Lately I feel so lonely. Everyone around me is living their best life as I sit here being spectacularly average. Most girls my age have boyfriends and lots of friends. There must be something wrong with me. Maybe you can chalk all these insecurities up to being a teenager, but I wasn't always like this. My parents passed away six months ago and it really affected me. My mother and father always knew how to cheer me up and boost my confidence. After the funeral, I transferred to a school in Japan to live with my aunt. She runs the Kururugi family shrine. So far, I haven't made any friends even though I have been here for quite some time. My other classmates might not be as open to talking to the new girl because I look so different. Most people in Japan have dark hair and eyes, but I have dirty blonde hair and blue eyes just like my mother. God, I feel like a freak. I have been asked a few times by faculty to dye my hair "back to its original color." Every time my aunt has to reassure them that this is my natural color. There is this stigma in Japan that blonde hair is associated with delinquency, which is so dumb. You would think that because I am half American the teachers would know better.
My eyes landed on the chalk board with Katakana characters. I huffed and wrote down what I couldn't understand in my notebook. My aunt can help me translate later, but I also feel like such a child for having to ask her. There was a light tap on my shoulder and I looked up from my notes.
"Excuse me? Do you know what is going to be on the test Monday?" There was a girl with long black hair sheepishly looking at me. She was beautiful; She had long legs and chocolate brown eyes.
"Mr. Hiyoshi said it is about Geometry." My Japanese sounded alright, but I felt like I had a touch of a western accent still. I need to work on that.
"Thanks, hey are you new here?" She perked up and gave me a dazzling smile.
"I came here a few months ago." She gave me an apologetic look and laughed nervously.
"Oh, sorry I haven't been here much so I didn't notice. I get sick a lot and stay home." She rubbed the back of her head, ashamed.
"I'm not that memorable anyway. I have a plain face. It's nice to meet you though, I'm Kururugi Kaname." I slightly bowed my head to her in my seat. Maybe the bow was too formal? Ah, I am so awkward.
"Oh, I'm Higurashi Kagome, but you can just call me Kagome. Nice to meet you." Oh wow! She is letting me call her by her first name already. My spirits lifted a little. It is so nice to speak with someone my own age, and a girl none the less.
"Then you can call me Kaname, it's a pleasure." I gave her my most sincere smile. Feeling a bit more confidant, I spoke up, "Kagome? Would you mind helping me read the board? I am still learning Katakana and Hiragana." I hope this doesn't make me seem like an idiot, but I am clearly foreign.
"Of course! Did you come from the states? Your hair is so blonde! Your Japanese doesn't sound bad at all." She leaned over and helped me understand a bit more of what was on the board. However, she clearly is just as rusty with English as am I with Japanese.
"Yes, I am from Colorado." I blushed slightly at her compliment and ran my fingers through my hair. "I stick out like a sore thumb. I think people think I'm some sort of freak." Sighing, I put my notebook away in my book bag as the last bell rang.
"Well I can understand the freak part." Her eye twitched, and I could tell there was something else she wanted to say. "Since I am always out of school from being sick people tend to stay away. They are afraid they might catch something."
Not wanting to pry too much, I didn't ask her specifics on her illness. I hope she doesn't have anything dire though.
"Did you want to head to WacDonalds? I am so hungry." We both walked down the hall together to the entrance of the school. Kagome is so nice… For the first time in six months I feel like a normal high school girl.
"Oh…" I frowned in disappointment. "I wish I could Kagome, but my aunt runs a shrine and I have to help out with a festival. We could go another day?" My aunt really did need my help today, there are so many booths that need to be set up.
"Sure, we can plan on another day." We ended up at the school gates and Kagome waved me goodbye for now. "See you later!" It felt nice to talk to someone, I needed that. I should have thanked her, but I guess I can do that tomorrow. I walked home to find our Shrine bustling with many people. Little girls were in kimonos, various smells of food flooded the air, and games of all types were being played.
"Kaname!" My Aunt was in a booth handing out wooden dolls, "Can you go in to the store house and bring me more kokeshi dolls?" My aunt looked so happy, she always loved to run festivals at the shrine.
"Sure, I'll be right back." I hurried off to our small wooden building near the back of the property.
The store house doors were stuck together and it took some effort to get them open. I pushed as hard as I could until the doors popped open in a puff of dust. I covered my mouth and coughed for a few seconds. My eyes scanned the shelves in search for the box of dolls, until I felt the floor boards crack beneath my feet. I let out a small yelp and tried to pull my foot back up. Realizing my foot was completely stuck, I looked down. My legs suddenly started to be pulled down into the dark hole in the floor. I started to panic, screaming for help as loud as I could. I clawed at the wooden floor, scrapping my fingers. Tears streamed down my face and I trashed around in the darkness. The darkness swallowed me whole, and my mind went blank.
My eye lids feel like concrete. I could hear the wind blowing through trees around me, and I tried hard to open my eyes. There was a grumbling noise near my feet and I felt my shoe being moved. My eyes shot open and I sat up abruptly.
There was a blue-green looking creature gnawing at my shoe. "Human girl…you smell delectable." The goblin-like being sneered at me, then lunged forward baring its teeth.
"Get... away!" I cried and threw my hands up to block its attack. My fingertips grew hot and a strange sensation ran down my arms. Blue flames burst from my palms, striking the goblin and setting it ablaze. It screeched in pain as it burned quickly in to a pile of ash. What is going on? Am I dreaming? My heart pounded in fear and head spun with confusion. My breathing became labored.
I lifted myself to my feet, trying to get my bearings. There was a small flower bed and a dense forest all around me. If I just move and look around, maybe I can figure out where I am. Through the forest I found a dirt path and I continued along for a long time. My stomach turned at the thought of more of those…things in the forest. There was rusting in a near by bush and I backed away in fear.
"I got you Sango!" I screamed and tumbled over my own feet. A small body plopped in my lap and grabbed my waist. There was a little boy sitting in my lap looking bewildered.
"Ahh!" The boy jumped off me and I stopped screaming. The boy had a fluffy fox tail and feet, like some sort of cosplayer. I must be dreaming…"Inuyasha! Sango! Miroku!" The fox boy backed up from me and cried out. He was speaking Japanese, so at least I know I am in Japan still.
There was a scuffle up the road and three figures appeared in front of us with record time. There was a female and two males in old-style clothing looking between the boy and I.
"P-p-p-please don't hurt me." My body started to shake. The three turned their undivided attention to me.
"Oh? Shippo it looks like you scared the young maiden." The man in purple and black robes kneeled down beside me. "Now, now, beautiful maiden, I would never hurt you." His hand caressed my cheek and I quickly slapped his hand away.
"Do not touch me!" I shouted and pushed him away. He was far too close to me.
"Huh? Why are you being so hostile?" He got up and dusted himself off. He was persistent and tried once again to close the distance between us. The woman standing behind him grabbed the back of his robes and shoved him to the side.
"I…I think I am lost." My voice came out quite and shaky. I am so scared.
"Huh? Your clothes look sort of like Kagome's." I looked over to the person who spoke. The man with long white hair eyed me. He…has dog ears, a tail, fangs and claws? Suddenly my mind went to the festival at the shrine back home. It is common for people to dress up at festivals. I must be near the shrine and these people are cosplaying.
"Wait- did you say Kagome?" I perked up at hearing my new friend's name. Maybe I am being pranked?
"Do you think she came with Kagome?" The woman looked to the rest of her group, completely ignoring my burning question.
"Maybe, but this is a long way away from the bone eater's well." The three carried on the conversation for a few minutes before I decided to interrupt them.
"Excuse me." I said, "Hello- excuse me!" I raised my voice and finally got their attention. "I am lost, you said Kagome is here?"
The female nodded in my direction, "Yes Kagome should be back at the village by now." I am not quite sure what she means by village, but I would be more than happy to see a familiar face right now.
The dog man looked irritated and spoke up, "Lady if you want to go home just follow us back to the village."
"O-okay…" I nodded and stood up off the ground. The group walked down the path in front of me as I wiped off the dirt from my skirt and knees.
After a bit of walking we came to an opening in the forest with rice paddy fields. There were small houses made of wood and straw, with farmers scattered about the area. A horse walked passed us being led by what seemed to be a merchant.
"Horse...?" I was baffled by the sight of the animal. You never see farm animals near Tokyo unless it is in a zoo.
"You've never seen a horse before?" The fox boy gave me a strange look.
"No, I have, but I didn't expect it to be walking around so freely." I rubbed my eyes, making sure I was hallucinating.
"I wonder where Kagome is?" The woman up front scanned the village.
"Hey! Guys I am back!" To my complete surprise Kagome from school was jogging up to us with a giant backpack.
"Kagome!" I shoved my way through the crowd, desperate to see her and ask her a million questions.
"Kaname?! How did you get here?" A weight lifted off my shoulders and I embraced her. My head was spinning and I needed to be grounded.
"Kagome, where are we? There are horses and animal people!" I was trying my best not to speak in such a panicked tone, but you could clearly tell I was flustered.
"Okay, Kaname, calm down." She grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eye. "We…are in the Feudal Era." She spoke slowly, trying to let me absorb the information she just gave me.
"The Feudal Era?" I was more confused than the past hour here. "What?"
"Yeah, but how did you get here? Did you fall in the well?" Well? Is everyone on drugs? Am I being punked?
"The last thing I remember was I was looking through my store house and fell through a hole." Okay, now I sound like I am on drugs.
"Well let's go to the Bone Eater's well, you can get back home that way." I am not sure what she means, but if I can go home and forget about all this nonsense then I don't care how crazy this sounds.
Kagome took us to an open area with an old and mossy well in the middle. She pointed down to the bottom and I peered inside. The bottom of the well was riddled with bones. "If you jump in, you can go back to Tokyo. I know it sounds crazy, but that is how I get back and forth."
"Down the well?" She nodded and gave me an apologetic look.
The well was quite deep. I hesitated, but eventually sat on the rim of the well and prepared to jump. This day has been insane and one more insane thing couldn't hurt. If this is just a dream this jump won't hurt anyway. I pushed off the ledge and flew down the well.
I landed on the ground with a hard thud and cried out in pain.
"Kaname?!" Kagome and the dog boy looked down at me in the well.
"I am still here." I stood up. The man with dog ears gracefully jumped down the well after me and picked me up. I was startled as he jumped clear out of the well and landed back on the grass. He set me down. He did not look happy.
"Thank you, um what was your name?" This man must have a permanent bad attitude.
"Inuyasha." He rolled his eyes and walked over to Kagome.
"Inuyasha…Do they call you that because of your cosplay ears?" Kagome let out a laugh and snort. Inuyasha gave me a confused frown.
"Inuyasha is a dog demon Kaname. Demons exist here." Kagome walked over to me, pulling Inuyasha with her.
"Demon? Like in stories?" My eyes landed on his white ears. My hands shot up to them, giving them a quick pull to see if they were real. I should be freaking out right now, but with Kagome here I feel a bit more at ease.
"Ow! Hey! Get your hands off me!" He pushed me off and his ears folded back like an actual dog when they get angry.
"Shippo is a fox demon too." Kagome pointed to the small boy.
"So…so cute." Shippo's tail waved back and forth at the compliment.
"Thank you." He puffed out his chest. "Your hair is pretty too. I have never seen that color before."
My hand went to my hair, and I felt queasy. "My hair is weird."
"I think your hair is beautiful, just like you." Purple robes piped in and made his way over to me. "You must be from an exotic land…I would love for you to bare my children." My jaw dropped.
The woman with a huge boomerang on her back knocked purple robes over the head, clearly irritated. "Please ignore Miroku. He is such a womanizer. I am Sango, it is nice to meet you. Where did you say you were from? To-ki-o?"
"I am from America." They all gave me a questionable look.
Kagome leaned in close to my ear and whispered, "They don't know where America is yet." I mouthed 'oh' and nodded.
"Kagome…how will I get home?" The fact that I am stuck here just keeps sinking my mood deeper into sadness.
"I'm not sure, the well didn't work. Was there some kind of well where you came from?" I shook my head.
"Don't look so glum! Why don't we go back to where you first got here?" Kagome was trying her best to keep my spirits up, but she knew that it was going to take a lot to lighten my mood.
"I don't remember where I was, a blue creature attacked me and then this fire came from my hands. I thought I was hallucinating." The more I say these words out loud the crazier this story becomes.
"Fire from your hands? Were you hurt?" Kagome inspected my hands, which were completely fine and unharmed. "Can you do it again?"
"I... can try." Just like before, I held out my palms, facing away from everyone. At first nothing happened. I concentrated harder and tried to remember the feeling that went down my arms. Suddenly, the blue fire burst from my hands like before in a single shot. Everyone, including me, was in shock.
"That's strange, maybe that is connected to you coming here?" Kagome looked at my hands, checking for injury once again.
"Wait, I have herd of a power like that. It's called Shikigami. I thought it was a rumor, but I guess not." Sango spoke up.
"Where did you hear about it?" Miroku asked.
"It was in Kasasagi Town. I heard two girls talking about a monk up in the mountains that knew something about it."
"Is it like my fox fire?" Shippo jumped.
"No, it's not an illusion, it's like a power."
"Do you think I should go and find the Monk? Maybe he could tell me something." Going home has to be my main goal, my aunt is probably worrying sick right now. I don't want to cause more trouble for her. Not only that but I could get hurt here.
"That is your only clue so far, I guess you should." Inuyasha finally put his two cents in.
"You should get some rest first, it's been a long day and it's getting dark." I looked around and Sango was right. The sun was setting and the air was getting cooler. I had my spring uniform on and it doesn't provide much protection against the cold.
"I don't have anywhere to stay." I sighed.
"You can sleep at Kaede's. She is a priestess that protects the village." Kagome nodded in my direction.
"Thank you, Kagome. I am so glad you're here." My eyes teared up a bit, but I held back from crying. I don't want to cause anyone anymore trouble.
"To be completely honest, this is the most fun I have had in a while. It's been hard the past year." I didn't even notice that we were walking and everyone else was up ahead. "My parents passed away."
"I'm so sorry Kaname." Kagome touched my elbow in support.
"It's ok..." I was deep in thought for a moment.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
"I was thinking how, sometimes I felt like I wasn't their daughter, like deep down I had a feeling that it wasn't my home. But I still miss my mom, she would always tell me how special I was when no one else did. Now I am here and I have no idea what is going on." She patted my back. "You're a good listener."
"I'm just glad you're ok." Kagome gave me another smile.
"Thank you. Come to think of it, I never asked you why you're here." I was so focused on myself that I didn't even think to ask Kagome why she is here.
"All of us are searching for the Shikon Jewel Shards. They can give a Demon a lot of power, and I can sense them so I tag along. I fell down the Bone Eater's well a while back and Inuyasha found me. It's kind of a long story, I'll tell you about it sometime."
"You seem important to them. I wish I was important to someone."
"You mean like important to a guy?" She wiggled her eyebrows at me.
"A guy? Every girl wishes that Kagome." She laughed.
"Here we are." We all walked in to the small house and met an old lady name Kaede. The group explained to her my situation and agreed to let me stay the night.
"I see. So ye are like Kagome. Poor girl, but don't give up hope." I smiled, I never met my grandparents, but I imagine that they would have given me this same sense of calm.
"I won't ma'am, thank you for letting me stay the night." I bowed on my knees.
"Tis' no problem child. I welcome you." Kaede was very kind and generous. That night she fed me a stew made from mushrooms and gave me a woven mat to sleep on. The mat wasn't very comfortable, and the stew wasn't very good, but I was just happy to have a roof over my head with people around me.
The next morning, I woke up fully recovered. I looked at the ceiling and thought about what had happened. I wish it was a dream, but then again, I wish it wasn't. I was talking and smiling again. However, I don't want to burden anyone any longer. Kagome was wasting time with me when she needs to find the jewel shards and my aunt needs me. The others were not up yet, so I couldn't say goodbye. I quietly cleaned up my mat and walked out. Kaede was walking a horse went I saw her.
"What are ye doing?" She asked curious.
"I am going to go to Kasasagi Town. Sango said that a few girls were talking about the Shikigami, so I am going to find out. Can you tell me where is it?" She was silent for a bit.
"Are ye thinking of going alone?"
"Yes ma'am. I have bothered Kagome and everyone else to much already. I'll be fine, I can use the Shikigami if I need to."
"Well I think ye should at least change."
"Change?"
"Ye might get mistaken as a demon in ye clothes. I have a Kimono ye may have."
"Thank you so much, you have been so generous with me. Please tell the others goodbye and that I will be fine." She gave me a concerned look, but agreed and pointed me in the direction of a town called Kasasagi.
I am scared, but I also know that this feels right. Something in my gut says I need to be here, and I am going to see this through 'till the end.