just turned five. We just clicked from the very beginning and since then, we've always hung out whenever possible. Though I was in a year over Kagome in school, we did manage to get lunch together, usually in the company of her other friends Eri, Ayumi, and Yuka. I didn't mind them, and they seemed to not mind me either.
She glanced me over from head to toe, clearly wanting to ask me something, yet not quite finding the courage to do so.
"Oh, come with it, Kagome-chan. I can see you want to ask me a question. Your whole face is screaming 'I got a question'".
She was rocking back and forth on her feet, before she sighed resignedly.
In a lowered voice she asked me: "How's it going at home?"
I bit my lip and glanced down at our feet; I didn't want to ruin her special day.
"Let's not talk about me, it's your birthday, so it should be you we talk about," I said in a breathy tone, trying to turn the conversation away from me, while at the same time I tried to forget any thoughts of how it was going back home.
"Now tell me," I said as I slung an arm over her shoulder and slowly pushed us out of the courtyard in front of the school and unto the streets, "What did ojī-san give you this time?"
That seemed to do the trick, because she sighed exasperatedly over the question.
"The weirdest thing yet to date … Something he called a 'kappa' … I couldn't quite figure out if it was a foot or a hand … though, I ended up giving it to Buyo."
I snickered at her answer as I let go of her shoulder and righted my backpack. Every year, ojī-san would give her something weird that's supposedly a protective charm or something other random thing with mystifying properties. It was kind of funny, actually.
I glanced over at her, and she glanced at me as we stopped up.
"Ehm, Kagome-chan?" I asked and faced her, she mirrored my movement, "Do you think I could stay at your place for the night?"
She gave me a saddened smile, as she probably already figured out the reason why I wanted to stay at her place.
"I see no problem with that, and I don't think ka-san would mind it either," she said kindly, "It has been a while since you've come over for a visit, so I think ka-san would be ecstatic to see you again."
I gave her a forlorn smile.
"Thank you," I said while we began to head over to her place, "and you're right, it's been a while …"
As we headed to her home, we chit-chatted a bit, catching up on lost time and such. It was nice to talk with Kagome again, for it had been almost two weeks since I last spoke with her, one on one. Besides, I missed my dad's ōdachi, Ōginsairensā, which had gotten a permanent residing place at Kagome's, after my dad died.
It didn't take us long to reach her home, which we quickly entered.
"Tadaima," Kagome said as she quickly ushered us in.
We quickly got out of our shoes and headed inside. Kagome's mother stood in the kitchen and was already in the works of preparing dinner.
"Welcome home, Kagome-chan," she said while she turned her face towards us as we entered fully.
"Oh, I see you brought Aiko-chan with you … hello to you too, Aiko-chan – it's been a while."
Kagome's mother seemed pleased at seeing me; her gentle smile was a clear indication of so.
"Thank you, oka-san … I hope I don't intrude," I said as I gave her a gentle smile as well.
"Not at all, you're always welcome here."
"Thanks," I said; I really appreciated that I always was welcomed at Kagome's.
Before I could talk more to Kagome's mother, Kagome pulled me by my wrist up the stairs. She led me down the hallway of the second floor, when I heard the front door open and close rapidly. Not long after, a pair of feet stumbled up the stairs and stopped at the top of them.
"Kagome-chan?" a sweet boyish voice said in a questioning manner.
We both faced the owner of the voice and saw that it was Sōta, Kagome's little brother. He looked flustered and nervous.
"Is something wrong," Kagome asked him.
"It's Buyo … I can't find him … I think he's in the well-house. Can you help me?" he was wringing his hands against his shirt.
"I'll be right there in a moment," she said as she opened the door to her bedroom.
She quickly got her backpack off and turned to me.
"I'll help out, but I want to change first, if that's okay," I told her as I placed my backpack near her desk.
"Of course, we'll go search in the meantime," she said as she headed out of her room, closing the door behind her.
Hastily, I dug into my backpack and pulled out some clothes; I had counted on being able to stay at Kagome's for the night. I pulled forth a pair of black leggings that went past the knees, a light grey osode – it had black trimmings at the neckline, wrists, and bottom – a black obi, a pair of white tabi, and a pair of waraji. I placed the clothes on her desk and kept the waraji in the plastic bag I had stuffed them in. Quickly, I took off my school uniform and stuffed them down in my backpack, to then adorn my outfit. When done, I quickly took the waraji out of the plastic bag and exited Kagome's bedroom. With swift feet I hurried down the hallway and down the stairs. In my haste to help out Kagome and Sōta, I almost forgot to grab Ōginsairensā. Leaving the waraji in the entrance hall, I quickly ran up the stairs again and opened a cabinet on my right. It had been made into a small shrine in honor of my dad, with Ōginsairensā resting on the koshirae underneath the picture of my dad. I clasped my hand together and bowed from the waist down in front of the small picture of him. And a stoic picture of my dad it was, with his buzz-cut black hair, and slightly angular shaped face, his thin lips and broad nose, and his kind green eyes that reminded me of springtime.
"I miss you, to-san," I whispered as I paid my respects to him.
I then grabbed the ōdachi from the koshirae, glancing forlornly at the black saya. I strapped the ōdachi onto the back of my obi, and then bowed before my dad again, before I closed the cabinet doors once more. My feet almost didn't touch the steps of the stairs in my hurry to exit the household. When I got back to the entrance hall, I quickly stuck my feet into the waraji and exited with a quickened "See ya, oka-san" to Kagome's mother.
Then I ran as fast as I could towards the well-house.
"Bu~yo!" I heard Sōta call loudly for the sweet fat cat.
The doors were slid open and I stepped inside, spotting Kagome and Sōta at the top of the five-stepped-stair down to the well.
"You haven't found him yet?" I asked as I stopped up behind the kneeling form of Sōta.
"Not yet," Kagome said as she glanced at me; she was standing a little back and to the right side of Sōta.
"But he's somewhere down there…" Sōta said as he glanced back at me.
"Then we should get him," I said gently, folding my hands behind my back.
Sōta looked uncomfortably back at his sister.
"But, doesn't this place kinda … give you the creeps?" his tone a little shaky.
Kagome squatted down beside him as she said: "What, you scared? You're a boy, aren't you?"
I couldn't help the tiny snicker that escaped me. Sometimes, Kagome could be a bit mean to her brother, but I knew that she loved him.
Suddenly a scratching sound came from the boarded well.
Sōta squeaked in fright: "Th-there's something in there!"
Kagome glanced at him nonchalantly: "Like, oh, say … our cat?!"
I snickered more loudly this time, not cruelly, but I thought it was kind of fun. The scratching sounds against the boards on the well were persistent.
"Geez…" Kagome then said as she stood up and walked down the few steps of the stair.
The boards creaked as she stepped on them, not being used regularly. As she neared the well, the scratching sounds became louder and somewhat more desperate in it. I felt curious and stepped down the stairs as well. When I had stepped down from the last step, I spotted Buyo, but before I could say anything, he rubbed himself up against Kagome's leg, purring lovingly at Kagome.
"YAAA!" Kagome yelled as she was frightened by his presence.
I sniggered at her reaction, just as Sōta screamed in fright as well, a small bump could be heard. Glancing up at him, I could see that he had landed on his behind with the scare of Kagome's frightened yell.
"Don't yell like that! You scared me!" Sōta said loudly.
Kagome picked up Buyo while she muttered annoyed "You little…"
I couldn't quite figure out if it was Sōta or Buyo that annoyed her. I glanced behind her at the well that seemed too eerily silent, which made me furrow my brows. I didn't know why, but I felt disturbed by it, like something ominous was down in the well. With my focus on the boards, I could see that they were suddenly trembling, like they were about to burst. My arms fell to my sides, as I only just registered Sōta call out after Kagome.
Then suddenly the boards smashed into pieces, as something otherworldly appeared from inside the well. It looked like a woman … except that the woman had six arms. The arms then wrapped around Kagome and she was caught by the pair of arms, shocked with the unforeseen happenstance. She let go of Buyo as she was quickly being dragged into the well.
"KAGOME!" I yelled as I jumped after her.
I got a hold of her leg as we were both pulled into the well by this six-armed woman. The thing seemed intent on Kagome. I was shocked, because when I looked down at it, it looked like the rest of her/it was just bones, but not in the form of a normal human; it looked like she was one long stretch of ribcage, with at least thirty sets of ribs. I gasped at the sight in front of me.
"What joy … What strength I feel…" she/it rasped hungrily looking kind of euphoric.
The weird woman was having a strong hold on Kagome's torso, as I adamantly held onto her leg, because I had a feeling that I shouldn't let go.
"My flesh returns to me!"
When the thing said it, I glanced down at the previously naked bones, only to see to my horror that she was somehow regenerating, her flesh turning into that of a centipede. Inwardly I squeaked: I hated bugs of all kinds. What the heck is this thing?!
"You … Have it … Yes?" the centipede woman rasped ecstatic, then her abnormally long tongue stuck out and licked the left side of Kagome's face.
YUCK! YUCK-YUCK-YUCK! I looked away squirming unpleasantly at the thought of being licked by a freakish centipede woman.
"Let me … go … you freak!" Kagome then screamed at the monster.
I glanced up at the same time as Kagome pushed against the centipede woman's face with her left hand, when a sharp pinkish light suddenly emerged from her hand. As it turned brighter, I closed my eyes and turned my head away. My heart beat rapidly in my chest as I clung to Kagome's leg.
"I … will … not … lose it now …" the raspy voice of the creature groaned out, "… the Shikon … no … Tama …"
Huh?! The Shikon no Tama … it sounded familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place it.
Suddenly I felt a tumbling sensation and I opened my eyes. Only to realize that I was about to tumble down, front first, over the earth. My hands let go of Kagome's leg as I blocked the impact with my hands, trying to protect my face.
"UMPH!" I exclaimed as the air was knocked out of me.
And then my rib hurt as hell; this was gonna set back my recovery with a week or two.
"I'm … in the well … ?"
I heard Kagome say and I looked up at her. It seemed like she hadn't registered me as she glanced around, without looking back at me. Currently she was sitting on her knees.
"Hey, Kagome-chan?!" I groaned out as I righted myself.
She gasped as she turned around to look at me.
"Are you alright?" I asked her while I brushed off the dirt on the front of my grey osode.
"Aiko-chan … what are you doing down here?" she asked me in a surprised manner.
I stood up and dusted off my leggings, then I glanced around me.
"I jumped after you and grabbed onto your leg," I said when I looked back at her.
Her attention had rolled over to a rather fleshy, dismembered arm that was discarded a few feet to her left.
"Do you know what that … thing was?" I asked while I walked over to her.
I reached a hand down to her, which she immediately took a hold of. Pulling at my hand, she got up and began to dust herself off of dust and dirt.
"I have no clue," she said as she once more looked over at the fleshy arm, "I guess it wasn't a dream … since you're here…"
I looked at the arm as well, goosebumps crawling up my spine as I shook with disgust over that centipede-monster-lady-thing.
"What a nightmare it would have been if it was!" I exclaimed as I shook my head from side to side, trying to shake off the awful feeling of bugs crawling all over me.
Kagome glanced down at the earthy floor in thought; "Hmm… 'Shikon no Tama' … do you remember what jī-san said about it?" she then asked me as she shifted her focus back up to me.
"I can't remember…" I told her honestly as I glanced down at my feet, arms crossed in front of my chest.
"Anyways," I then said after a short moment of silence, "let's get out of here."
She nodded, then yelled up to the top of the well: "Sōta! You there?! … Go get jī-san! NOW!"
There was no answer from above.
Shrugging my shoulders, I sighed gently: "Looks like we have to crawl our way out ourselves."
"Hmph! What a chicken he is…" Kagome said as she faced the nearest wall of the well.
I stepped up beside her, then squatted beside her, folding my hands to make a stepping stone for her.
"Here, use me to get higher up, so you can reach that vine and crawl the rest of the way up."
She glanced at me then up at the vine, which was about twelve-fourteen feet up from where we stood.
"Then what about you, how will you reach it?" she asked me, concern in her voice.
"Simple … I climb the wall … no problem …" I glanced up at her from my squatted position; "Don't worry about me…"
I send her one of my famous, carefree smiles that I knew she couldn't say no to.
"Alright then," she said as she stepped up onto my folded hands, her own hands using the wall as support.
"Ready?" I asked as I looked up at her, and she nodded, "… Alright … one, two … and three!"
On the count of three, I slowly straightened myself up, huffing with exertion, my rib protesting.
I've definitely pushed back my healing process now. It was not that Kagome was extremely heavy or anything, but with my bruised rib, it felt like she weighted a ton. I grunted as I pushed her higher up, my hands now reaching my breasts.
"Can you reach it yet?" I asked completely out of breath, as all of my focus was on not dropping Kagome … and the dull throbbing of my bruised rib.
"Almost there," she squeezed out from her lips, as she tried to reach the vine, "just … a little … bit … more!" she exclaimed with much used effort.
Taking a deep breath, I put all of my strength into pushing her higher. Sweat was now trickling down my temples as my hands now reached my clavicle. Just a bit more, I think, and she'll be able to get a good hold on that vine. Giving it my last bit of strength, I pushed her up a few more inches – my hands reached my chin.
"I got it!" Kagome exclaimed, and I heaved air deeply into my lungs, trying to forget the pain in my rib.
"I've got a solid grip on it now," she then said, "You can let go of me now!"
"Are… yuhph … surehh?" I huffed out.
"Yeah," and then her foot left my hand as she placed it up against the wall and slowly proceeded to climb her way up to the top of the well.
Immediately after her foot left my hands, my left hand sought out the bruised rib, as I leaned fore over to catch my breath and alleviate some of the pain. I had no idea of how long I stood like that.
"Huh?" I heard Kagome say, though from this far away from her, it was not easy to hear.
"What is it?" I asked as I righted myself up and glanced towards the top of the well.
"There is no shrine," came the low reply from Kagome.
"What?"
That didn't make sense … "Hang on, I'm coming up…"
Alright, so how do I do this?
I glanced up at the wall, and like I had estimated before, the vine was approximately thirteen feet up. Slowly, but steadily, I'm trying to kill myself – this would definitely aggravate my bruised rib.
"Here goes," I mumbled to myself as I began to climb the wall.
Damn, these waraji weren't designed to climb walls, I thought to myself as I felt my feet slightly slipping against both my tabi and the dirt wall.
This is not as easy as I thought it would be, I thought to myself as I was a few feet off the ground. A little further, and I would have the vine as a lifeline to use, so that I could scale the wall easier.
It took me at least five minutes to scale the wall, and my rib was now throbbing excessively, with the feeling that it was trying to squeeze my lung flat. When I had swung myself over the rim of the well, I landed hard on my feet and glanced around.
This doesn't make sense, I thought as I glanced around at the now open field, which should have been a shrine. When my eyes landed at Kagome, she was just as baffled as I was.
Where had the shrine disappeared to?
"Jī-san! … Ka-san…?" Kagome began to yell.
"Ehm, Kagome-chan …?" I said puzzled, not exactly sure of what to say as this whole scene baffled me.
She ignored me as she kept yelling for ojī-san and her mother. She then began to head off in a random direction.
Hastily I walked after her; I didn't want to be left behind.
"Wait, Kagome-chan … I don't think they're here!" I said loudly to her as I stumbled after her through some bushes.
She glanced back at me, then waited for me until I was right beside her, "But they must be, where else would they be?" she asked me with a concerned glimmer in her brown eyes.
"I don't know, Kagome-chan … but I really don't think they're anywhere near us right now…" My arms were crossed up in front of my breasts, trying to shield myself from my puzzling surroundings.
I really didn't like the feeling in my gut; the feeling that something was completely off about this.
"Let's just keep going," Kagome said as she took a hold of my right hand, "At some point we must find someone, right?" she asked, trying to sound optimistic.
I gave her a nod, then off we were, walking through bushes and tall trees. We walked until we spotted the old Goshinboku.
"Look, it's the Goshinboku," Kagome exclaimed excitedly as she pointed at it, "I'm able to guide us home from there!" she then added ecstatically as she pulled me with her towards the Goshinboku.
But when we got closer, we both stopped up as we saw something really strange. Up in the tree, with vines growing up against it, hung a boy with an arrow in his left shoulder. The boy didn't look to be more than 15 years old, just around Kagome's age, though he did look strange, with his long silvery white hair and his fiery red robes which belonged in the Feudal Era. My gaze shifted up to his face, where I spotted what looked like dog ears on top of his head. Was he a cosplayer?
Kagome let go of my hand and began to walk closer to the strange boy.
"Wait Kagome-chan, what are you doing?" I asked panicky.
She turned her face towards me: "He may know something …" then she faced him once more and carefully began to crawl up the vines that wrapped around the boy and the tree.
"I don't think it's a good idea, Kagome-chan," I said as I nervously walked up to her and tried to grab a hold of her hand.
"Don't be silly, Aiko-chan," she said without looking at me as she stepped up.
She was now right in front of the boy.
"Huh? His ears doesn't look like human ears …" she then said as she raised her hands up to touch them.
"Wait, are you saying that they are attached to him … like permanently?" I asked her exasperatedly as she touched the dog-like ears.
"It feels like it … like they are real dog ears …" she mumbled lowly, but I only heard her because I was so intent on her, nervous for her well-being.
"Oi, what do you do there?!" a masculine voice yelled at us.
Suddenly there was a rustling in the air, like something was cutting at the air itself, then arrows rained around us. I squeaked as one flew right in front of my nose and hit the tree where Kagome was pressing herself up against the weird boy with arrows framing their person. I jumped in my own skin as another one landed right in front of my feet.
"This land is forbidden!" another man yelled.
I glanced up the hill and saw two humanoid shapes standing with bows in their hands.
I think we are in trouble, I thought as they approached us.
~oOo~
Kagome and I were both bound with our hands behind our back and with our feet bound together. I was literally fuming as I wiggled in my spot, trying to get free from my bindings. They had taken my sword, MY DAD'S ŌDACHI! And I wanted it back.
People were gathering around us while we were sitting on the ground, bound and not able to get out of our bindings.
"They've come spyin' I wager!" one man said, to which an old lady answered: "Then another battle's a'brewin'?"
Then another lady said: "They're one've them 'Kitsune' foxes usin' magic to look a girl, I say!"
This didn't add up…
"Kagome-chan," I whispered over my shoulder to her, " where do you think we are?"
She nodded at me and leaned closer to whisper back: "I think we're in the Sengoku period … Feudalism … 'Warring States' …"
"Oh …"
I definitely didn't expect falling back in time with Kagome …
"Make way! Make Way! … Kaede-sama, the miko, is coming!"
I glanced up, which I think Kagome did as well, at the approaching person. She was an elderly woman, with greyish hair, draped in a miko robe and holding a bow in her right hand. Her face was quite wrinkled, and she had an eyepatch over her right eye.
"Who are you? … Why were you in the Forest of InuYasha?" the elderly woman asked us in a voice only wise elders knew how to speak with.
I glanced at Kagome and she at me … I was pretty sure we were both thinking the same: weird!
Then suddenly the miko looked like someone who had just recognized something. She walked over to us and faced Kagome.
"Let me see your face," the miko said as she grabbed Kagome's chin.
I blinked several times at the situation Kagome seemed to be in. I heard the miko mumble something, I couldn't quite catch it, so I leaned in closer to figure out what was happening.
"You're her image, though … my elder sister … Kikyō …" the miko said.
"What?" Kagome whispered, confused.
I myself, sat with a puzzled demeanor … Who was this … Kikyō?
~oOo~
"Kikyō-san was the village miko… and its protectress," the miko, Kaede, said while she shortly told us how Kikyō came one day to the village, mortally wounded, which then turned to be her death.
"That was over 50 years ago. She died when I was but a child," she ended up saying as she poured food into three bowls.
I sat right beside Kagome, both of us were still tied with rope. Miko Kaede placed the bowls in front of us. At the smell of the food, my stomach began to grumble, but I couldn't just dig in as I wanted to, considering that my hands were bound behind my back.
Kaede then sat down and glanced at us questioningly: "What's wrong? Not hungry?"
"Um," Kagome said as we stared at each other for a few seconds.
"If we weren't bound, then I at least would be more than happy to dig into that stew," I said as I shifted my attention back to the old miko.
"Oh," the miko said.
She untied us both. When my hands were finally free, I dug greedily into the delicious looking stew in front of me. It was exquisite.
"So, I guess … that we aren't in Tokyo anymore," Kagome said as she too began to eat the stew while she shifted her attention to Kaede.
Kaede looked puzzled at Kagome: "I've never heard the name. Is that the land of your birth?"
Kagome looked slightly embarrassed: "I … uh … guess so."
After a short break, she added: "I was just thinking that we should get going soon…"
Then she glanced down at the bowl of stew in her hand, looking like one who was thinking deeply. I could guess what she was thinking about exactly; how were we going to return to our own time?
Suddenly screams and turmoil was heard from outside Kaede's hut – people were screaming in fear.
"What could it be?" Kaede asked hurriedly as she stood up and walked over to the entrance of her hut.
Kagome and I stood up as well and walked over to Kaede who walked outside. We stepped out as well, when a horse came crashing down from above, its abdomen gone as if someone had taken a great chunk out of it.
Kagome screamed out in frightful surprise, while I looked aggravated by the view in front of us. What could have done this?
My unasked question was answered as a man screamed: "RUN! IT'S A MONONOKE!"
I glanced up, only to see the creepy centipede lady glancing over at me and Kagome, a chunk of horse meat dangling from her mouth, which sported an awful set of sharp fangs.
Goosebumps ran up my spine as I was creeped out by the sight of the giant bug-monster.
Then she came rushing towards us, yelling: "Give me the Shikon no Tama!"
"The … The Shikon no Tama …?!" Kaede asked in shock.
I didn't shift my gaze away from the oncoming monster, though I did register the short conversation between Kaede and Kagome.
"You have the Shikon no Tama?!" Kaede asked.
Kagome responded the old miko: "I … I'm not sure … !"
I chanced a glance towards Kagome, and she looked like one who was debating with herself about something.
"Not spears nor arrows can stop it!" one of the men yelled to Kaede as he came over to us.
Kaede looked up at the creature as she came up with some form of a plan: "If we can lure it to the old well, we might trap it!"
"The dry old well?!" Kagome and I yelled at the same time.
The well Kagome and I came out of.
"In InuYasha's Forest…" Kaede replied as she glanced at Kagome.
"Where's the Forest?" I asked as I looked back at Kaede and Kagome.
"Toward east…" Kaede then responded but was interrupted by Kagome as we shifted our attention to the east.
"Toward that light?! Okay!" Kagome yelled as she then ran in that direction.
I stared at her in shock: "Kagome-chan, wait!" I yelled as I took a single step towards her, but I got pulled back by what Kaede said next.
"That child… did she truly say…? She saw the evil aura of the forest that no earthly being can see!"
I glanced at her in shock: "What did you say?"
My attention quickly shifted back to the forest in the distance; in my eyes, there was no light, but I had a bad feeling about the place, like something evil was dormant in that place. I could see the centipede woman had followed Kagome, floating in the air like a snake moved on land.
"Miko Kaede," one of the men yelled as he pulled a few horses with him.
I glanced at them and figured that they were going after Kagome, and the ugly centipede … yōkai. I had to go with them; I had to save Kagome.
"Where is my sword?" I asked hurriedly as I faced Kaede, "Cause I'm coming with you – no way I'm letting that bug hurt Kagome-chan!"
Kaede nodded to me, then looked at the man who had brought us the horses: "Get the girl her sword!"
Swiftly the man ran off, only to appear once more within a minute, with my dad's ōdachi. He gave it to me once he was close enough, and I grabbed a hold of it, looking down at it forlornly. I then quickly strapped it on the back of my obi and jumped onto a horse. The others did the same and almost immediately after, we were all off to InuYasha's Forest.
Hang on Kagome, I'm coming for you, I thought as I pressed the mare to ride faster.
A/N: I hope it was to your liking. Please leave a review to let me know what you thought of it. See ya next Sunday.
A/N – a few glossaries:
-chan – an endearing honorific, always a suffix. Usually used on children, but also for dear female family members and friends.
Ojī-san/Jī-san – grandfather (the first one is the formal, while the second is only acceptable for family members).
Oka-san/Ka-san – mother (the first one is the formal, while the second is only acceptable for family members).
To-san – father (acceptable format for family members only).
Ōdachi (nodachi) – a Japanese sword which is bigger than a katana (in the same category as a longsword and claymore).
Ōginsairensā – the name of Aiko's ōdachi, meaning "big silver silencer" (大 銀 サイレンサー).
Tadaima – a phrasing Japanese people uses when they're entering home, just like "I'm home".
Osode – a robe with wide sleeve openings.
Obi – a sash worn around the waist as a belt.
Tabi – socks that are split to facilitate wearing sandals.
Waraji – inexpensive sandals woven of straw and worn by travelers.
Koshirae – mountings; basically, the stands which holds Japanese swords – always with the sharp side upwards.
Saya – the scabbard for the blade, which is usually done in lacquered wood.
Goshinboku - the Sacred Tree.
-sama – the most formal honorific, always a suffix.
Miko – a priestess.
Mononoke – a demon.
Yōkai – a demon.