In case anyone was concerned Kudokuten, I did actually look it up. So I'm not just taking names out of a hat. Enjoy!

Finishing up the storeroom, Mae let out a sigh of relief. She was done, quiet early in fact. Turning around to exit the room, something caught her eye. It was a faint green uniform, most likely belonging to Sota's sister. Part of her debated taking it into the house, but knowing what Mr. Higarashi was like she decided against it. The sun was just over head, revealing that it was only the afternoon. Looking around, she noticed she was alone. Not even Puyo was about, which despite being odd was comforting to her. She rarely got any time to herself, either working or taking care of her grandma. And both were mentally draining. She headed to the front of the shrine, and noticed a small flower completely alone. Walking over to the flower she noticed it was just a discolored Dandelion, its petals a hue of white rather than the normal sun color. Sighing, she sat down next to it, plucking it from the ground.

'You're just like me aren't you? Doomed to forever be shunned by the much better off people. And in our case, our own kind. The disliked and frowned upon even look at us like scum because of our obvious flaws. However your life is short and mine isn't ending anytime soon. So I guess we are different, after all, some people like abnormal flowers, but no one likes abnormal people.' Looking at the weed with anger, she quickly torn it to small white shreds. It wasn't fair that she was constantly exiled because of something she couldn't control. It wasn't fair that her father abandoned her because her mother had died in labor. It wasn't fair that the only person to take her in was now dying fast and was unaware of who she was anymore. It wasn't fair, but that's what her life was. One bad thing after another, the only joy in her life was the hope that it will turn around.

'I remember the few times I met Kagome, she was smart and pretty. She has such a wonderful family, and loving friends. All I have is my Gran and she's not even my real Gran, I don't even know my own last name! I'm doomed.'

She looked down the stairs of the temple, seeing people pass by without a care in the world. One couple stopped and the man got on one knee, rolling her eyes, Mae decided she'd rather be cleaning the toilets. Before she could make it to the door, Mrs. Higarashi stopped her.

"Are you feeling alright?" She looked at Mae with a motherly concern, but Mae couldn't feel it.

"I'm fine, just heading to clean the toilets,"

"But you just cleaned it this morning."

"Yeah well it beats doing nothing," without so much of a glance to Mrs. Higarashi, she tore through house and made it to the bathroom. Closing the door behind her, Mae sat down against the door. This bathroom was always clean, mainly because Mae cleaned it so often that it was hard to even find a speck of dirt. Closing her eyes she began to softly hum a tune. She had heard it once in a dream with a beautiful woman with the sweetest voice, she almost looked like a princess in Mae's mind. As she began to hum she drifted off into a deep sleep.

When Mae awoke, she noticed she wasn't in the bathroom but rather a very well kept bedroom. The room had blue wall with purple drapes over the windows. A small desk was next to one, with a bright yellow backpack sitting boldly next to what seemed to be a mound of textbooks. The blankets covering her were pink and the pillows a lighter shade of pink. The nightstand next to her had a lamp with a blue top, and a rather broken up alarm clock that looked as though someone had bit into it. Confused, Mae sat up and noticed it looked as though the sun was rising even though it had just been the afternoon. A knock at the door startled her, the door slowly opened to reveal Sota giving her the oddest look she ever saw.

"Did you sleep well?" Sota asked, and Mae just blinked at him. This was beyond weird, while she had fallen asleep on the job this was more odd than she felt it should have been. Sota's smile remained on his face, only making it more confusing.

"I guess?" She said, managing to get out of the bed. "Why am I in here?" She asked realizing she had never seen this room.

"Mom found you passed out in the bathroom, but you didn't wake up so we thought we'd give you somewhere more comfortable to sleep for the night." Mae's stomach let out a low rumble, it felt like she hadn't eaten for days. Not to mention she was incredibly thirsty. "You might want to get something eat, you've been out for a good two days."

"What!?" Mae quickly ran past Sota despite his protests, and didn't even bother putting on her boots as she ran towards the shack.

The shack was barely recognizable as Mae made it to it. The walls and roof had caved in, looking more similar to spears than that of a house wall. The ground showed burn marks as well as ashes surrounding the house. Despite the lack of proper protection against the many pieces of wood and glass, Mae desperately fought to the place where her Gran had been. Cuts and welts began to form on her legs and her arms once the glass had torn through her sleeves. Despite the pain she felt physically, the pain in her heart was much worse. Not too long after, Sota and his mother had made their way to the shack. The noticed Mae covered in blood and bruises as she stood, looking down. They called out to her but all she could hear was endless white noise. The small burnt figure lied there, completely still. Falling to the ground, Mae shook violently, her mind at war with her soul. It was her fault, she should have been here. Not napping, but she wasn't. She left her to die, and it was all her fault. Then something inside of her snapped, a single tear falling from her face. Cradling the burnt body she began to hum the same song she had been humming prior to her deep sleep.

A few weeks had passed Mae had been staying in the very room she awoke in. Despite her protests, Mrs. Higarashi refused to let Mae fend for herself. However it had become apparent that Mae was unable to properly work so Sota was helping out despite Mae's protest. However it seemed impossible to get her to rest for she would be seen outside sweeping the steps as normal, even though she was suppose to be on full bed rest. Sota found her on this day, humming the same song. She had changing out of her torn clothing and was now wearing a red long-sleeve dress with black knee highs and those same ugly boots. Her hair had threatened to grow out as well, but Mae seemed to hack it off constantly so it looked choppier than normal. Sota noticed that despite the amount of injuries she had, there was no sign of a scratch on her. In fact if Sota hadn't seen in, he wouldn't have even believed that there was ever any damage.

"Are you just gonna keep staring or say something," Mae's sudden cold attitude jerked him out of thought and he could see from the look on her face that she was far from pleased to see him. Her eyes didn't match the rest her face however, bearing only sorrow and loss. He swore she almost looked like Kagome even more now.

"Sorry, mom was just looking for you," He lied, he had came home from school early due to exams and had no idea where his mother was. Mae was fully aware of this but simply sighed. She looked at her 'outfit' if she even called it that. It had belonged to Kagome, who was much larger in the chest region than Mae. Mae was wearing one of Kagome's older clothing, one she never wore because it was too small for her up top. She honestly looked like a twelve year old child instead of a seventeen year old. Looking back at the shrine she sighed once again.

"I'm sorry Sota, I've been less than grateful to everyone. I know you're all trying to make me feel better, but it's kinda pointless. It's my fault she died that way, I shouldn't have left her like that. She was all alone, and I knew that. But instead of checking on her first chance I got, I spent the day sleeping. It's nothing against you guys, but I don't feel right anymore," She looked over to the tree, its cherry blossoms in full bloom, "I can't explain it, but it feels strange. Almost as if my very existence is now in question." Looking back at him she noticed a confused expression, he had no idea what she was talking about. "So where is Mrs. Higarashi?"

"Oh uh, in the kitchen!" Sota had almost forgot what he had said in response. She thanked him and she made her way inside. Looking over at the old well her frowned. 'I wish Kagome was here, she'd know what to do.'

Night began to fall over the shrine as Mae sat in the room. She had finally gotten curious and decided to see whose room this was. The only thing she found was a small teddy bear, the endless mound of math textbooks with failed papers surrounding them, and a small little book. While the name was clear as day on the papers, she could only make out the last name; Higarashi. Frowning she looked at the book, it had a picture of a sphere shaped gem. She had no idea what it was so she gently tossed it onto the desk. Opening the window nearest to the bed and hopped out onto the ground. Landing on her knees she winced, but recovered rather quickly. She wandered over the the boarded up building that housed the well. She inspected it, the building was fully intact, and seemed normal. This was puzzling because she had been told it was infested with termites and would be destroyed in December. It was now early April and the building was perfectly fine. Gently pushing on a plank, it began to come off. Tearing it off along with several others, she began to open the door.

Inside was a dried up old well, and from what she could see, it hadn't been used in ages. Staring down into the old well she thought to herself, 'I wonder how far down it goes?' Peering in closer she discovered that it was much to far for her to see. A small noise was hear from behind her, turning in fright she saw a small white dog. Chuckling, she began to head for the steps. Just as she was near to the dog, the doors to the well slammed shut. She could hear wooden planks being hammered quickly into the wood, despite her cries. The room was pitch black minus the moonlight peering in through a small crack in the door. She felt a slight tug on the bottom of her dress, and despite the room being dark, she could clearly see the dog. It began to tug her back down the stairs, closer towards the well. She managed to pull away just as the dog leaped into the well. She sat on the cold ground waiting for a whine or sound but heard nothing. Gathering her courage she peered into the well, seeing nothing she looked in closer, just as she felt a pair of hands shove her into the well. She fell faster and faster as she felt cool air hit her face. The last thing that she saw before closing her eyes was the walls turn a faded blue and the ground covered in branches.