-----Hey guys so I have been very sick lately and bed ridden so I decided to revamp some old stories and write some new ones while I have time. I hope my writing style has improved and I hope you enjoy my story!--------
Kagome was running as fast as she could through the forest cursing at herself for her own stupidity. How could she have been so stupid? How could she forget who she was to them? She was the weak human shard detector. To Inu Yasha she was the one he had to constantly protect. Now here she was running for those friends who had sworn to protector. The same friends who she had been lying to since the beginning. She knew it was wrong. She knew it could not last forever. But she did not expect to slip up so bad that even Inu Yasha would notice she was keeping something from them. So here she was running from the ones she loved and the one man who held her heart. She did not want to see his face. She knew he would be hurt that she had been pretending for his sake in order to make him feel like he was needed. As Kagome neared the well she mentally rejoiced. She was almost there! But fate did not want to make it easy on her. Suddenly Kagome was stopped in her tracks as a blur of red appeared before the well. It was Inu Yasha his sword drawn and ready for battle should it be needed.
"Kagome you will answer my questions!" Inu Yasha snarled at her. He was beyond pissed. The woman he trusted completely was keeping something very important from him.
"Please don't make me do this Inu Yasha. I do not want to fight you! You are one of my closest friends." Kagome whispered trying to reason with the enraged half demon.
"How can I ignore the fact that you knew I was not at my full strength? How could you have possibly known that if I had gripped my father's fang harder I would have had more power?" Inu Yasha stated in disbelief.
They had been traveling for three days and had yet to find a shard. Inu Yasha was ready to head back to the village and give up in exchange for a day's rest until he heard Kagome cry out, "What out Inu Yasha a shard is approaching!" As soon as those words entered his ears a lizard yokai attacked from the forest to Inu Yasha right. It was big and looked fairly distorted from the power of the shard. Inu Yasha threw the lizard off of him and pulled out his sword. He then began to cut at the demon while Miroku and Sango prepared to help him. Kagome stayed back in order to protect Shippo. As the battle drew on Inu Yasha became tired and that affected the way he fought. He decided to do one final attack and with his sword and let loose the final blow slicing the demon in half. Kagome quickly rushed forward and desperately searched for the shard so the demon would not piece itself back together again.
"Relax Kagome take your time he won't be able to heal from that attack" Inu Yasha stated with a smug look on his face. Clearly he was proud of his handy work.
"You barley killed him. Your attack would have been a lot more powerful if you had gripped your sword harder" Kagome mumbled under her breath as she found the shard and purified it. She was pretty sure no one heard her. Boy was she wrong.
Inu Yasha had heard everything she had said and could not believe he had. "What did you say!" Inu Yasha cried out. How could Kagome back talk him like that and how could she have known he was not gripping his father's fang very tightly. He was tired for Christ sake he should be allowed a little slack.
"You heard me?" Kagome whispered in fear and then without another word she bolted. They were not far from the village or the well and she desperately wanted to get there before Inu Yasha caught her and made her tell him how she knew about his technique. Needless to say that was what had happened that put Kagome in her present situation with Inu Yasha blocking the well.
"Please Inu Yasha try to understand. We have been at this for years I was bound to pick up some knowledge about fighting." Kagome tried to reason with Inu yasha. But the look on his face told her that he was not going to stand for it.
"Some knowledge perhaps but to know how fucking hard I need to hold the hilt? That is not amateur knowledge. Only masters would be able to follow my moves and see that" Inu Yasha yelled at her trying to keep his anger in check. He was hurt he, was confused, and he knew that Kagome was not telling the truth her scent told him that.
"I'm sorry Inu Yasha but I am just not ready to tell you yet. I love you and the others I promise I do. Please understand I have my reasons for keeping this to myself." Kagome replied hoping that Inu Yasha would understand and leave it be.
"NO! I will not allow you to keep lying to us either you tell me or I will make you!" Inu Yasha cried out letting his anger and pride get the better of him as he charged Kagome he heard the word that he hated most leave her mouth.
"SIT!" Kagome cried and then as Inu Yasha plummeted to the ground Kagome swiftly moved around him and reached the well. She whispered an apology to Inu Yasha and then jumped in. Realizing as she floated in the light that it felt different and seemed to take longer than usual to get to her time.
Meanwhile as Kagome floated through time Inu Yasha recovered from his date with the dirt and tried to jump in after her. What surprised him the most was he landed at the bottom of the well in his time. There were no lights. There was no time travel just him and the bottom of a dried up old well.
"Damn it all to hell what the fuck is going on!"Inu Yasha cried out to the forest causing some birds to fly away from the ragging half demon.
Back with Kagome she had finally landed in what she hoped was her time period. She was in a well she knew that much. But it did not have a ladder. It was not the well at her home. Climbing out of the well Kagome found that the world she was in was very different. There we less tress and the well appeared to be on the outskirts of a town. Kagome slowly took in her surroundings. Trying to figure out where she was or what time period she was in. It was a nice day a little chilly and there were buds appearing on the few trees around her.
"It was be spring." Kagome thought as she observed some more of her surroundings. The few people she saw entering and leaving the town were dressed in kimonos and had traditional wooden shoes. Some were even wearing large brimmed hats. As Kagome began to move towards the town she noticed it was more updated than the village. The houses were made better and there were wagons. Kagome continued to wonder the town taking in all the sites. She wanted to learn more about her current location. As Kagome was completely engrossed in discovering all she could about this world she did not noticed a group of men approaching her.
"Hey boys look at the pretty little thing I just found" one man called to his friends as he eyed Kagome lustfully. The other men mumbled their comments as they also eyed Kagome in a way Kagome did not feel comfortable with.
"Excuse me." Kagome said as she tried to move past them. She did not want to start a fight with these men.
"You're not going anywhere my pretty" Another man said and stepped in her way. At this moment Kagome knew what she had to do and dove between the tallest mans legs. As she slid to the other side she immediately got up and began running as fast as she could away from the very frightening looking men. Kagome knew she could take them no doubt in her mind but she needed to keep a low key cover she did not want to have another slip up.
Kagome heard many calls along the lines of "Get back here" and "After her" it was all rather annoying to here such cliché lines. As Kagome continued to run she noticed that the guys were not stopping and she needed a new strategy. Seeing a nice looking restaurant Kagome decided that was as good a place as any to duck in and hide.
Kagome was hiding to the side of the door way not caring that the people inside the restaurant were starring at her. "Have they never seen a girl hide before?" Kagome thought to herself as she continued to wait for the men who were after her to catch up. What Kagome did not realize was there were five sets of eyes on her watching her movements. Not far from where Kagome was standing sat Kaoru, Megumi, Yahiko, Sano, and Kenshin. They were all intrigued by the noise and surprised to see a young woman who was dressed very differently from most hiding behind the door to the restaurant. Next they heard yelling and shouting getting closer to the door from outside. Apparently there were some men yelling at the woman to come out saying things like "We won't bite you" and "We just wanted a taste." Kenshin was disturbed by the words the men were saying to the woman but when he looked at her all he could see on her face was rage not fear.
Having had enough of the crap the men were yell at her Kagome just cursed under her breath and walked outside ready to take on the men and get rid of them once and for all since they clearly would not leave her alone. As Kagome walked outside Kenshin and Sano got up immediately and followed to see what would happen. The other members of their group stayed by the door inside but close enough that they could see.
What happened next shocked everyone except Kagome. The men charged Kagome as a pack each one of them swinging their fists and throwing in some kicks for good measure. Kagome being used to having things attack her defended the best she could until there was an opportune time to attack without the villagers seeing that she did. Quickly she worked blocking and sneakily hiding her attacks hitting pressure points as she did. The men did not realize her light taps that seemed like weak attacks back were actually shutting down their bodies causing them to become exhausted from the battle. Kenshin and Sano's eyes widened when they noticed what the girl was doing.
To anyone else it would appear like she was losing and getting beaten pretty badly but to their keen eyes that had been trained in fighting they saw her true power and strength. After a few more minutes the men collapsed to the ground completely exhausted and unable to continue. Kagome took this as a chance to appear like she was trying to run away again before they regained her strength. She moved slowly making sure to fake limp and made her way away from the crowd down the street a bit until she turned down another road out of people's sight. As soon as she was around the corner Kagome relaxed stood up straight and sighed. She was safe and had a good amount of confidence that people had believed the little fight. What Kagome was not prepared for was the calls for her to wait as people came running down the road behind her catching up to her. Kagome stood shocked and scared as she recognized who the people were. One of them was unmistakable with his blood red long hair and cross scar on his face. It was the Battousai and judging by his appearance he was past his teen years. That could only mean one thing for Kagome. She was in the Meiji era. "Oh lord this is going to be a nightmare" Kagome thought to herself as she watched the group examine her.
Kenshin immediately noticed the fear that flashed through Kagome's eyes as she looked at him. Did she know who he was? He wondered to himself. But what baffled him even more was that he was in fact right about the girl having skills. She was unhurt and seemed to be perfectly fine. Just who was this girl? Kenshin wondered to himself.
"Hey little lady are you okay?" asked a tall guy with spiky brown hair and white clothing on. Kagome recognized the clothing and head band from a picture she had seen in her history books. This man was Sano the fighter for hire that had befriended Kenshin in his later years.
"Yes thank you Sano" Kagome replied without thinking. She was still trying to remember all she had read in her history books about these people and what they were capable of.
"How do you know my name?" Sano asked curious as to how a young woman of ample fighting skills knew who he was and yet he did not know who she was.
"Shit" Kagome cursed out loud. How could she have been such a fool to state something like that? Of course she should not know them they just met her a minute ago and no one had said their names. She needed to make sure to cover her tracks fast or she knew they would get suspicious.
Kenshin choose this moment to step in seeing her freezeafter she had realized what she had said. "I would also like to know where you have learned to fight like that, that I would."
Kagome could only laugh nervously and come up with her lame excuse of, "Well who wouldn't know the legendary fighter for hire?" Kagome knew she was on thin ice but she had to at least try to avoid Kenshin's question. She did not even tell that to Inu Yasha her best friend. There was no way she was going to tell complete strangers.
"Hmm she has a point Kenshin I am fairly well known around here" Sano said as he puffed out his chest adding to the fact that he was boasting about his fame. Kagome sighed with relief and tried to make a quick escape.
"Exactly now if you don't mind I would like to be on my way. It was nice of you all to worry for me but it just makes me more nervous to be in the presence of the Battousai." Kagome Muttered and then covered her mouth quickly praying they had not heard the last part of her statement. She defiantly needed a filter on her thoughts and words.
"So you do know who I am" Kenshin stated more than asked now reverting to a more serious tone.
"How do you know of me I can assure you I am not nearly as popular as Sano. Only my enemies know me by that name." Kenshin hissed as he got into a stance to protect Megumi, Yahiko, and Karou behind him. Sano also tensed up and prepared himself in case of an attack.
Kagome choose this point as a good time to turn tail and run. She took off in the opposite direction of the group running down the alley. Kagome sighed to herself as she did so. She was strong but not strong enough to take on the Battousai and Sano. She really hated always running away from her problems. Many people would say that was a bad thing to do. But Kagome thought that when your life was on the line it seemed to be the most appropriate thing to do.
"Stop" Kenshin cried as he chased after her with Sano not far behind him. The fact that this girl was running and not fighting him put his mind at ease a little. She was not someone who was out to kill him. At least he hoped not. But then why did she know him? How did she know him? It disturbed Kenshin to know that there were people besides his enemies who knew who he was and feared him.
Kagome continued to run unsure of what was the appropriate action to take next. She knew they would not stop following her and she was pretty sure she was going to get tired soon. She decided maybe reasoning with them was the best option.
" I will stop running if you promise not to kill me" Kagome called out to the men chasing her. She decided to emphasize her point by abruptly stopping.
Kenshin looked shocked but soon turned grave this girl was scared of him and that was not good. She did know about his past. She was a danger to his relationship with the others.
"My name is Kagome. I am not from around here. And yes I know who you are but I was not sent here to attack you." Kagome stated looking at the two men waiting for anything that could happen. At that moment Megumi, Yahiko, and Karou had caught up to the three. As they got a better look at Kagome Megumi gasped.
"You look exactly like the legendary woman samurai Hell's Flower" Megumi blurted out as she continued to examine Kagome.
The others chose this time to look closely at Kagome. Hell's Flower was only a legend. Many of them hard heard of it from their Childhood and had seen paintings that had been done depicting what she was suppose to look like. Hell's Flower was a woman who took it on herself to become stronger than any man. She was intelligent and feared that if all the powers in the world was held by men that the world would become unbalanced. As she set out on her journey she fell in love with the lord of the land and declared her love for him in front of the nation. But to everyone's surprise she was turned down harshly the lord had stated that he would never see her as a woman. No woman should ever have blood on their hands. He then banished her from his Kingdom and left her to die in the forests outside his lands alone. After that incident the stories got fuzzy each person who wrote the tale had a different idea of what happened to the woman some said she died and some said she set out to kill the Lord. No one knew for sure. After much thought, the others decided that Megumi was right. This woman had many attributes that were distinctly Hell's Flower. Kagome sighed when she saw the recognition and questions swarm into their eyes. There was no point in hiding herself any more. They knew who she was.
"I believe you think that way because I look very similar to her. Hell's Flower was my ancestor. To answer the question you asked awhile back Battousai the name and skills have been passed down through the generations. Now it is my duty to fulfill the title of Hell's Flower. I am the current Hell's Flower" Kagome stated firmly hoping that these people would not kill her on the spot for the words she had just said.
-------Thanks for reading I will continue to write more now that I like where this story is going. I have a plan for the next chapter already and will start it as soon as I post this!---------