Pickled Veggies

Author's note:

Hello all! This is my first real fiction and I ask for any pointers you can give. I am not the best with grammar as English is not my first language, but if you see a mistake place tell me. Can't learn if I don't see a fault! 3

I don't own Inuyasha, wish I did.. Now without further wait. Here we go!

Chapter 1

A sweet breeze blew gently thru the tree tops and the grass below, a motion of greeting would bless any who would walk by. The sounds of a warm, clear day filled the air as the breeze lovingly touched the patrons. Children laughed, mothers talked amongst themselves and the elderly played their games or were busy trying to stay active. It was such a perfect day and none could ask for a better setting. Even the flowers and grass seemed to brighten their colors from the breeze and heat.

"Come on... Can't you people order any faster?" Yelled a man in a red windbreaker. This guy was clearly not the patient type, his foot was tapping on the sidewalk, his face was contorted into a sour look and he kept bending his head to check the time. Til finally the couple before him had placed their orders and went to find a table, both having simply ignored him and his rudeness.

"Fuckin' finally." He stated as he rushed the counter. "I need two chocolate, mint and strawberry crepes with cantaloupe as a filler. And I need three mint, chocolate and cucumber crepes with watermelon as a filler. Thanks." He stated all in a rush and slammed his money on the counter. "I need that quickly. Come on." He yelled, drawing out the last word to empathize his need to jet, and fast.

"Geez, man. What's the rush?" The man behind the counter asked as he counted out the red blazer's change. He was not to thrilled with the guy's attitude and manners, even in this line of work and with the people he sees on a day to day basis, this guys seemed very rude.

"Kids. just.. fuckin' kids." He said finally taking his time to speak semi properly. Now the counter man just laughed, now he got it. The guy wasn't as rude as he seemed just run ragged by children, that, he could understand. Kids were hell on anyone.

"Ha.. alright. I'll have them out as quickly as we can. Don't worry, k?" With that he set to work to making the guy's order before he even touched the couple's order. Lovers can wait, kids cannot.

Not too far from the park mentioned before was a shrine, one unlike any other. It doesn't stand out to the main population, it isn't particularly pretty, rich nor does it give special gifts on holidays. However, what does make it special is the well house and the well laying there in. Due to the magical properties of the demonic bones in its depths and the shrine family's special bloodline, it has the power to take a few people to and from our time and somewhere between 1543 and 1553. However, only one person could active such a thing, go to and from easily and have no adverse effects. Kagome.

Currently she was standing in her family kitchen, helping her mother cut fresh carrots and potatoes for dinner. Each of her cuts was odd, quick and not placed accurately at all. It all just looked like terribly cut jigsaw puzzle with no real end picture. And the poor girl knew this, with each chop she let out a hiss of annoyance and tried again to place her hand just right, but to no avail.

"Mom, I just can't seem to chop them as nicely as you do!" She complained as she finished her task, her voice soft but filled with her whiny complaint. This was not a strong suit and this slightly irked her.

"Oh hush, sweetie. It comes with age and practice. Now please set the potatoes in a bowl of water so we can get the starch from them." The older woman soothed as she finished up her own task of pounding out the rice to boil it faster. At this point she'd already completed several other tasks and was simply using the rice as an excuse to busy herself so that she could give Kagome a chance to improve. With this thought, having crossed her mind she sighed, the girl could travel time but couldn't cut veggies to save her life, there was so much this girl had yet to learn and will yet learn for at least years to come and the older woman felt her heart break slightly as she herself, felt a failure to her only daughter.

"I know mom… I am 17. I think by this time I'd know what to do with the potatoes." Snarked the raven-haired girl in a playful manner. Her mother was a god-send, she was so patient, kind, loving and even understood that she was needed more in the past than she was here, in modern times. "Mom, you know I love you, right?" She stated thinking of everything she'd done for her in the past 2 years.

"Of course, Kagome. What brought that on?" Asked Haruhi, Kagome's mother.

"I just… thought of everything you've done for me.. mama. So.. thanks, and I love you." Replied Kagome sheepishly.

Haruhi laughed now in a kindly manner as she placed the wet rice in the cooker and turned it on. Her heart did hurt when Kagome left but she knew it was for the best. She really did understand what would happen had the girl not done as the fates directed. Once the rice began cooking Haruhi reached over, sliced the fish and placed them on the smoker.

"Go tell Sota and Grandpa that dinner will be ready in an hour. Make sure they wash up this time. I really don't want to explain to your brother why his toad isn't allowed on the table." She said making sure everything was cooking or soaking that needed to be. It really had been years since she had to say such a thing to Sota but Kagome wouldn't know this.

"Aye, aye Mama! I am on it! Then I shall make sure my clothing is ready to go." With that Kagome now just left her mother to her task and thoughts. Kagome knew how her mother felt in all this but, to her, right now, that wasn't what mattered. She had to go back, she had to get all the jewels and she had to kill that special giant spider. It was that or risk the whole present changing for the worse. That was not acceptable, to anyone.

Quickly Kagome rushed from the kitchen, to the living room, outside and began her hunt for the two males she was genetically related to. With each foot fall she allowed herself to relax, her mind to clear and she reached her mental hands out to feel for them, touch them. A skill she learned not to long ago on her last trip to the past, a handy skill to be sure, yet she knew there was still so much to be learned with it.

"Just like with the veggies." She mumbled as she veered her body towards where Sota was at in the shrine. He was the closest and seemed to be in the first store house doing something with Bouyo. Narrowing her eyes, she sped up her foot falls to a light run and reached him in very little time. Her hands reached for the handle and with a careful and swift touch she slammed open the door to scare her brother out of whatever task he was doing, only to see him brushing the fat cat and talking to him.

"Oh. Not what I was expecting." Kagome admitted upon the sight. It was a cute, kind and loving sight that was held before her, one that lasted a mere second before her brother turned to look at her with a sour look.

"Ch, and what did you expect me to be doing with the cat, 'gome?" Asked the preteen. His voice a bit harsher than what Kagome was used to but he was growing up and he was mad at her, as was the rest of the family it seemed.

"I wasn't sure to be honest… just wasn't expecting you to be brushing him. I hope you were at least being gentle. Bouyo isn't as young as he once wa-"

"I know. Geez. I know and unlike you I have seen him grow old. I see his age. "He puffed his cheeks and gently sat the old feline down and gave him a soft, loving scratch under his chin. He was right, she knew and it hurt her deeply to know it. She did love her family, all of the members and was hurt the most is with the old cats age and her own task, odds where she'd be gone when he passed. She wouldn't be there for his send off, to comfort her brother or her mother and she wouldn't be there to give the old beast one last kiss and hug. So, with little thought she gently scooped him into her arms and hugged him.

"I do love him Sota. I love him so very much. And it hurts that you think so little of me to assume I don't miss him, miss you and mom and grandpa. I miss all of you, every day. And I think of each of you in almost everything I do while in the past. You have to know that."Her voice was pressing, filled with hurt and she felt her throat burning from trying to stop the tears. So in an attempt to stiffle it she kissed Bouyo and gave him one last hug before setting him down so to allow him to be free.

Sota's eyes watered and he looked away from her quickly. "Yeah, well you don't ever act like it. You could bring me a gift every so often. We sure send a lot over there." He stated gruffly before wiping his tears on his sleeve and walking away from her, deeper into the store house. "So, what do you want? Why did you come to the store house?" He asked once he found a place to let his tears flow, his voice, though masked, was harsher and sadder than normal.

"Oh! Mom says dinner will be done in less than an hour and she wants you to be clean for it. No toads, bugs or the cat, ok?" She ordered in her normal Kagome tone. She knew why he walked off as he did and she knew it was best to just leave him to it. "Oh, and can you bring out some of those preserved peached please? I want some of my friends to try them. I am sure they'd love the flavors." She asked before carefully shutting the door again, not waiting for his reply. It hurt so much to interact with any member of her family now.

"Alright." She stated, her hand still lingering on the rope handle of the door. She wanted him to understand, she wanted to stop their pain, she wanted to stop hers. She stayed there for a while, trying to contain herself before she finally released to rope and walked off. "Now to get Grandpa." Having now set herself towards the farthest store house she let her feet kick at the stones and sticks on the path, trying to lull the time. This was not a fun visit and this part would be the hardest of them all; facing her grandfather, one on one and alone.

Upon her latest arrival, he was waiting for her at the well house door. At that point she just thought she was late, but that wasn't the case. As soon as she climbed from the well he began nailing it and trying to seal it shut, which lead to a huge fight between her, her mother and her grandfather. All involving her trips to the past, the expensive nature of the constant items and the worry she put her family thru. Thing she thought of all the time while in the past. Now after thinking of that she found herself at the last store house, she let herself in.

"Mama says dinner will be rea-"She stopped once she saw him. He was hunched over a crate. His careful hands working to polish an item's surface. With every wipe of the cloth the small item grew more clean, more pristine and clearer. In his hand held something she knew quite well and it caused her to freeze up. How had he gotten it? Why did he have it?! What did it mean for her family to have it?

[There we go. Chapter 1! Tell me what you think!]