Chapter One
"Shit." Kagome raked her fingers through her hair. "Come in."
"Professor, you have a phone call."
Kagome glanced down at her desk. "Who is it?" She asked, shuffling her paperwork into a manila folder before looking at her watch.
"It is your brother, Souta."
She sighed and looked up at the man in the doorway. "Tell him I need a minute."
She began tidying the mess on her desk and let out a quiet grumble. She spun around, grabbing her briefcase and locking the door behind her, leaving the office. Grabbing the phone from her colleague a little to quickly, she sends him an apologetic look before speaking into the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey Kagome, it's Souta." He paused. "I literally just felt you roll your eyes."
"What do you need? You know I'm working. I'm buried in paperwork and-"
"It's mom's birthday tomorrow."
She winced. She forgot again. "Yeah, I know." Lie. She looked at her watch once more.
"Are you coming home? We have a dinner planned. Mom is going to be crushed if you miss this one like you did last year."
Her anger flared. "She knew I was working. I sent a postcard from Egypt and everything. Why do you insist on guilt tripping me about it? I'm coming home, just cut me some slack, brat."
When it got silent for a long moment she became annoyed. "Hello?"
"Bitch."
Kagome slammed the phone onto the receiver when the sound of the dial tone rang in her ears. She looked around quickly for her colleague and found he was still in the library with her.
"Michael, it looks like you'll be taking over for me. I'm going home for my mothers birthday."/
Kagome bit her lip as she rummaged through her bag to pull out money for the cab driver. She had rushed home to pack for her trip and was unorganized for the entire thing. She despised that. The driver took his payment quickly and just as quickly she was out of the car and into the airport.
'I can't believe this,' she thought to herself. 'I'm a fucking idiot.' She had forgotten her mothers birthday and now was on her way to pay for the last-minute, very expensive ticket from America to Japan; a very long and boring flight.
She could hardly contain herself when she discovered the cost of the ticket, but payed anyway. She had to be there for her moms birthday. She never went home.
She cursed out loud when she was seated next to a snoring man, earning a few looks from other passengers. She ground her teeth to keep from lashing out at them.
When the plane was up in the air safely she mashed a pair of ear plugs in and gave in to sleep. It was a long flight to Japan, and she didn't want to be awake and left to her thoughts./
"Souta! Kagome's here!"
Kagome grinned sheepishly when her mother pulled her into an embrace. She wanted to blurt out apologies for not having been home in so long. She squeezed back, tightly, a smile gracing her lips. She opened her eyes when she felt a hand patting the top of her head.
"Messing up my hair, brat." She ruffled his hair, and he smacked her hand away.
"Kagome, you look wonderful," her mother said, smoothing her hair, "Come tell us about life in America!"
Kagome couldn't help but giggle when her mother skipped off in the direction of the kitchen like a young girl.
"Your stories, first," she called after.
They each took turns at dinner sharing stories. Kagome gave her mom a smile as her story about 'the accident at the grocery store' unfolded. She glared at her brother when she found him silently mocking their mother. She knew he was just like every other teenage boy, but she hated his attitude. It reminded her of him. This house, this city, this country-it all reminded her of him-and it had been so easy to leave home when she wound up back on this side of the well, unable to return.
After graduating college, she had left Japan. She became a professor in Archaeology. She loved her job. It was distracting, and she loved digging up ancient things. The older the better. She found that, after all she had experienced, she did not like this era. She didn't even like living in this house anymore-not even in this country. Her mind wandered to the well.
Kagome smiled wryly at her thoughts, willing them away.
"Mom, let me wash dishes," she called over the table to her already working mother.
Mrs. Higurashi turned and smiled brightly, "Too late, all done. So Kagome, what's new dear?"
Her mother dragged her into the living room.
"Nothing really new mom. Just a few new travels for work. They had me digging for artifacts in South America and that went no where," she lamented, recalling the assignment. "Then when my team and I get back home, we are stripped apart-two of us thrown into a classroom and Mike and Jesse are teaching a semester now-and they locked me back in my office. Told me I should start from scratch on the South America project, or write another research paper," she paused to fold her arms over her chest suggestively, "I am not writing another research paper for the rest of the year, thank you."
"Kagome, don't be so stubborn. It's not lady-like," her mother scolded. "Archaeology is an impressive field of study, but if you don't watch the attitude you could lose your job and the bragging rights to interested men."
"Yes, I know mom," Kagome agreed, easily.
She held back the scowl. 'I couldn't date if I wanted to,' she thought, knowing her own situation, and glancing briefly out the big window to well house. She began to bite her nails but stopped herself before her mother saw. She would need to buy cigarettes for her stay here. As comfortable as she was visiting her family, she knew at some point she'd wind up alone in the shrine. That thought made her squeeze her eyes shut hard. Her mother had turned on the tv. The noise brought her out of her reverie.
"Kagome what are American boys like?"
Kagome almost rolled her eyes. She looked at the tv attempting a thoughtful look, dreading the conversation.
"About the same, mama," she lied, hoping her mother would accept her answer. She did.
It was silent for a spell but it was comfortable.
"Well, all this excitement has me tuckered out for one day," her mother stated, handing Kagome the remote before stretching her arms over her head and yawning to emphasize this.
"I love you, mom," Kagome replied, standing from her seat on the futon. She hugged her mom and then watched her climb the stairs while calling out her 'I love you's' to them. She waited to hear her mothers door click shut before sneering over at Souta, a PSP in his hands.
"You're so rotten, is it because you can't get a girlfriend?"
"You're the rotten one," he scoffed, "You forgot moms birthday."
"Did not."
"And you don't have a boyfriend," he added, grinning.
She wanted to beat him. She threw a couch pillow at him instead. He laughed and threw it back at her before running up the stairs toward his room.
"See you tomorrow, Sis." /
Kagome lay back comfortably on the futon, hugging the couch pillow. She had done enough roaming around in her childhood city since her family left this morning. She left with them but they all parted ways.
She had gone to a salon first. She got a routine wax; her girl Patricia would no doubt be butt-hurt. The strange lady was an expert though. She was silky smooth. After that she decided to change her hair on a whim. She had a girl with pink and black hair try for several minutes to talk her into getting highlights. She rejected her outright more than once. She wanted something simple. She had the girl dye a white streak about half an inch thick. It started at her hair line and framed her face and contrasted with her raven black hair perfectly. Her bangs were long gone. It took an hour or so to finish and the girl straightened her hair. It looked great straight so she bought a straightener.
She had stopped to grab a bite to eat and buy cigarettes. Once that was over she grew bored. Souta was at school. She had thought about taking him out early to keep her company. She wound up just going back to the house.
Out of habit she looked at her watch. Four p.m. Grabbing her clothes out of her bag and rounding the corner to the bathroom, she locks herself in. Her shower was fast. She blew dry her hair and ran it through her hair straightener.
'It's gotten so long,' she thought, satisfied with the length she'd achieved. It went down to her hips. She lined her eyes with black liner, and quickly rubbed lotion over her skin, tying a black bandanna around her thigh. When she finished dressing she looked herself over, smoothing out her frayed cut-off jean shorts and tight black tube top that showed a little bit of her tummy. She pulled on her socks and brown leather hiking boots quickly, not bothering to tie the laces, and grabbed her brown leather jacket before running out the door to her mothers room. She entered her closet and found what she was looking for quickly. A wooden box with a shiny straight razor inside. It had been her fathers. She closed the box and went back to the bathroom and shoved her eyeliner, smokes, and scented oil in her jacket pocket along with the razor.
Rushing herself out of the house before she could lose her resolve, she hurried to the well house, keeping her eyes off the un-decorated Goshinboku and ignoring the fact that the well-house doors were gone. These changes didn't bother her. Gripping the edge of the well, she peered into the deep darkness and inhaled the scent of earth. Nostalgia ripped through her being. She smiled widely at the memories. For a moment, she thought she saw white and she sucked in a breath.
She had to be wrong.
She didn't breath when the white light grew or when the rush of warm fresh air hit her arms and face, and she didn't look away.
"It's open."
Doubt plagued her instantly, an ugly, sickly feeling pooled in her gut.
She jumped./