"Seriously mom I can help" Ryuu said leaning back in one of the kitchen chairs watching his mother prepare dinner.
"Nonsense Ryuu" his mother said, "You've been making your own dinner for three years a mother should be allowed to make dinner for her son".
"You made dinner last night" Ryuu reminded her, "Besides I want to introduce all of you to a few recipes I learned from those western types" he finished with a grin.
"One day I'll let you do that" his mother replied with a smile over her shoulder, "But for now I want to make dinner for you again, you've been gone for so long" she turned back to the pot she was stirring, "Besides I'm making one of your favorites".
"I'll take anything as long as its not pizza" Ryuu sighed leaning back even further in his chair, "Seriously I ate so much of that stuff over the past three years I'm sure it all amounts to more than my body weight…good thing I was at the dojo most of the time".
"I'm not surprised you decided to learn some martial arts" his mother said to him, "You were always a strong and passionate person even when you were little. No matter what you could never stand by when there was injustice around even if it was a bully at school, especially when it came to Kagome and Sota".
"I haven't changed that much" Ryuu told her, "I'm still that guy who has to right every wrong he sees…it got me in trouble a lot actually".
"It doesn't matter how much trouble it gets you in Ryuu" his mother said turning to him, "You care about the suffering of others especially your siblings, some may say you care too much, but that's what makes you special you want to help everyone".
"Like you" Ryuu pointed out as he sat forward in his chair, "Now let me cook blast it".
"Not this time" his mother continued to smile before returning her attention to the pot in front of her, "Go get your sister it's almost done".
Rising from his chair like a zombie Ryuu left the kitchen passing through the living room where Sota and their grandfather were watching the evening news Ryuu made his way up the stairs toward Kagome's room. Stopping at the closed door he knocked twice and waited with no response. Calling his sister's name he knocked again with no response. Turning around he looked toward the open bathroom door, the light was off and he couldn't hear the water running so she wasn't in there.
"Kagome!" he called again this time opening the door to her room.
She was asleep, lying on her side in her pajamas completely passed out at the edge of her bed.
Placing his hand against his waist Ryuu tilted his head as he stared at her, "Really?" he asked as if she could hear him, "You're that tired?"
Stepping into her room he stared down at her as she lightly snored, "Well this brings back a few memories" he said looking around the room, "Oh if only I had a marker right now…or some shaving cream and feathers…what?"
Looking at Kagome's desk he set his eyes on the small bottle giving off a dim light. Gazing at the light coming from the bottle he felt a gentle tug somewhere in the back of his mind, curiosity maybe. Walking over to the desk he picked up the bottle and examined its contents just like he had the night before, four pink colored shards of differing size and shape.
"Kagome said she got these from Grandpa" he muttered to himself, "Knowing him there's some historic or legendary significance to these things, but what is this light?"
He looked up at the light in the center of the ceiling and held the bottle up toward it, the light from the crystal shards didn't change.
"Its not that…is it a natural shine? Why are they shards? Are they from the same crystal? That would explain why they are in different shapes maybe it was broken" he looked over his shoulder at his sister and set the bottle down before walking over to her, "If that is the case I get the feeling you had something to do with it. You were always breaking stuff when we were little".
He inhaled a short breath before raising one hand, "Alright nap time is over".
He pinched her nose shut and waited as she began turning within a few seconds before gasping for air and shooting up.
"Good morning" Ryuu said as she inhaled deeply to catch her breath.
"What are you doing?" she asked between breaths.
"Waking you up" he answered smugly, "Its dinner time come on" he said walking back toward the hallway, "If you're not there in two minutes I'm eating yours".
Rubbing her eyes Kagome stretched her arms and yawned before getting up and heading downstairs.
"Sorry I feel asleep" she said entering the dining room and taking her seat at the table.
Placing her hands together with the rest of her family Kagome closed her eyes for a second and with a small smile said grace.
"Itadakimasu" Ryuu repeated grabbing his chopsticks, "Incidentally that was the word my roommate had the most trouble pronouncing".
"You had a roommate?" Sota asked.
Ryuu nodded as he lifted his small bowl of rice, "In my junior year I did. I offered to teach him a little Japanese…he used it to try and show off to Aiko, one of the other exchange students. I shouldn't mock his attempts though since they worked she agreed to go out with him".
"So you played matchmaker while you were there?" his grandfather asked.
"Not intentionally" Ryuu answered, "They made a decent couple though".
"Did you have a girlfriend while you were over there Ryuu?" Sota asked.
"In my first year I did" he answered, "Didn't last very long though we were going out for…three months I think".
"Was she nice?" their mother asked.
Ryuu nodded, "She was, we were just both really focused on our studies more than our relationship and agreed it was better that way especially since she was about to graduate and wanted to focus on getting into a good university".
They all stared at him, "You went out with a senior in your first year?" Sota asked.
"Its not all that special really" Ryuu told him, "I made her laugh a few times she thought I was funny and we decided to hang out a couple of times before going out".
"I'm not surprised" Grandpa said, "The men of the Higurashi family have always been gentlemen and always got the perfect girl for them".
"Did you stay in touch with her?" his mother asked.
"Not for long" he answered, "We stayed in touch through the summer, but a few months into my junior year she started going out with someone else no idea what she's doing now".
"That's a shame" his mother said.
"Its nothing important really" Ryuu said, "Maybe one day there will be another, but for now I'm finally home and I need to start looking for a job while I wait for my grades to be transferred over and hopefully get admitted into a good college".
"You're already going to start looking for a job?" Sota asked him, "You just got home".
"The world waits for no man" Ryuu told his little brother, "Don't sound so worried though I will always make time for my family, tell you what come Sunday we'll play some soccer I'll show you a few things I learned while playing".
"Alright" Sota smiled.
"Now enough about me" Ryuu continued taking another bite of the grilled fish in front of him, "Someone tell me what I've missed while I was gone".
"Kagome has a boyfriend now" Sota blurted out.
"Sota!" Kagome gasped almost choking on the grilled snapper she was eating.
"Inuyasha right?" Ryuu asked, "She mentioned him well his name anyway wouldn't tell me anything else about him".
Sota leaned closer to Kagome and whispered, "So you haven't told him that Inuyasha is a".
"No" Kagome whispered back cutting him off, "There's no way he would believe me unless he met Inuyasha first".
Dinner ended and Ryuu set his chop sticks down before stretching his arms out, "That was even better than I remember, thanks mom".
"No need to thank me Ryuu, its just good to have you home".
"We should mark this as a day of good fortune" Grandpa said, "The day our family became whole again".
"Consider it marked Gramps" Ryuu grinned, "It really is good to be…"
"KAGOME!" a male voice yelled from the doorway before the door was yanked open.
Ryuu turned looking over his shoulder to see a fair skinned young man dressed in a red kimono. Ryuu's eyes traced the young man's long silver hair a unique hair color to be sure before meeting his amber eyes.
"Inuyasha" Sota said happily seeing the intruder standing in the doorway.
"So this is him?" Ryuu thought moving to stand up.
"What are you doing here?" Kagome asked already standing.
"We need you to come back now" the half-demon said obviously concerned, "there's trouble".
"Hold on" Ryuu said standing up and locking eyes with Inuyasha, "I don't know what kind of home you were raised in, but number one you don't go barging into another person's home without a damn good reason and number two you don't start making demands in another person's home. Now explain yourself".
"Who the hell are you?" Inuyasha asked matching the fierce gaze Ryuu was giving him.
"What kind of trouble?" Kagome asked him, "What's going on?"
"There's been word of a large horde of demons making their way toward Kaede's village. They've already completely wiped out two other villages and the few that survived are trying to warn everyone".
"Demons, villages being wiped out?" Ryuu repeated in his head, "This guy's a looney".
Inuyasha continued, "Hurry and get your things we need to go".
Keeping his eyes on the intruder Ryuu pointed at his sister, "Kagome don't move" his gaze turned to a threatening glare and his finger moved to target Inuyasha, "She's not going anywhere with you now I advise you to leave before you get hurt".
Inuyasha growled, "I don't know who you are, but if you don't stay out of my way you'll be the one getting hurt".
"Both of you stop it" Kagome yelled jumping between them and looking at her brother, "Look Ryuu I know this is going to be hard for you to believe, but..." she took a quick breath, "Inuyasha isn't human, well not entirely. He's a half demon and he's from the Feudal Era".
Ryuu's gaze softened for a moment as he stared at his sister, "You expect me to believe that this guy is almost five hundred years old? On top of that he's a half demon".
"No he's not that old" Kagome told him, "It's the well in the storage shed. I don't know how it works or why, but its some kind of gateway it leads back to the Tenbun Era of feudal Japan".
"We don't have time for this" Inuyasha snapped grapping Kagome's arm, "We need to hurry let's go".
"Get your hands off of her" Ryuu threatened.
"Ryuu please trust me" Kagome pleaded holding her arm out to stop Inuyasha, "I know it's hard to believe, but it's the truth".
"Ryuu please calm down" their mother told him, "I know this is sudden, but Kagome is telling the truth".
"Was there a drug epidemic while I was gone?" Ryuu asked looking around at his family, "Have you all gone insane? There's no such thing as demons or time travel or mystical gateways between time periods".
He turned back to face Inuyasha and Kagome, "And as for…" they were both gone and the front door was left open, "Oh hell no".
He dashed out the door spotting Inuyasha and Kagome at the entrance to the storage shed. Yelling at them he broke into a sprint and charged into the shed just as Kagome was climbing into the well in the center. Apologizing to her brother Kagome prepared to drop with Inuyasha right next to her. Swearing Ryuu jumped forward and grabbed his sister's arm as she let go, it wasn't that far of a drop not even ten feet, but he was concerned for her and he wasn't about to let her run off with some lunatic even if it was just to their storage shed.
"Ryuu let go" Kagome told him, "You have to trust me".
Ryuu grunted as he began lifting her, "Kagome I do trust you, just not about this. I don't know what happened while I've been gone, but I'm not going to let you run off with some crazy guy talking about demons".
Kagome tried to reason with her brother again, but Inuyasha lunged at Ryuu grabbing his arm and pried his hand from Kagome's wrist. As he felt his grip being forced away Ryuu reached in with his other hand and grabbed his sister's wrist again and retaliated against Inuyasha with his free hand landing a quick punch against the half demon's nose extracting a yell of surprise and pain.
Managing to hold on to the edge of the well Inuyasha growled, "That's it you bastard you're…argh".
Ryuu struck him again catching him off guard causing him to lose his grip and fall into the well.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped before the half demon vanished in a flash of light.
Closing his eyes Ryuu grabbed his sister's arm with both hands and held on until the light had dissipated. Opening his eyes again he looked at the bottom of the well it was empty, no one was there.
"What the hell?" Ryuu mumbled.
Kagome tried to tug herself free from her brother's grasp, "There's your proof Ryuu" she said, "Now let me go please".
"That's not possible" Ryuu mumbled dumbfounded by Inuyasha's disappearance.
"Ryuu!" Kagome called still trying to wrest herself free, "I need to go".
"What the hell just happened?" he asked her tightening his grip, "What's going on here?"
"I told you" she grunted still trying to free herself, "Please they need my help".
Tears began forming in Kagome's eyes as she begged her brother to let her go, but he shook his head. Even with what just happened in front of him he couldn't bring himself to believe it, it just wasn't possible. Ryuu began pulling lifting his sister out of the well and it was at that moment Kagome planted her foot on the wall and pulled back in a desperate effort to free herself.
Feeling her hand slip through her brother's grip Kagome apologized to him as she began to fall, but Ryuu lunged forward and grabbed hold of her one last time only to lose his footing and fall over the edge. Holding onto his sister's arm he tried to pull her closer to him as the same light that swallowed Inuyasha engulfed them as well. Closing his eyes he yanked back on his sister's arm pulling her into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her and turned hoping to use his body to cushion her from the fall, but he never felt the impact of the ground. Opening his eyes he was staring up at a clear blue sky, he shielded his eyes with one hand and groaned as he tried to move.
"Ryuu are you ok?" Kagome's voice asked.
Moving his hand Ryuu saw his sister laying on top of him, "How are we outside?" he asked as she got off of him.
"It's better if you see for yourself" she said reaching down to help him up.
Climbing out of the well Ryuu looked around seeing Inuyasha waiting nearby.
"What the hell are you doing here?" the half demon yelled at him, "You're gonna pay for that cheap shot".
Ryuu didn't answer instead he just looked around; they were at the edge of a forest with no buildings in sight.
"How?" he quietly exhaled turning around as Kagome climbed over the edge and went to join Inuyasha.
"I told you Ryuu" Kagome said, "This is the Feudal Era".
"This…" he began turning a slow, full circle, "Isn't possible it just can't be" he finally set his eyes on her, "This defies any kind of logic or reasoning".
Kagome watched her brother as he continued to gaze at their surroundings, "I know this must be a bit overwhelming for you right now, but I need you to try and stay calm and wait here".
She turned to Inuyasha, "You said the village might be in trouble. We should hurry".
Inuyasha nodded and scooped her up in his arms, "Hold on".
"Hold on" Ryuu shouted as Inuyasha picked up his sister, "You're not going anywhere until I get a full explanation".
As he yelled that it was too late, they were already gone. In a single leap Inuyasha carrying his sister were high in the sky landing on the top of a tree before jumping again and vanishing over the canopy of the forest. Yelling out at them again Ryuu looked behind him as a flock of birds flew overhead coming from the direction Inuyasha and Kagome disappeared. Watching the birds fly across to the other end of the forest Ryuu turned around once more taking in his surroundings again and when he turned his eyes back on the well he saw a bicycle leaning against it. Kagome's obviously.
Running to the bike he pulled it away from the well and turned in the direction Kagome and Inuyasha went and started running. After a few feet he hopped on and began peddling. Entering the forest he slowed his pace to avoid crashing into anything, but tried to keep as straight a line as possible. Something in the back of his head a gentle tug told him he was heading in the right direction he wasn't sure how he just knew it was. After several minutes of cycling through the forest and avoiding trees and other obstacles he turned, the back wheel sliding through the dirt before he set off to the left and after a few more minutes broke through a line of trees and exited the forest.
Ahead of him was a village, a decently sized one with about a dozen huts and many people gathered around. He looked up at the sky and once again saw another flock of birds flying away toward the forest behind him, this flock much larger than the one he saw earlier.
"It looks like their running from something" he thought before remembering what Inuyasha said when they were back home, "Villages being attacked by demons" he muttered.
Looking back at the village ahead of him he knew his sister was there and began peddling again, "If any of this is real, if any of it is true" he panted as he peddled at full speed through the grass and up onto the dirt path leading to the village, "I'm not going to leave her here".
Arriving at the entrance to the village he pulled the handbrake locking the back tire and dragging the bike to a stop before he jumped off and started running ignoring the looks he was getting from the villagers around him. Calling out his sister's name as he ran he continued to look around, many of the villager's gave him strange looks as he ran past them one of them said something about him being loud another said he was acting like a fool, but one he heard said something about wearing strange clothes and that's when he realized something.
"She's still wearing her school uniform" he muttered to himself sliding to a stop, "Our clothes haven't been made yet they're foreign to this time period".
He turned to one of the villagers, "Hey have you seen someone else that has clothes like mine? A girl with long black hair, white shirt and a green skirt…skirts haven't been invented yet".
"You must be talking about that Kagome girl" an elderly man said, "I'm sure I saw her and Inuyasha at Kaede's home".
"Which one is that?" Ryuu asked looking around.
The elderly man turned to his right and pointed at a lone medium sized hut, "It's that one right over there closest one to the stairs leading up to the shrine".
Ryuu thanked the old man before running off toward the hut. Calling out his sister's name once more Ryuu came to an immediate stop inside the doorway his eyes meeting with a gray haired old woman wearing a white kimono and a red hakama and a patch over her right eye.
"Can I help ye young lad?" the old woman asked.
"I'm looking for Kagome" Ryuu answered, "I was told she was here".
"You must be her brother then" the old woman said standing up and cupping her hands behind her back, "Yes Kagome mentioned that you had followed her through the Bone-Eater's Well".
"Yeah and we'll get into the lack of scientific reasoning on that later now where is she?"
"She is still here" the old woman answered, "Her and Inuyasha are likely waiting for Sango and Miroku to return. People from the nearby villages have taken refuge here and have told us of a large horde of demons making their way here".
"And this has what to do with my sister?" Ryuu asked her.
"I know this all seems very odd to ye my boy, but you must calm yourself. Your sister is a very special girl, she can…"
"Kaede!" someone called from outside.
"Kagome" Ryuu gasped turning around to see his sister and Inuyasha running over to them.
"Ryuu?" Kagome gasped surprised to see her brother there, "How did you…" she shook her head, "Sorry, but we'll have to talk later. Kaede, Sango's been hurt and the demons are close we need to try and get everyone to safety".
"Sango's been injured?" Kaede asked, "Nothing too serious I hope".
"Miroku is treating her would as best he can, but for right now we need to get everyone away from the village".
"Oh my" the old woman replied, "This must truly be bad. Very well help me round up everyone".
"None of you are going anywhere" Ryuu shouted, "Not until someone tells me what's going on".
"Weren't you listening" Inuyasha yelled back, "There are demons heading this way and if we don't stop them then everyone here will die".
"No" Ryuu began his hand shaking as he pointed at him, "There's no such things as demons that's impossible".
"Ryuu" Kagome said touching his arm, "This is going to be a lot for you to take in I know, but demons are real and people will die if we don't act soon. Since you're here we could really use your help".
Ryuu inhaled a deep breath and calmed himself as best he could, "Evacuating a village…I can do that. What kind of demons are we dealing with? Are they people size or are they giant monsters with claws and fangs and the whole nine yards?"
"Probably all of the above" Kagome answered, "Demons come in a lot of different shapes and sizes, but that's not important right now".
Ryuu cut her off, "I disagree" he saw the bow slung over her shoulder and the quiver of arrows on her back, "What's with those?"
"That's how she fights you idiot" Inuyasha told him, "Now stop wasting time".
"Fight?" Ryuu repeated glancing at Inuyasha and then back to his sister, "You really think I'm going to let you".
This time Kagome cut him off, "Ryuu we don't have time for this. You care about me and you want to protect me I get that, but I can handle myself here. Please trust me on this".
He stepped past them and looked outside at the villagers, "These people do any of them know how to fight?"
"Not really I'm afraid" the old woman answered, "They are all mostly just farmers. A few of them are hunters who know how to use a bow and knife, but not much else".
"Then our first priority is getting everyone to a safe place" Ryuu said, "But should we tell them what's coming? Will they panic?"
"They will be afraid, but I'm sure they won't panic" the old woman answered, "We'll just leave everything to Inuyasha like we always do".
Inuyasha crossed his arms, "Humph if you people just learned to fight you wouldn't have to rely on me all the time".
"What's the safest place around here?" Ryuu asked Kaede.
"There is no safe place" Kaede told him, "Not in the way ye are thinking I'm sure. We'll just keep everyone here while Inuyasha goes out to deal with them".
"So we just herd everyone into the huts and hope that this guy can hold off an uncounted force by himself?"
"Ryuu" Kagome said walking over to him, "Just trust us we've been doing this for a while now" she turned to Inuyasha, "Besides Inuyasha is really strong he can protect these people without a problem".
"Like I care about these people" Inuyasha said with a huff, "I'm just here for the jewel shard one of them has".
"Wow" Ryuu said looking to his sister, "Your boyfriend is a great guy a real keeper".
"Look" Kagome began, "Just help keep the people calm and safe this shouldn't take long".
"I don't like this" Ryuu said looking back out at the village, "Any of it, this has to be a dream".
His sister pinched his arm, "Why?" he asked her
"You're not dreaming" she told him, "This is real".
He shook his head, "Let's just get this over with and go home" he turned back to her, "One thing I don't get. If Inuyasha is so strong why do you have to go out there?"
"Because I'm the only one who can sense the jewel shards" she explained, "That bottle you saw on my desk, those were some of the fragments of the jewel. Demons seek them out because even a single one can make them a lot stronger".
"And he'll need you to locate which one if any have them" Ryuu concluded, "Outstanding".
"Ryuu, I'm happy that you care about me so much, but I'm no stranger to things like this. Please just believe in me".
"Its not a matter of believing in you" he said, "I'm your brother I'm supposed to worry and I'm supposed to protect you, but this…this is too much" he saw the number of people walking about the village some worried others clearly frightened and a few seemed unconcerned.
"But you said these people would die if you didn't go" Ryuu continued, "I'll stay here and try to keep everyone calm and organized" he turned back to her, "You go do what you have to, just stay as far back as you can" he looked to Inuyasha, "And you. You better keep her safe if she gets so much as a scratch on her. I will mount your head on my bedroom wall".
"Fair enough" Kagome said before Inuyasha could retaliate, "Let's go find Miroku".
Pulling Inuyasha along with her Kagome left leaving Ryuu alone with Kaede.
"Ye are a good brother to be worried about Kagome" the old woman said, "But ye need not worry. Kagome herself has become quite strong she will be fine".
Following Kaede outside Ryuu helped her get everyone into their homes as crowded as they would be it was for the best until the demon threat had been dealt with. Once everyone was inside Ryuu found Kaede again at one of the huts trying to help a young woman stand. She had brown hair and eyes and was about the same height as his sister. She was dressed in black skin-tight jumpsuit with pink armor plates on her shoulders shines and abdomen with a red sash tied around her waist. She carried two weapons with her first a large boomerang that was taller than she was though she seemed to have trouble dragging it behind her and a wakizashi a short sword.
"Ryuu help me please" Kaede called to him.
Running over to the old woman and seeing the many bandages wrapped around her some soaked through with blood Ryuu asked what had happened.
"This is Sango she was injured fighting the demons earlier".
"Let me go Kaede" the woman pleaded.
"You are too injured child you mustn't go".
The battle ready woman tried to force her way forward, but her injured leg gave out under her and she collapsed.
Catching the woman Ryuu guided her to the ground and placed his hand on her shoulder, "Sango right?" he asked, "Listen I don't know anything about you or what's going on really, but I can tell you're injured and in a pretty bad way. If you go out there right now and try to fight you'll be nothing more than a hindrance".
She turned her head, panting as she glared at him.
"You being out there right now they'd be too focused on defending you then they would be on the enemy which would only lead to them getting hurt as well. Nothing good will come from you being out there so the best thing for you to do is to stay here".
"I can't just sit back and do nothing" she tried to yell as she stood up.
"If you want to do something then help me stand guard" Ryuu said grabbing her uninjured arm to hold her back, "I don't know anything about this place or what's out there, but I'm here so I can try to protect these people if you want to help then stand guard with me because if you go out there you'll only end up worse off".
"Who are you?" the woman asked.
"My name is Ryuu Higurashi" he told her, "I'm Kagome's brother".
"Can you fight?" she asked.
"People" he admitted, "Not so sure about demons. Hopefully I won't have to find out".
"Well you're going to" Sango grunted readying her weapon, "Here they come".
Looking up to the sky Ryuu saw a mass of bodies flying toward them some serpent like others bird like and some humanoid in form. Dozens of them at least and as they got closer he could see their features more clearly, claws and fangs almost as long as his arms even the shorter impish ones had horns half the length of his arms. For the moment he froze was he going to be able to go through with this? Could he fight demons, real demons? He felt his legs shaking beneath him his mind screaming at him to flee, but he couldn't move.
When the swarm of demons landed Ryuu stood there and watched as Sango and half a dozen volunteers attacked the demons, fighting for their lives.
"This can't be real" he thought as a pair of demons spotted and attack him.