Chapter Two: Magic Rabbit Holes Do Exist

Ayumi decided that she should just drop everything and let Kagome decide what to do with Inuyasha. The morning after her sleepover was filled with questions and suspicions; Inuyasha never took off his bandana, and he loved to sniff at everything new in his way. Ayumi almost felt like Kagome was dating a human puppy. But she squandered that thought as soon as it surfaced. She didn't have the right to talk about him behind his back, he was her friend's boyfriend, and she really needed to come to terms with that.

He was caring towards Kagome as he made her herbal medications for her cold. Ayumi had to admit that it was heartwarming. She should definitely tell Yuka and Eri that maybe they were wrong about him.

Mrs. Higurashi made sure that everyone had a fulfilling breakfast before sending her off to the door. Ayumi thanked her profusely before setting off back to school. She was almost going to be late.

But as soon as she closed her distance to the streets, her legs stopped in their tracks. Ayumi inhaled heavily. She still wanted to know, it turned out that her mind-boggling curiosity about Kagome's well-being was just too great that she couldn't even bring herself to walk away without confronting her at least once.

If she didn't get an answer from Kagome about anything, especially about her puppy-like boyfriend, she'll go crazy.

Ayumi made up her mind. Turning on her heels, she made a beeline straight back towards the Higurashi house. Her hands were almost balled to knock on the door before she heard a faint string of whispers on the side of the building.

"Are you sure about this…" The low voice was most likely that of a man's. Something inside her fluttered. Ayumi couldn't help but find the sound very familiar. She inched towards the side of the house and closer to the clearing behind the house.

"Inuyasha, I'm fine!"

She stopped in her tracks. Now she definitely knew who the voices belonged to. With her hands on the wall, Ayumi strained her neck to peer out from behind her hideout. Her eyes swept across the plains and up and down the area. She swore she heard voices, though. It couldn't be a mistake. It was Kagome's voice.

It wasn't until she was about to give up and head back when she noticed the familiar, silver-headed boy in the corners of her eyes. Ayumi, once again, plastered herself against the walls and peeked.

There they were, Kagome and Inuyasha, hovering over a well? Ayumi's eyes narrowed; just what kind of mischief was Kagome up to now? Wasn't she supposed to be in her room resting?

She surveyed the duo as they looked ready to dive through the well between them. Alarm bells rang in Ayum's head. Why was Kagome carrying a backpack with her? Her eyes widened at the sight of Kagome swinging a foot around the opening of said well.

What in Buddha's grace are they doing?! Ayumi was full-on shaking at this point, her thoughts were jumbled all over the place. She couldn't believe that her best friend, her smart and kind Kagome, was about to jump right into a damn well? She could seriously injure herself!

Then it occurred to her; was this a way for Kagome to stay out of school? So that she could skip class and hang out with her boyfriend? Ayumi felt an unexplainable hurt rising from her stomach. She refused to face the possible idea that kagome may be purposefully avoiding her and everyone else.

But even with that in mind, she couldn't just let kagome jump. She might hit her head against something or even worse, drown.

"Kagome wait!" Her voice was hoarse from fear as she ran as fast as she could towards the girl who was getting ready to toss herself into a chasm. Kagome didn't hear her, she was too far away. Inuyasha had already disappeared into the well, and now it was Kagome's turn. Ayumi could feel her heart beating through her chest, ready to pound away her ears.

She was close now, her hands reach out to find a hold for herself. Kagome was launching herself from the sides of the structure and Ayumi grabbed onto her sleeves just in time as Kagome was preparing for freefall.

"Ayumi?!" Kagome screamed. Ignoring her shrill cry, Ayumi tried to pull her from her stupid stunt, but her breath caught in her throat. For a second, the two were in midair. Ayumi was no longer on the ground as Kagome's weight and gravity dragged her down the opening of the well. She screamed with her as they made their tumble down the water chasm.

Bracing for an impact with water, Ayumi closed her eyes and held her breath. Everything will be ok. Everything will be ok. We'll call for help. Oh my god. Oh my god. Omygodomygodomygod!

She waited for the cold waters to hit them, she waited for a loud splash. But all she felt was a heavy thump on her backside and she yelped in pain. She and Kagome held onto one another as they seemingly crashed onto dusty, hard earth. It took a moment for her to notice that they were, on the contrary, not engulfed with water.

"W-wha-?" Ayumi stammered. She dared to open her eyes as she felt the girl beside her move away. Bright light blasted down on her as she faced up. She groaned in slight pain. So the well was dried up?

She looked to Kagome, who was already dusting herself off and staring at her in disbelief.

Kagome was staring at her, she was staring at Kagome. Ayumi's heart was filled with dread; Inuyasha was gone, she swore she saw him jump, too. Kagome took a step forward and shook her by the shoulders.

"Are you really here?" Kagome's question was mind-boggling. Ayumi restrained herself from snorting. Of course she was here, she jumped right after her.

Ayumi looked at her weirdly and replied, "Yeah, well, obviously. I came after you, remember? You were going to hurt yourself and I couldn't let that happen."

Her response set off a startled shriek from Kagome. Before she could open her mouth to speak, an impatient sound came from above.

"Hey Kagome, what are ya waiting for down there? Hurry up!" That all familiar voice rained down the well from the top. Ayumi looked up ahead and there was Inuyasha, full of proud and glory, standing up outside.

What in the world? But he jumped! Her thoughts swam again, and she suddenly felt nauseating. It was then she screamed and pointed to his head.

There, resting on top of Inuyasha's temples, where the bandana should've been, was a pair of canine ears. And the nails on his fingers, that were very normal the night before, had now turned to claws.

Ayumi screamed even louder as he jumped down to retrieve them.

Kagome held her as she thrashed around. "Shhh, it's okay, 'Yumi-chan. He won't hurt you. He's a nice guy."

"Nice guy?!" Ayumi shrieked. "Look at those freakin claws, Kagome!" She tried to get away from Inuyasha as he walked closer, but the latter was stronger and he managed to hoist her up to land despite her desperate clawing at his face.

Upon landing, Ayumi dashed across the field on instinct, trying to find help. But all she saw were plains after plains, and lots and lots of farms. To her horror, it wasn't just any type of farm, up towards the side of the field was rows of old-fashioned Japanese minkas.

Shock spiked through her body; was she not back to where she was before? Where was she now?

Kagome was at her side in an instant. "Ayumi, listen to me. I'm sorry I did this to you-"

"You did what?!" Ayumi was far from listening now, she was sobbing on the ground. She couldn't believe it. Did she transport herself to a different area? And how did Kagome do this?

"Look," Kagome was breathing heavily as well, "I can explain everything to you. Just please calm down."

Her words flowed slowly into Ayumi's ears and she stilled after a few more minutes of crying. She quickly ran into Kagome's hug. Her friend patted her backside comfortingly.

Ayumi turned to her, expecting the full explanation. Kagome looked back to Inuyasha, who was staring at them in awe incredulity. She exhaled and turned back to Ayumi.

"We are in the Feudal Era. The well I just jumped into was supposed to take only me. But since we were connected when I initiated the transportation you came through as well. I know this is a lot to take in, but please believe me."

Her words almost had a dreamy effect on Ayumi. She locked eyes with her friend and couldn't even try to hold in her laughter. This was crazy, it must've been some sort of cruel joke...She couldn't be back in the ancient times. Those only happened in cheesy fantasy novels.

Ayumi wheezed, "You gotta be kidding me, Kagome-chan."

"I'm not." Kagome looked dead serious. Ayumi's stomach lurched; oh no.

She looked frantically at Inuyasha, who was now approaching the duo with mild annoyance planted on his features.

"Then what is he?!" Ayumi shrieked once more and hid behind Kagome. "I'm pretty sure there were no clawed, doggy-eared people back in the days!"

Inuyasha's nose flared. "Hey! Watch it!"

His temperament apparently angered Kagome, because she stepped up to him and shouted the loudest command to sit Ayumi has ever heard. What happened was stupefying: Inuyasha facepalmed himself so hard into the ground that even the dirt beneath him gave away. He gave a whimpering yelp and stilled.

Never in her time of live did Ayumi actually feel bad for the poor "boy". Kagome faced a gawking Ayumi and took her hands.

Her voice was full of tenderness. "Come, I have a lot to explain to you. We need to get you to safety first, then I'll answer anything you ask. There's no point in lying anymore to you now that you've seen everything."

Ayumi stared back at the dog "boy" on the ground. "Um, what about Inuyasha?"

Kagome huffed. "We'll leave him to come back to us later. Don't worry." Her angry tone made Ayumi flinch. So he wasn't a danger afterall…

It didn't take as long for her to understand what was going on as she thought she did. But it was still mind-boggling. Ayumi was barely grasping the reality that Kagome had been in contact with demons? What kind of world did they live in? How could demons be even real.

Ayumi thought of an English novel she read during middle school: The Chronicles of Narnia. Her situation seems so eerily similar to the Pevensie childrens'. She wanted to faint.

"So…" Her words struggled to form a coherent sentence. "You are after a jewel?" She felt stupid for asking it. After the four-hour talk with Kagome, the only detail that stuck to her the most was some random "jewel" that kept popping up in explanations.

Kagome nodded. "It's a very powerful item, 'Yumi-chan. And we are after a dangerous man who wishes to use it to become a monster."

What? This was starting to sound more like the novel Lord of The Rings now. Ayumi had to bite back a hysterical laugh; oh how screwed up had she become now. She glanced up at Kagome.

"So y-you...are a priestess?" Her next question sounded even more baffled than ever. "How are you doing this, Kagome? You could get yourself killed!"

Her friend hung her head low, seemingly ashamed to say something.

"Only I can sense the jewel shards, 'Yumi-chan. People need me here. Please understand." Her voice shook and her shoulders sagged. At this, Ayumi felt sick; she never wanted kagome to feel responsible, but this was not child's play.

"But you can go home, right?" Ayumi found herself sounding like a child pining for their mother's attention.

A sigh escaped Kagome's lips. "I can't take us home. The well seems to choose when we can go back sometimes. I'm just so angry at myself for accidentally dragging you here. I'll have to cover you up. It's not safe with Naraku and the Band of Seven lurking around at this time for you to be here."

The corners of Ayumi's mouth turned up and she smiled. "I won't leave you here Kagome. We'll get through this and go home. You're my best friend. No more hiding from me, ok?"

Kagome nodded her head. Ayumi thought she could see a trace of fresh tears trailing down her cheeks. Her heart ached for the other girl.

She scooted closer to the other girl and wrapped her arms around her. They will be okay, she promised to herself that they would get out. They had to, no matter what.