Disclaimer: I own nothing but the time spent writing this.

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Kagome walked home, mentally reviewing the day's test and worrying about how well she had done. Reaching her house, she pulled open the door and grabbed her backpack, calling out to her mom.

"Hey, mom, I'm heading out to the well!"

Kagome's mother walked up to her, smiling.

"Okay, dear. Here, take these lunches for you and your friends, okay?

Kagome smiled, taking the proffered lunches.

"Thanks mom. I'm sure they'll love them."

"Have fun and be careful, dear."

She shouldered her pack and left, heading for the well. She opened the door to the shrine and slipped inside, closing it behind her. She jumped into the well, letting the blue light wash up around her.

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"InuYasha, you there?"

No answer met her query, so she grabbed the vines trailing up the side and began the climb upward. Reaching the top, she threw her pack up over the edge before pulling herself up, resting her weight on her arms as she clung to the edge of the well, catching her breath. Pulling herself the rest of the way up, her grasp slipped in surprise and she fell a few feet before she caught herself on the vines. She pulled herself back up and swumg herself over to sit on the edge of the well, eyes widenening in horror at the sight in front of her.

The ground was torn, bloody and burnt. Here and there, the telltale sparkle of jewel shard caught her eye. She stood, shakily, and moved towards the closest pair, only a few feet away. Her foot caught on something and she tripped, falling to find herself face to face with a charred skull, the flesh still clinging to it rotting. She screamed, scrambling to her feet and back towards the well, catching herself on the edge of it to prevent a fall. Her eyes wandered over the carnage on the field, catching on the now easily seen black and white bones dotting the field. She turned, dashing blindly towards the forest, only to crash into something, nearly falling over backwards, until a hand caught her shoulder. She looked up, eyes catching white and red.

"Inu...InuYasha?"

The hanyou snarled, shoving her away.

"Who the hell do you think you are, coming back after all this time?!"

"W--what?"

"You left, and left us to hunt Naraku alone!"

"N-no...I didn't. I wouldn't! I was here yesterday!"

"Yesterday?! You lying wench! If you were here yesterday, you would have been here a week ago for this, and months ago for the other battles, going back years!"

"Years? I...I don't understand. I left yesterday to study. I had a big test today, and I took it and I thik I failed, but that doesn't matter, because what is going on?"

"Like you even care."

He turned away, and Kagome caught his shoulder.

"Please, tell me what's going on!"

"You have NO right to know!"

"I do have a right to know! I'm worried about my friends!"

"FRIENDS?! You've been gone fifteen years, Kagome, how do you have the guts to even try to call us friends?!"
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