With the Wind

1. The Feudal Era

The cold morning wind made its way through an open window. It entered the room of Yori Anoshi and touched her cheek softly, as if to wake the sleeping fifteen year old. She stirred slightly and turned over. The sun shone through her blinds and lit the back of her eyelids. She opened her eyes and groaned.
"Yori! Yori wake up!" Her mom's voice floated up the stairs. Yori sat up and yawned as she stretched.
"Yori get up or you'll be late!" Yori rubbed her eyes and looked sleepily at her wristwatch to find the time. 8:15. Holy crap!
In all of five minutes, Yori was dressed and slinging her book bag over her shoulder. She bolted down the stairs and grabbed the toast and lunch her mother was holding out to her.
"Love you! I'll see you after school!" she shouted and ran out of the door.
The toast disappeared as she sprinted down the sidewalk. She checked her wristwatch and groaned at the time as she sped up. And as the doors of her junior high school came into view, fear and panic suddenly rose in her chest. She was rounding a corner when her foot snagged the edge of the pavement and she landed face first on the courtyard. The sound of the second bell filled her ears and she scrambled up.
She yanked open the doors of the school and rushed down the clearing hallways to her locker. And as quickly as she was able, she pulled out her math text book and dashed off to first period. And she sighed in relief as the door closed behind her and final bell rang.
"Ah Miss Anoshi, glad you could join us."
"Same here sir." She nodded to him and looked around the classroom to find her seat. But as her eyes traced over the room, she caught the tired gaze of Kagome Higurashi, her best friend. Kagome smiled a sleepy smile and Yori's heart almost went into overdrive as she sat down.
She and Kagome had been friends ever since they day Yori had lost her way home and stayed in the Higurashi shrine during a terrible storm that'd blown in. Kagome had found her and they were friends from then on. Well, at least until the beginning of the ninth grade. That was when Kagome had started becoming sick all of the time and Yori didn't see her as much.
You see, Yori wasn't a part of the trio that always hung around Kagome. She was the one that lingered in the shadows but was always there when Kagome needed her. Now Kagome was back and sadly, Yori knew that it would only be for a short amount of time.
And in that time Yori needed to talk to her.
Watching her teacher very closely, Yori pulled out a sheet of paper, tore off one end, and scribbled:

Kagome, I need to talk to you. Do you think I could walk home with you? Just turn and nod if I can.

Yori tapped the boy sitting next to her.
"Hojo," she whispered. "Het Hojo, pass this to Kagome." He gave her a skeptical look but took the note. Yori watched as he tapped Kagome. She took the note from him, unfolded it, and turned to Yori. She smiled warmly and nodded her head yes.
Final bell rang, signaling freedom from the torture that was junior high and the students rushed out. Yori was gathering her things when she felt someone beside her. She looked up to find Kagome staring at her.
"Hi Yori." she said. And in an instant, Yori was jumping up and hugging her friend.
"Oh my god Kagome! I haven't seen you in weeks!"
"Yeah, well, with me getting sick all of the time, I haven't been able to get to school." Kagome said, earning a skeptical look from Yori. "What?"
She shook her head slowly and frowned. "I need to talk to you." She said and the two walked out of the school together. It was quiet for a long while; there was an uneasy silence lingering between the two girls. And after becoming annoyed at staring at the ground, Yori looked up and stopped walking to face Kagome.
"I don't believe you."
"What, what do you mean?"
"All these diseases and illnesses, I don't believe them Kagome! When we were little, you never got sick! You rarely even coughed! Then we get to the ninth grade and you're sick left and right. Never mind the fact no one's ever heard of the diseases you have." Kagome looked hurt, but Yori knew the expression was faked.
"I can't believe you're doubting me Yori. Aren't you my friend?" she said.
"I am your friend!" Yori stood up straight and held her face in her hands as hopelessness consumed her body. Then she looked at Kagome with as much seriousness as she could muster. "Last week your grandfather told me you had lyme disease. So I went to the hospital to check on you. And, and they said they'd never heard of you." Kagome looked caught and Yori sighed. "So, what's going on?"
"I'm sorry Yori, but I can't tell you."
"Because—" But her sentence was never finished. The two had arrived at the Higurashi shrine and something was making a lot of noise. And Yori could tell by the fearful look on Kagome's face that no one was supposed to be home.
"What is that?" Yori asked aloud. Kagome shook her head.
"I don't know." Though Yori was frightened herself, she started walking towards the door. Her footsteps seemed to echo around her and she could hear her heart beat in her ears. And as her hands wrapped around the cool metal of the door handle, she swallowed. And before her last ounce of courage could disappear with the wind, she yanked the doors open. And she couldn't believe what she saw.
There was what looked like a centipede sticking its head in the well. Its red body was lumpy and as wide as the doors as it was long as a public bus. It had wings that a wasp should lay claim to and when it finally looked up at Yori, the thing possessed the head of an old man.
"Give me the sacred jewel shard!" It hissed and lunged at her. Yori screamed as she jumped out of its way.
"Yori!" she heard Kagome scream. "Hey you, leave her alone!"
"Insolent human!" It said and turned its attention to Kagome.
"Yori, get in the well!" Without a moment's hesitation, Yori was up and on her feet. Her mind was racing and her heat beating fiercely against her chest as she climbed down the latter and into the well. A moment later, Kagome jumped into the well and grabbed her hand. And as soon as she'd made contact with the ground the well disappeared. And, for what seemed like a second, Yori saw a blue surrounding. There were tufts of white floating all around them and everything seemed to be shining and Yori sucked in a terrified breath. Then, the floor of the well return.
"What, what was that?" Yori asked.
"It doesn't matter right now. Climb!" Kagome yelled pushing her friend upward.
Yori climbed out of the well and gasped. Everywhere she looked, she saw trees. Big, beautiful, and lush trees that swayed as the wind blew. The sun was high in the sky and its shine's reflecting off of the evergreen blades of grass. Yori inhaled and took in fresh, clean air. It's never clear like this at home. Where am I?
"Hey! Who the hell are you?" Some one was talking to her. Yori turned and saw a small group of people staring at her. There were two guys; one wearing blends of black and purple with short black hair and a staff in his hand. The other was in a red kimono-like thing and had long silver hair. He had a huge sword drawn and was the one who had addressed Yori previously. There was a woman who had giant boomerang on her back and something that looked like a huge cat poised besides her. And there was also a little fox thing.
"I'll introduce everyone later. Inuyasha, there's a demon following us!" Kagome shouted running towards the silver-headed boy. And as if on cue, the demon burst out of the well and headed straight for Yori.
"Out of the way!" Some one called and on instinct, she dropped to the ground. Her stomach turned as the sickening sound of metal meeting flesh filled the air. And when she looked up the demon was gone. Instead, standing in front of her was the boy in red. His eyes were golden and the sun was hitting him just right; his silver hair seemed to shine. And then she noticed…
Yori gasped when she touched the ears on his head to find that they were indeed real.
"Would ya stop touchin' me?" he said grabbing her wrists. "Kagome, who is this?"
"Her name is Yori. She's one of my friends." Kagome said coming near them. "She was with me when the demon attacked."
"Yes, but how is she here? I was under the impression that only you and Inuyasha could travel through the well." the guy in purple said.
"I don't know how, but she was able to come through." Kagome said. And then she gestured to the guy who was still holding her wrists. "Yori, this is Inuyasha."
"Hello," Yori said freeing her hands and extending one to him. She raised her eyebrow when he just stared at it. "You're supposed to shake it."
"I know what I'm supposed to do." Now, Yori knew that people were rude sometimes but that was just unnecessary.
"Don't mind him. Inuyasha, sit boy." There was a necklace around his neck and it glowed an iridescent pink before pulling the dog boy face first into the ground. The others shook their heads and stepped forward, as if this was completely normal.
"This is Sango." The woman with the boomerang smiled.
"Pleased to meet you."
"Likewise." Yori said shaking her hand. Kagome continued.
"This is Shippo." The little fox boy smiled.
"Hi."
"Hello."
"And this is Miroku." she said and the man with the staff grabbed Yori's hand in his.
"Hello fairest maiden." He slid his arm around her waist and she blushed a light shade of pink.
"Um, hi." Yori was able to cut a glance at Sango who was red faced and furious. Uh-oh.
"It would be my greatest pleasure if you would do me the tremendous honor of bearing my children?" Yori paled.
"Oh, well, I uh—" but she stopped talking when she felt his hand on her backside. Anger and embarrassment rose in her and she pulled her hand back and struck Miroku hard across the face. But Yori never knew who'd hit him first, her or Sango. All she knew was there were two red hand prints on his left and right cheeks.
"Lecherous monk." Sango murmured under her breath
"Well it's been nice meetin' ya. Now go home." Inuyasha said, finally off the ground.
"What he means is; it's really not safe for you here. I'll take you back." Kagome said.
"So, this is what's really happening when they tell us you're sick?" Yori asked as the two walked to the well.
"Yep. But Yori, you can't tell anyone. This is a secret, okay?"
"Okay." Yori jumped into the well and waited as Kagome came also. The two held hands, and Yori waited to see the blue light from before. But, nothing happened.
"What the—" she started. "Why isn't it working?"
"I don't know." The two climbed out of the well. As Yori's feet hit the ground, the wind blew. It was a light wind, a promising wind. It whipped her hair in, and then around her face. Though it was autumn, the wind was not cool. It was warm, comforting, inviting. The monk turned to her.
"Well, there's no use dwelling on the matter. Come Yori and accompany us on our journey."