As Kagome climbed out of the old well, she felt a wave of excitement wash over her. Pulling herself the rest of the way out of the well, she marveled at the fact that she was really here. She had spent the last year going between her time and feudal Japan, all thanks to this old well that somehow connected the two very different times, and she found that she still couldn't get her mind to grasp the fact that she could actually stand here.
Walking towards the village, she could start making out the voices of her friends. It sounded like they were arguing. Curious what they were talking about, she stopped and listened. She was told before that eavesdropping wasn't very polite, but oh well. She hid behind a tree and listened as her friends continued their conversation.
"I'm telling you, it doesn't matter. What does it matter about the stupid mark? We all know that it's gonna match mine. So just shut up about it!" Ah, that was Inuyasha. She would be able to identify his voice even in a sea of noise.
"How can you possibly be so carefree, Inuyasha? What if it isn't you? What if she ends up matching someone that we don't even know? Could you really let her go?" She listened as Miroku's voice slightly trembled at the end of his words.
She could feel Inuyasha's rage even from where she was hiding. His next words came out as a growl, "We don't need to worry about it. Because it will be me, you stupid monk. I won't have to let her go." Kagome listened as Inuyasha's footsteps led him in the opposite direction of where she was.
She knew what they were talking about now: her matching. In the feudal era, there is a demon that makes it possible for people to find their soulmates, by placing a mark on them. If you find a person who has the same mark as yours, that person is your soulmate and you will spend the rest of your lives together. The marking happens when a person turns 16 and is then called a "matching". Her matching has been a big topic for a few weeks now, since she turns 16 tomorrow, and everyone wondered who she would end up matched to. Kagome had no doubts who she would be with. Of course it would be Inuyasha. Who else could it possibly be? They both acknowledged the fact that they were in love, they just needed her mark to match his already present one.
Of course, Miroku was worried for them. He had always been a bit of a worrywart. When Sango's mark had appeared and matched his, he almost died of happiness. Now he only wished that happiness for his friends, but if it wasn't meant to be he wanted to make sure that this wouldn't ruin everything.
Kagome understood his worry. Afterall, she too had heard what people were saying about the matching. They say that once you set eyes on your match after being marked, something in you just clicks. You need that person and they need you. They had all said that it was impossible to fight, the people who had tried had all gone insane.
Shaking her head, Kagome laughed at herself. She wouldn't let these rumors get to her. There was no point, since she wouldn't want to fight against being marked for Inuyasha. They were just silly rumors, nothing more. They had nothing to do with her.
Walking to her friends, she raised her hand in a wave and called out, "Hi guys! I'm back!" Her friends had been so deep in thought that all three of them jumped when she called out to them. Shippo, being the fastest to recover from the scare, jumped into her arms. "Kagome! I missed you so much! How was the celebration with your parents?" Settling down beside Sango, Kagome started scratching behind Shippo's, making the young kitsune sigh in happiness. "It was good. I feel bad that I won't be there on the day of my actual birthday, but we all know that I need to be here."
At the mention of Kagome's pending marking, her friends went silent. "Guys, relax! It'll all work out somehow." Kagome smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. If she was completely honest with herself, part of her was afraid that she wouldn't end up with Inuyasha, no matter how much she wanted to. Her eyes wandered over to Sango and Miroku, cuddled in each other's arms. She wanted that. She wanted to feel the security and love that came with being matched. And she wanted it with Inuyasha. She just couldn't imagine being with anyone else. It had to be him. Pushing her doubts from her mind, Kagome laid out her sleeping bag. Pulling Shippo into the blankets with her, she fell asleep.
When Kagome opened her eyes the next morning, all she saw was yellow. Frightened, she reached out and smacked whatever was obstructing her view. She opened her mouth to scream for help when she heard a familiar voice, "Jesus, Kagome! What'd you have to go and do that for, huh?" Inuyasha was rubbing the spot on his cheek that Kagome had slapped. Taking deep breaths to calm her rapid heart, Kagome apologized, "I'm sorry for hitting you. But don't just creep up on people when they're sleeping! You almost gave me a heart attack! What were you even doing?" Inuyasha's face turned a deep red, as if he had been caught peeping during her bath. "I was looking for something," he mumbled. "What was that, Inuyasha? I couldn't quite hear you."
Inuyasha's face was beat red now. Looking away, he said, "I was looking for your mark. It's today, right? Your 16th birthday." Now it was Kagome's turn to blush. He had been staring at her for who knows how long, just waiting for his mark to pop up, proving that she belonged to him.
"From what I heard, Inuyasha, the mark shows up at the time you were born. I was born at exactly 12:00 in the afternoon. So here I guess that means I would be born whenever the sun is at it's highest in the sky," She looked at the sky, noting how the sun was almost to it's highest point, " I guess that it will be in about another hour or so, judging on the sun's position."
Inuyasha held his hand out to her, his sleeve falling back to show his mark on his wrist. Not everyone got them in the same place. Some people had them on their backs and some, like Inuyasha, had them on their wrist. The mark can appear anywhere on your body. Kagome reached out and touched his mark. She had always thought that it was beautiful. It was a dog, with red and yellow fur. The colors blended and created one of the most beautiful colors she had ever seen. The dog itself had a silver lining around it. It was a wonderful mark that matched him well, and she couldn't wait until it showed up on her skin.
For the next hour, Kagome couldn't get Inuyasha away from her. It was as if he left, he would miss the moment when she was marked. So where ever she went, he followed. As they strolled through the village, Kagome felt it. It started out as a dull ache and then turned into a searing pain right above her heart. She had heard that the marking was extremely painful, it felt like you were being branded, but she had not expected this much pain. Unable to help herself, she cried out. Inuyasha immediately caught on and caught Kagome just as her legs gave out.
"It's okay, Kagome. I'm here. It will pass, I promise," he soothed. Kagome couldn't hear him though, the pain was too great. It was like someone was taking a hot iron and pushing it right to her chest. After what felt like forever, the pain finally started to subside, until eventually it was gone. She breathed a giant breath of relief. That had been more painful than she could have anticipated, but it was over now. She was anxious to see her mark, but she had to get Inuyasha out here first.
"Inuyasha, I need you to leave and get Sango." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew that he was going to fight her on it. "Why would I do that, Kagome? Just show your mark. It's fine. It's gonna be mine anyway." She shook her head, her anger rising. "The mark is on my chest," She lifted her hand to the spot right above her heart, "I can't look at it with you in here. I'm gonna have to take my shirt off. So go get Sango!" Inuyasha blushed and left the hut that he had pulled them into.
A few minutes later, Sango came rushing into the hut. She looked at Kagome, "Are you ready for this?" Unsure of whether or not she could trust her voice, Kagome nodded her head. Nodding back, Sango sat across from her friend, holding a mirror so Kagome could see her mark. Kagome slowly unbuttoned her shirt, anxiety gripping her. Finally she got it unbuttoned and slid it off her shoulders. She was careful not to look at SAngo's face so she wouldn't get any clues about her mark. But when she looked at the mirror, only one phrase came to mind.
"What the fuck?!" Kagome screamed.
