A triumphant laugh filled the warm summer air as a red and silver blur streaked through the sunlit forest; a shimmering necklace clutched firmly in its fist. He ran at speeds impossible for any human to ever achieve, without so much as making a sound when his feet hit the earth. His face was mostly obscured from view from his long silver hair whipping around, making it impossible to get anything more than a brief glimpse of his features. Overly confident and ignorant, he failed to notice the archer behind him taking aim.

An arrow, cloaked with an ethereal light, soared from a gap in the trees just as the sprinting figure leapt in front of a massive tree. The intended target was struck directly in the heart, pinning him to the tree and causing the necklace to fly from his grasp. But he was not yet dead.

He stared up at the unseen archer, an expression of betrayal clear on his face. With an arm extended pleadingly, his agonized voice called out to his attacker.

"Kikyo."

Kaori Sakamoto's eyes opened slowly as the images from her dream began to fade.

'Why is it always that dream? I still don't know what it's about or why I keep having it.'

Warm sunlight streamed in through the light yellow curtains over the large window, washing the room with a bright light. Open textbooks were scattered around the desk at the far corner of the room; the waste basket by the door had been newly emptied, along with a small laundry hamper overflowing with clean laundry.

Kaori sat up slowly, groaning quietly when her stiff joints cracked and popped, then stood up from the warm comfort of her bed. Grabbing the top pieces of clothing from the laundry basket and her favorite, and very worn, running shoes which were thrown carelessly under her desk, Kaori wandered into her bathroom, getting ready for a shower. Hot water cascaded over her skin invitingly while the sweet scent of her jasmine scented shampoo permeated the air.

'I've had that dream every night for weeks and yet I've never seen that boy's face. Why do I always dream of him getting shot with that arrow?'

Once the water had begun to run cold, she quickly dried off and dressed in the clothes she brought in with her: a loose, dark purple tank top and beige cargo pants. She took her time blow drying her hair and brushing it out until it fell in its natural dark, messy waves.

After brushing her teeth, she looked up into the wide eyes of her reflection.

Her face was angular with soft, but pronounced cheekbones while her nose was small and pixie-like. When she smiled, her eyes crinkled like they were laughing, too. A spitting image of her mother, save for the sapphire irises of her eyes. Her mother had light brown eyes that almost looked the color of caramel. But her eyes weren't focused on any of the features she shared with her mother; they were set on the long thin scar that ran over her right eyebrow, stopping at the top of her cheekbone.

'This is a constant reminder of what I caused.' Kaori's guilt filled thoughts said. Images of heavy rainfall along with the sound of squealing brakes and screaming flashed through her mind briefly before being shoved away. 'It's my fault she's gone.'

"Kaori! Breakfast is ready!" Maeko shouted from outside the bathroom door, startling Kaori out of her thoughts.

"Hurry up if you want us to save you any!" Raiden added. As they ran away laughing, Kaori cracked a smile at their energetic nature.

Shaking her head at her siblings' antics, Kaori walked back to her room and put on the birthday present her mother had given last year: a centuries old necklace with little white shell-like beads and a single round, iridescent jewel in the middle. It had become a centuries old tradition in her family to pass it down to the eldest daughter on her sixteenth birthday. Her mother had given it to her on her last birthday several months ago.

After having done that, she headed downstairs where she saw her father, Aiden, serving up some steamed rice, tamayogaki, and tsukemono while Raiden and Maeko giggled and whispered conspiratorially like the seven-year-old twins they were.

"Good morning, Kaori," greeted Papa warmly. "Did you sleep well?" His voice was gentle and soothing, like he was handling a porcelain doll that might break if he spoke too loudly.

"I slept well enough," Kaori answered quietly, taking her seat at the table. Once she sat down, she figured out why her little siblings had been laughing to themselves for the last few minutes because a loud, obnoxious squeak pierced the air. She jumped up quickly and saw a small piece of a toy sticking out from under her seat cushion. "Ha-ha, very funny, you two,"

"Who said it was us?" Raiden asked innocently. It might've been slightly believable if he hadn't had a triumphant gleam in his eye.

"Well, who else who put a squeaky octopus in my chair?" Kaori questioned, holding up the aforementioned toy.

"It's Oki's toy. Maybe he put it there," suggested Maeko with a shrug.

The owner to the name bounded into the kitchen and began running laps around the table. Maeko and Raiden squealed loudly when the little pup ran under their feet.

"Oki, sit boy!" Kaori called. The little brown and white mutt sat down immediately, looking around the room for his commander. Kaori tossed the squeak toy at the small dog then sat down in her squeakless chair.

"That's enough, now. Let's eat before it starts getting cold," Papa said, sitting down at the head of the table.

After several failed attempts from the twins to feed their tsukemono to Oki under the table, breakfast was eaten fairly quickly. Kaori had just finished washing off the last plate when she turned announced to her father that she was going to go outside.

"All right, but don't leave the Shrine and don't stay out too long," He answered, looking up from his cup of tea.

"Yes, Papa," Kaori sighed as she stepped through the sliding back door. Didn't he realize that he was suffocating her with his overprotective tendencies? 'I know why he's like that...but sometimes I just want to leave for a while to get a little freedom.'

Once the door closed behind her, Kaori looked around at her home. For as long as she could remember, she had lived at the Sakamoto Shrine. It has belonged to her mother's family for generations and now they owned it.

'Mama was really proud of this place. She'd often tell me stories of the things she did while growing up here and tell me about the history behind each of the significant landmarks.'

Kaori wandered around the grounds, stopping to look at the Sakamoto Well House. She knew she wasn't allowed in there, but curiosity often got the better of her.

Like right now.

Looking over her shoulder, Kaori started walking up the steps that led into the well house. She pushed on the door, wincing as its hinges protested about being moved. Once the door was open enough for her to slide inside, Kaori cast another spare glance over her shoulder, before going in.

'Why is this place forbidden?' Kaori wondered. 'There's nothing in here except that well.'

Kaori walked down the old wooden stairs, more than slightly disappointed with her findings. She had hoped to find something at least a little interesting in here, but all she got was a neglected, dried up well and dust.

"I don't see wh-aaaaah!" Kaori shrieked in surprise when her foot caught on the last step, causing her to fall headfirst into the well. She clamped her eyes shut, waiting to feel the impact of hitting the bottom, but it never came. Rather than sudden pain, she felt a rippling tingle start at the top of her skull and reach all the way down to the ends of her toes. It tingled the most around the base of her neck; it was an odd feeling, but not entirely unwelcome.

Kaori opened her eyes uncertainly and gasped. She was falling through a black and blue vortex with little lights floating past. As if she was gliding through the night sky.

'This isn't happening!'

Her fingers stretched out to touch one of the lights, but it simply passed through her hand. A small giggle of astonishment escaped her lips. Her eyes followed that single point of light until it disappeared from view. When she looked back down below, Kaori

saw a soft pink light growing larger and larger as she moved closer.

A second after she floated into the soft pink light, she saw the bottom of the well again. Still dried up and dirty as usual.

"Did that really just happen or was I just hallucinating cause I hit my head?"She figured it wasn't the latter seeing as her head didn't hurt at all. A quick assessment proved that the opening to the well was roughly fifteen feet above her head. She grabbed onto the lowest hanging vine and began climbing the coarse stones; their jagged edges scraping across the exposed skin of her knees and shins.

Grabbing the loose wooden beams supporting the well, she hoisted herself out; immensely thankful the boards didn't break.

"What the hell?" Kaori gasped. Instead of the dingy, old well house, Kaori was in the middle of a small meadow with an abundance of sweet smelling wildflowers, surrounded by a forest of towering trees.

'Where am I?'

"Hello?" Kaori called out loudly; her only reply was the cheerful singing of the sparrows and the lazy buzzing of working bees. "Is anyone there?"

'This majorly sucks. I have no idea how the hell this happened, but I think it's safe to say that I'm about as far away from home as possible. But...this place looks familiar almost.'

Deciding that sitting on the side of the well all day waiting for someone to walk by was stupid, Kaori commenced her trek into the undergrowth. The leaves rustled loudly under her careless strides; anything with working ears would've been able to hear her with very little difficulty.

After a few minutes of crashing through the greenery, she found herself in a smaller clearing with a single, ancient tree directly in the center. Its vast canopy of leaves shrouded most of the sunlight, but several rays still poked through the swaying gaps. Walking around its broad trunk, Kaori stopped dead in her tracks.

A very familiar boy was impaled to the tree trunk about six feet off the ground. His long silver hair swayed gently in the breeze while his eyes remained shut. If it weren't for the fraying, weathered arrow protruding from his chest, she might've thought he was merely sleeping. Vines wrapped around his torso and legs, appearing as if they were cradling him. Whether they were doing so protectively or possessively, she couldn't say for certain.

"H-how? He's just in my dreams...Right?" Kaori stuttered, completely blown away by the unconscious figure in front of her.

Oddly enough, she wasn't the least bit scared; confused and surprised, but not scared. In fact, she felt a strong compulsion pulling her closer to his slumbering form. Thankfully, a portion of the tree's roots stood up from the ground like a large platform, allowing Kaori climb up to his height with relative ease. Once she was eye level with this mysterious boy, she was able to study him much more intently.

She allowed her eyes to wander over his features slowly from the strong line of his jaw, to the little pointed tip of his nose, to his two pink lips parted just a breath's width apart. Long silver tendrils of hair brushed across his cheeks in the breeze. Kaori deliberately brushed his bangs aside to get a clearer look of his face. She could tell that this boy was definitely very handsome, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she wished that his eyes would open.

Kaori's sapphire eyes trailed up to the two white, fuzzy points on top of his head.

Dog ears.

Her fingers itched to just reach out and give them a rub. Were they as soft as they looked?

'I don't know if I should. What if he wakes up?' Kaori inquired. 'Still...what's the harm in touching them just this once?'

With shaking, hesitant fingers, Kaori gently touched the back of his left ear. It was softer than velvet. A nervous, awed laugh bubbled out of her lips. Bringing up her other hand, she began to rub his ears slowly and tenderly.

The sound of thundering footsteps reached Kaori's ears, but before she could even turn around fully, a gruff, male voice called out to her.

"Get away from there!"

A volley of arrows shot toward Kaori and all she could do was turn into the boy's unresponsive body and pray that none of the arrows hit. Several dull thuds to her left and right told her that the arrows had struck the dense tree trunk, but she didn't dare move.

It was only when she heard footsteps directly behind her that she turned, but it was too late. Several men had bows and arrows aimed directly at her while two more approached her with a length of partially fraying rope.

'No way in hell I'm going down without a fight!'

After a brief hesitation, Kaori jumped down from her tree root podium then hightailed it into the dense thicket. Branches scratched bitingly at the skin of her forearms and cheeks, but she persisted. The men's shouts were becoming increasingly louder as they closed in on Kaori.

At one point, she turned her head back for a brief second to see if she could catch a glimpse of her pursuers. What she failed to notice was the large fallen tree blocking her path to freedom. Kaori turned back around in time to see it before she tripped over it and face planted into the dirt.

Before she had time to pick herself back up and start running again, one of the men with the rope attempted to pin her down; Kaori thrashed against his grip. She flailed wildly and sent a well aimed kick to the man's groin, causing him to whimper pathetically and loosen his grip on her.

Just when she thought she could squirm away from her captor, another two men caught up to her and effectively pinned her down to the forest floor.

"Let me go!" She growled when a one of the men clamped down on her shoulders a bit too tightly. While he held her down, one of the other two men tied her hands behind her back in a fairly tight knot while the third tied her ankles together.

"You put up some fight, I'll give you that," The man she kicked chuckled wryly. "Just not enough of one."

"Let me go, you demented idiots!" Kaori shouted at the crowd of gathering villagers. After she had been successfully tied down, she had been thrown over someone's shoulder like a sack of potatoes and dropped off in the middle of the village, where everyone left their huts to come and gawk at her.

None of the villagers were listening to what Kaori was shouting because they were all too engrossed in their own conversations.

"-of course it is! And right in the middle of rice planting season, too," one of the villagers complained.

"-she could be a kitsune in disguise?" Asked one woman holding a sleeping infant.

"Nah, them shape changing foxes are a lot trickier than that." replied the woman's companion.

Their voices droned on and on. After a while, Kaori began to tune them out until their voices had become a monotonous drone in the back of her mind.

'Why does everyone have a topknot on their head? What is this? A Medieval Japan cosplay?'

"Make way for High Priestess Kaede!"A voice in the crowd shouted. The villagers all parted to give way for an elderly woman wearing an eye patch over her right eye, carrying a small pot in her left hand and longbow in her right hand. A small quiver of arrows was slung over her shoulders and she marched up to Kaori, showing no fear, or any emotion at all. A younger man, who trailed a little ways behind the priestess, took her bow and backed up two steps.

The elderly woman reached into the pot, pulled out a handful of fine dirt and threw it at Kaori.

"Hey! Cut that out!" Kaori complained, ducking her head to avoid getting the dirt in her eyes.

"Demon, be gone!" The priestess commanded, throwing more dirt at Kaori.

'Demon?!' "I'm not a freaking demon, okay?!"

The woman ceased her torrent of dirt. "Are ye not? I sensed a demonic presence around ye."

"Do I look like a demon to you?" Kaori grumbled, glaring up at the elderly woman.

'Why the hell did she just throw massive handfuls of dirt on me? And why is she asking if I'm a demon?! Demons don't exist!'

Kaede ignored Kaori's indignant comment. "Then why were ye found in the Forest of Inuyasha? No humans dare venture in there. And what of the clothing ye are wearing?"

The younger man holding Kaede's bow leaned forward and whispered. "She could be a spy from another village,"

Kaede glanced over at him. "In that case, she would be a fool. Who would invade a village such as ours?" At the end of her sentence, the aged priestess was looking at Kaori with a stunned expression on her lined face.

"Let me have a good look at ye," Kaede took a few steps forward, then reached out to turn Kaori's head in several different directions. "Look clever, girl, or be a halfwit?"

"Who are you calling a halfwit, you babaa!" Kaori growled. "I'm not a demon! And what's wrong with my clothes?"

The surrounding crowd gasped in astonishment at her outburst, but Kaede paid it absolutely no heed.

"It's there, though I know not why," Kaede said, staring down at Kaori, and then she addressed the villagers. "Untie this girl at once; she is not here to harm us!"

'Duh! About time you realized that.'

Instantly, two men surged forward and began cutting away at the ropes binding Kaori's limbs together. Once the bonds were cut, she began massaging her wrists. The ropes had caused minor burns from all of her struggling earlier.

"Tell me, child. What do they call you?" Kaede asked once Kaori had risen from her spot on the ground.

"My name is Kaori."

"Well then, Kaori, please allow me to cook ye some dinner in my hut," Kaede said. Now that she was standing, Kaori noticed that she was at least a good head taller than the elderly priestess.

"Thank you, Lady Kaede," Kaori replied, now feeling a bit bad for calling the woman 'babaa'. As far as she could tell, this Kaede woman was very nice and obviously cared for the villagers.

Kaede quietly led the way to her hut, which was just a short walk southwest from the village square. They passed by several other huts along the way. Children waved happily to Kaede as she passed while the men and women bowed respectfully. Finally the two women reached Kaede's hut. It was a modest wooden hut, with only one window, as far as Kaori could tell, and a bamboo curtain covering the entryway.

After they were settled inside, Kaede picked up a moderate sized pot from the floor and set it on the wood burning stove.

"Could ye go outside and grab some firewood while I cut the vegetables?" Kaede requested, picking up a small basket of fresh carrots, potatoes, and onions.

"Of course, Lady Kaede," Kaori responded, quickly walking back outside. Behind the hut was a substantial pile of freshly chopped firewood, sitting neatly together. When Kaori bent down to pick up a few pieces, a strong breeze blew past making her hair whip around uncontrollably. Something about this wind didn't feel right; it was eerie and malicious.

'I don't know what it is, but I've got a feeling that something bad is about to happen.'

Just as quickly as it came, the wind vanished without a trace, taking the ominous feeling with it. Kaori took a good long look at the forest behind Lady Kaede's house, as if something would suddenly appear from its shadows; nothing came.

Kaori quickly scooped up an armful of the firewood, then headed back inside. Kaede had already cut all of the vegetables and was working on skinning at least a second fish.

"Thank ye for the help, Kaori," Kaede said kindly, not looking up from her task.

"It was no trouble, really," Kaori looked down at her shoes. Kaede had only been kind to her since she was released, and she still hadn't apologized for insulting the woman. "Lady Kaede? I just wanted to say sorry for being so rude earlier. I shouldn't have called you 'babaa' and I hope you can forgive me and my disrespect," Kaori bent down in a low bow, awaiting the woman's response.

"It's quite alright, child. Ye were just acting in a way that was to be expected from someone that was wrongfully treated by absolute strangers in an unfamiliar territory. I bear no animosity or grudges against ye. But I am curious as to why ye had a demonic aura. Did ye get attacked by any demons before the villagers arrived?"

"Why does everyone keep asking about demons? There's no such thing, right?" Kaori questioned, thoroughly confused.

Kaede stayed silent while she loaded the fish and vegetables into the large pot. She turned to Kaori, gazing at her attentively. How did this girl look so much like her long deceased sister?

"Lady Kaede...I was wondering...where exactly am I?"

"Ye are in Japan, in the village that has long since been under my protection. For many years I have lived here and have guarded it against every invader that attempted to harm us," Kaede said, stirring the stew. A mouthwatering smell filled the hut and wafted out into the dimming sky.

"Wouldn't the younger men be better guardians for the village?" Kaori questioned, completely confused.

"Nay, the men cannot protect themselves effectively against demons. The weaker ones they can beat easily, but there are many powerful ones that roam the forest; far too powerful for mere swords and arrows to defeat. As e will soon find out, demons are a very real thing, and very dangerous," Kaede ladled out some strew into a bowl and offered it out to Kaori.

"Thank you, Lady Kaede. This looks delicious," Kaori slurped down some of the warm stew quickly, burning the tip of her tongue in the process. She pondered what the elderly woman had just said. Demons? Surely she meant something else...or she was delusional. Kaede watched her intently as she sat down on the small bamboo mat beside Kaori with her own bowl of stew.

"Bear us no ill will, child. For though I now see that ye mean us no harm," Kaori laughed internally as the memory of kicking the villager in the groin resurfaced. While she was visiting that find memory, Kaori nearly missed what the elderly lady said next. "In these troubled times of war, no stranger may be welcomed among us without deep distrust. Thankfully, not many foes have appeared as of late,"

"War? You mean between you and the demons?" Kaori inquired, humoring Kaede. "I guess I'm not in Tokyo anymore after all..." That last sentence was mumbled, but Kaede still heard it.

"Tok-ee-oh? Never heard of it. Is that where your people are from?"

"Yes, but it's a very, very long way away from here. I just wish I knew how to get back," Kaori sighed, gulping down more stew.

'Papa, Maeko, and Raiden must be worried about me. After all, I did deliberately go into the one place on the whole shrine that was forbidden; they would never think to look for me there. Even if they did look there, they wouldn't see me because I fell down a magical portal at the bottom of the well that transported me several centuries into the past.' Unconsciously, Kaori put her hand over the necklace that was tucked away underneath her shirt.

"Do ye have a family in this Tok-ee-oh?"

"Yeah, I have a father, a little brother and sister," Kaori sighed.

"What of ye mother?" Kaede asked, taking in mouthful of her stew.

Kaori's eyes grew darker and glistened with unshed tears. "I don't want to talk about it,"

Suddenly, a series of thundering crashes shook the ground like an earthquake while a warning bell clanged from somewhere nearby. An ear splitting roar bellowed out over the village, causing Kaori to tightly clamp her palms over her ears. She and Kaede ran out of the hut in time to see all of the villagers flocking in one direction, towards the crashing.

"What's going on?!" Kaede gasped, looking around.

Just as the words left her mouth, a giant centipede with a demented woman's head and torso, towered over them with a limp horse grasped tightly in its jaws. Blood flowed freely from the puncture wounds; it ran down the demon's chin and chest, and clinging to slick strands of her jet black hair. Villagers shot arrows, threw torches, and even charged at the beast with swords, but nothing pierced the centipede's tough hide.

Lady Centipede thrashed her long body around, crushing more houses and villagers in her wake. With a pleased hiss, she flung the horse from her jaws. Kaori shrieked as the one thousand pound horse flew towards her. Grabbing Kaede by the arm, she dragged the elderly priestess far back and to the side so that the horse landed lifelessly several feet in front of them. The foul odor of the freely pooling blood was enough to make Kaori's stomach lurch painfully.

"What the hell is THAT?!" Kaori screamed, staring up at the bloody covered demon.

"Where is it? I must have the Sacred Jewel!" The demon bellowed, turning it's blank, white eyes in her direction. "Give it to me!"

It began slithering deliberately in Kaori's direction, a malicious smile on its lips. Lunging to the side, Kaori and Kaede barely dodged the first attack. Just as they righted themselves, the demon came back for two more failed swipes at their heads.

"It said Sacred Jewel!" Kaede gasped. "Bear ye it still?"

Kaori stared up in terror at the beast of a centipede cackling far above her head. 'That thing almost took my head off!'

The villagers continued to defend their home, shooting arrow after arrow at the monster. They bounced off of the centipede's skin harmlessly, like if you were attacking her with a pillow instead of a large volley of arrows.

"I must have it! I must!" Lady Centipede cackled, spinning into an enormous tornado, barreling over anything and everything in its path. Villagers were crushed by it as well as the buildings they attempted to defend so dutifully. Women and children fled from the huts, running as far away from the demon as possible.

Kaori felt utterly helpless as she watched the massacre from the sidelines where she was hiding. Horror and disgust rolled off of her in waves. How could something like a jewel be worth the lives of so many people?

Two men rushed up, standing as a barrier in front of Kaede and Kaori, weapons at the ready."Spears and arrows; nothing works!" One of them shouted, not turning back to look at them.

"We must lure it to the Dry Well," Kaede responded, staring up at the creature.

"Dry Well? What Dry Well?" Kaori demanded, sounding almost hysterical. Was that the same one he had crawled out of earlier?

"In the Forest of Inuyasha." Kaede and the two men stepped forward a bit. The men raised their spears while Kaede reached for a bow and quiver of arrows from a fallen villager. Kaori stayed behind, unsure of what to do and unwilling to become a interference.

Then, something unexpected happened.

The necklace around Kaori's neck began to quickly grow warmer, begging for attention. It pulsed with a resolute power, giving it the feeling of a heartbeat. Kaori reached up and held her necklace in the palm of her hand. A soft pink light glowed enchantingly around the center jewel.

'It's...it's my fault. I lured the centipede here with this...' Her fist closed tightly around the jewel, stuffing it back down the collar of her shirt. 'If it wants this thing so bad, it better be up for a chase.'

"Lady Kaede, which way is the forest?" Kaori called over the bellowing of the centipede. Before Kaede had a chance to answer, Kaori saw a dim light glowing over the tree line behind her.

Summoning up every ounce of courage, she abruptly turned on her heel and took off, completely ignoring the calls of Kaede.

"HEY, UGLY!" Kaori shouted up at the centipede cyclone. "You want the Sacred Jewel?" The centipede froze in its torrent of destruction, narrowing its sights on the loud, oddly dressed young woman far below her. "Try and take it from me!"

Without bothering to check and see if she was being chased, Kaori sprinted in the direction of the trees. Sliding down the small hill, she crashed through the shallow river waiting at the bottom, kicking up water to her thighs. A heavy slithering told her that the centipede wasn't too far behind.

Kaori continued to run straight out of the river and down a long dirt road that lead directly past the Forest of Inuyasha.

'Why the hell did I taunt this thing? I don' t even know if this is the Sacred Jewel! Still, at least I'm getting further away from all of those people.' One of the centipede's arms reached out and grabbed a tight hold on the side of her shirt. Kaori's eyes widened.

"Ok, this was a stupid idea! HELP!"

With that one plea for help, a wave of power burst out of Kaori's body, rippling through the airwaves at unseen speeds. It traveled over the river, past the roads, and all through the trees where it hit the unconscious hanyou full force. The powerful wavelength rebounded off of him several times before taking effect.

At first glance, you might've missed it.

His ears twitched; once... twice... then his fingernails extended into deadly claws stronger than titanium. His eyes flashed open, flashing two angry ambers.

Kaori thrashed in the demon's grip for just a moment before the flimsy fabric shredded with a loud rip. There was now a large rip down the left side of her shirt, showing most of her ribs, just stopping where the band of her bra started. Feet on the ground again, Kaori began running full force up a ridiculously steep hill.

"The jewel; GIVE IT TO ME!" Lady Centipede demanded, slithering up behind Kaori.

"Damn you!" Kaori panted, shouting over her shoulder just a split second before the centipede crashed into the side of the hill. The blast from the force of the hit caused Kaori to go flying through the air. She screamed doing several flips in midair before crashing onto her stomach, forcing all of the air out of her lungs in a loud 'whoosh'.

"Hello, Kikyo," a sneering voice said above her. "Playing with bugs now, are we?"

Ok, first, I'm going to answer some questions before I get a bunch of reviews asking them.

Kaori's name is pronounced Kay-or-ee.

Her past will be explained later so don't go asking silly stuff like "Why does she keep thinking something is her fault?" or "Why is she dreaming if Inuyasha?"

And yes, she is going to have a bit of a hot temper, but it'll make for some really interesting (and possibly steamy) moments later ;)

Japanese Vocabulary:

Tamayogaki: a rolled omelet usually served with a certain type of radish.

Tsukemono: various types of pickles

Babaa: a rude derogatory name for "old woman". It's basically calling them an old hag.

Alright, that seems to be it for now! Review and tell me what you think! Criticism is accepted gratefully!