A/N: Hello again my lovely people. First of all, I would like to thank Hanyouprincess3, annri, crazy4manga, mara41496, Mizzimus, Therjj, sianfaythe, Pikacool 2, Mister Moustache, and xXYuseiXAkikoXx for favoriting this story; welcome to the fave-fam you guys. Also, a thanks to those who've put this story on their Alert-list. And last of all, a special thanks to Emzy2k11 for leaving the first review on this story; thank you for the praise.
A reminder for you all: new chapters will be uploaded each Sunday, though I don't upload it at a specific time of the day. Just know that it will be uploaded in between 00:00 am and 11:59 pm. That's the best I can do.
Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha: this series and all of its wonderful (and gruesome) characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I do, however, own Aiko and her background story, and plausible other OCs that may appear throughout this series (I've not completed writing this story as of yet).
Without further ado, here's the newest chapter. Enjoy.
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Chapter 3 – A Jewel in Pieces
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I didn't know how much time there passed by, but when I came to myself, I panicked.
"Kagome-chan?!" I whispered faintly to myself as I got up from the ground.
Where is she? I asked myself, then it came back to me: she had been kidnapped, by bandits.
"Damnit!" I exclaimed to myself as I ran back to the village.
Within five minutes, I had reached the rice fields. People were walking around and taking care of the fields.
I stopped up, panicky as I glanced around, thinking: Where could they have taken her?
Not a second after, I heard the scream of a woman.
"My Baaa~by…!" followed by the scream of a small boy.
"Fuck!" I cursed to myself, as I ran towards the sounds.
Then I spotted a large bird-like creature, with an ominous presence that seemed familiar. It was like I had felt it before. The bird-creature was holding a boy whom wasn't older than five.
I quickly followed after it, then I spotted InuYasha. He had Kagome on his back, and she was sporting a bow and a quiver with arrows on her back.
"Kagome-chan!" I yelled as I ran as fast I could after them.
She glanced over her shoulder and spotted me: "Aiko-chan!" she exclaimed, happy to see me.
But that happiness was short-lived as the little boy wailed with fear. The creature had a tight hold on the boy's arm.
I could hear the mumbled voices of InuYasha and Kagome talking hastily to each other, but I couldn't discern what exactly they were saying.
Suddenly, InuYasha jumped up in the air, attacking the strange bird-creature.
"No, idiot! Save the boy first!" Kagome yelled, when she jumped after the boy, whom had been released from the creature's hold when InuYasha attacked it.
"Shit!" I breathed out through clenched teeth as I ran faster, trying to catch the falling form of Kagome and the little boy.
"You fool! What do you think you're …" InuYasha yelled at Kagome, but quickly interrupted himself as the bird-creature tried to attack Kagome and the boy, while they were falling.
"Yōkai, begone!" InuYasha yelled with rage as he slashed the creature to bits with his sharp claws.
Just before Kagome landed on the hard ground, I jumped and turned in the air so that I was facing the falling Kagome. My arms were reaching out to secure Kagome in my arms. And then she landed in my arms, forcing me with her gravity-induced weight down unto the ground.
"GAH!" I exclaimed as the rocky earth stuck into my wounded back.
Pain! was all I could think of as both my back and ribs were almost killing me with excruciating pain.
"Aiko-chan!" Kagome squeaked out surprised as she had landed more softly, I guessed, than what she had first anticipated.
When I had forced the pain far into the back of my mind, ignoring it to the best degree I could, I muttered breathlessly: "You're gonna be the death of me, Kagome-chan…"
I didn't move, sure that Kagome was safe for the moment.
On top of my stomach, where Kagome had landed, she was comforting the little boy, showing off her maternal skills: "It's okay, honey, you're safe now."
The boy was crying from the top of his lungs, so scared of the whole ordeal … I could only imagine it. I held my eyes closed, even when InuYasha yelled at Kagome.
"Girl! Do you see the Jewel?!"
Huh?! I thought – did that weird creature get a hold of the Shikon Jewel?
Opening my eyes, I saw that it was in the process of regenerating itself, small pieces of is black feathery flesh flew towards the creature.
The mother of the boy came rushing over to Kagome, whom gave the kid back to the mother without any fuss. Then Kagome got off of me, and I sat up slightly and glanced towards the bird-creature and Kagome, whom was right in front of me.
"I see it! Under its wing!" Kagome exclaimed.
At her response, InuYasha jumped up and tried so swipe it with his claws, only to destroy its tail once more, though it began to regenerate itself again.
"Curse the thing!" InuYasha uttered in annoyance.
Kagome ran up to him, though he was only a few feet away from where I was. I wanted to get up, but, boy, how my body hurt after I caught Kagome from falling.
InuYasha then said annoyedly to Kagome: "It'll go on flying … until its hell-born corpse absorbs the whole blasted Jewel!"
The next thing I saw from my incapacitated position was Kagome pulling out the scarf of her school uniform and tying something to one of her arrows. Then she strung said arrow to her bow and took aim against the bird-creature.
But I couldn't see if she would be able to hit it; it had flown so far away from where we were.
"This time …" I heard her opportunistically utterance.
The people behind me were murmuring about Kagome's weird tenacity, while InuYasha was only able to throw insults at her: "You don't have a chance, girl … not as feeble with the bow as you are…"
Kagome then shouted with such a passion that I was completely taken off-guard: "IT WILL HIT!"
Then she released the arrow and it flew with an immense speed towards the bird-creature. Before the arrow had flown too far, I was able to spot the leg of the creature that had been bound to the creature.
That's my smart girl, I thought happily.
With the leg bound to the arrow, it wouldn't miss because of the blasted creature's regenerative abilities it had received from the Shikon Jewel.
Then the arrow hit, and the creature was enveloped in a pinkish light. And it seemed like the pinkish light was disintegrating the creature, completely obliterating it.
"She… She struck it!" one of the villagers that was standing behind my sitting form was exclaiming surprised.
Then the pinkish light that had enveloped the creature intensified and suddenly small specks of the pinkish light flew in every direction. I could feel deep inside me that this wasn't good.
"Huh…?!" Kagome uttered quietly in her surprise of the new occurrence.
A little further off in the distance, not far from where we were, one of the small specks fell down to the ground, somewhere amongst the eastbound forest.
"Get up," InuYasha uttered in a hurried fashion to Kagome.
Kagome jumped up on his back, and before I could protest at her running off with the hanyō, they were off and out of reach. I cursed inwardly at myself as I slowly got up.
Damn, my body hurts like hell.
I could only hope that InuYasha would be able to protect Kagome from the dangers that lurked beyond. Because as soon as I had gotten up, I felt lightheaded and fell down to my hands and knees, not able to support myself.
A man from the village helped me up and supported me as we headed back to the village. He led me all the way to Kaede's hut. Once I had reached the entrance, Kaede came out and helped me inside and over to the futon I had used the night before. I sighed with the acheful pain I felt when I laid down on my back, so I shuffled over to my front, and dug my head into the small pillow there was there.
Kaede kneeled down beside me, laying a gentle hand upon my left shoulder and said: "Rest Aiko-chan."
And that is exactly what I did.
~oOo~
Night had fallen over the little village when Kagome and InuYasha returned, which, reluctantly, woke me up. I groaned tiredly from the futon and glanced over at them as Kagome presented a small shard to Kaede. Apparently, it was a shard of the Shikon Jewel.
"HOW CAN THIS BE?!" InuYasha howled in his frustration.
"Urgh, quit howling, InuYasha," I groaned from my futon as I turned my head towards them, raising my upper body with the help of my elbows.
Only so that I appeared more engaged in the conversation that was happening.
InuYasha then uttered in annoyance, though this time not howling: "The Jewel! What happened to the blasted Jewel?!"
Kaede was able to give him, and the rest of us, an answer: "When Kagome-chan shot her magic arrow, it shattered not only the demon, but the Shikon no Tama within it."
Wow, Kagome … you've really done it this time, I thought as I glared tiredly at her.
Kaede continued on: "It might have split into ten pieces, or into a hundred … but now they are scattered everywhere. If a single sliver should fall into the hands of an evil spirit, the result might be as ill as if that spirit had devoured the entire Jewel!"
I frowned at Kaede's words, because it sounded really, really bad… we didn't want nor needed another incident like the centipede yōkai or the bird-creature … which was probably a yōkai as well, now that I thought of it.
"Listen, then. Kagome-chan … Aiko-chan … InuYasha …"
I raised my head up further, showing the old miko that I was listening intently to what she had to say.
"You must gather the shards of the Shikon no Tama and restore it to its original form. Together."
Kagome looked quizzically at Kaede while she said: "You mean … ?"
But InuYasha interrupted her: "HA! Are you sure, Kaede?" I'm one of those 'evil spirits' after the Jewel, remember?"
Kaede closed her eyes and sighed silently: "For now … there's no other choice."
My eyes shifted over to Kagome; she looked distraught. I was pretty sure that all she wanted was to get back home to her family … me too. I felt like I had been getting more injuries over these last two days than I had within a few weeks of being home.
Home.
I must admit though that I didn't like the aspect of getting home, home… I hated my home.
~oOo~
I woke up early the next day. Kagome was still sleeping on her futon, so I grabbed the polishing kit one of the men had given to me, through miko Kaede, so that I could take care of my ōdachi. And it did really need the maintenance – it had been more than two weeks since I had taken care of it, and I had used it in literal combat. First the centipede yōkai, and then against the hanyō InuYasha. While I polished the silvery blade of my sword, I began to think about how to go forth from here. As Kaede had said, we needed to collect the Shikon Jewel shards, but I didn't look forward to doing it in the company of InuYasha… though I had to admit that I couldn't protect Kagome fairly as good as he apparently was able to. I felt inadequate with the thought of not being the better protector. And it was my responsibility to take care of Kagome. After all, I was the more capable of the two of us, so I felt that the responsibility of making sure that she got home safely was on my shoulders. I closed my green eyes for a moment then let my left hand run through my short dark blond hair, sighing tiredly at the curriculum we were in. We – Kagome and I … and InuYasha – had the duty of gathering the shards, but I could feel that Kagome most of all wanted to get back home. A heartfelt sigh left me as I continued to polish my sword, which I did for the next half an hour, until I was done. And just in time, because Kagome was stirring in her futon, slowly waking up.
"Good morning, Kagome-chan," I gently said as I sheathed my blade and got up and over to her.
She turned in her futon until she was facing me.
"Morning, Aiko-chan," she said in between a yawn.
Wow, she must be really exhausted, I thought at the sight of her droopy brown eyes and tired smile.
"How are you feeling?" I asked her as I sat down next to her futon facing her.
She stretched with another mighty yawn, before she sat up, the blanket falling down to her waist.
"Just tired," she sighed out, then she breathed in deeply through her nose.
Her nose scrunched up as if an unpleasant smell reached her nose.
"Dear god, I need a bath!" she exclaimed as she put her hands up to her nose, pinching it closed with her fingers.
I took a whiff of the air, and my own facial expression turned into one of dislike.
Damn, we smell like old sweat, I thought as I too pinched my nose.
To my right, Kaede shuffled in her futon, before she too sat up and glanced at the two of us.
"Good morning Kagome-chan … Aiko-chan," she said as she got up from her futon, rolling it into a roll and placed it up against the wall.
"Morning Kaede-sama … can you tell us where we might be able to take a bath?" I asked her as I got up and moved over to the futon I had used.
Rolling it into a roll, like Kaede had done, I placed the futon beside hers, Kagome coming up shortly after with her own rolled up futon.
"Of course, I can …" Kaede said patiently as she stepped out of her hut.
Kagome and I followed after her.
~oOo~
"This~ is~ free~zing…" Kagome clattered through clenched teeth as she stood in the cold water, trying to fight off the coldness of it.
I too was clattering my teeth, cause damn the water was icy.
"Come out, you two … don't force yourselves," Kaede said from the small rocky shoreline of the lake.
"No way! I'm covered in blood 'n mud 'n yōkai-slime …" Kagome said passionately over her shoulder to Kaede, "and I can't stand it anymore!"
She then dug under the surface, swimming under the waterline. I had already done so and was slowly making my way to the rocky shoreline. As I reached the shoreline where Kaede was sitting near a fire, I walked over to her just as Kagome breached the water's surface behind me. Then I felt a presence that I had connected to be InuYasha's presence … or aura … or something alike. I grabbed the clean hakui that Kaede had left for me and donned it on my still wet body; there was another one for Kagome too when she was done with her bath.
"SIT BOY!" Kagome suddenly yelled.
Right behind me, InuYasha landed with a heavy thud, face kissing the rocky surface. I raised an eyebrow at him, not really caring since I had already covered myself with the white hakui. He grabbed a hold of the beads around his neck and scowled at the prayer-beads.
"I knew you were an animal, but … but this…!" Kagome exclaimed annoyed from behind the rocky formation behind InuYasha.
Like he was giving up for a moment, he let himself rest against the rocks he had landed on and muttered lowly: "Feh, you're as stupid as you are vain. I was only …"
Before he could finish his sentence, Kaede interrupted him: "… looking for a chance to steal the Shikon Jewel shard, is that it?"
I snickered, as I grabbed the clean hakui, plus the two hakama that Kaede had left for Kagome and me. Then I walked over to the rock formation that Kagome was hiding behind and handed her her set of clothing, then I adorned my pair of red hakama.
"Thanks, Aiko-chan," Kagome said as she adorned her white hakui and red hakama.
"Figured you needed the help," I said as I tossed her one of my carefree smiles at her.
Leaning up against the rocky wall, I closed my eyes and crossed my arms in front of my chest. I figured that I could have used another set of bandages around the still healing gashes on my right upper arm and back, but I didn't want to bother Kaede with taking care of me once again. Besides, I would heal in due time.
Kagome stopped up in front of me, and I looked up at her. She looked like a real miko, with her long black hair tied in a low hanging ponytail. I, on the other hand, looked like a bad copy of a miko, considering my pixie cut, dark blond hair.
"You look like a real miko," I said to her as I gave her a gentle smile.
"Thanks," she said as she glanced down at herself, then up and down at my outfit, "You look good too," she then added, giving me one of her gentle smiles.
I returned her smile, when I heard InuYasha uttering: "I know, old hag! Haven't I told you I'd join those stupid girls … for now?!"
Sighing, I followed Kagome as she stepped forth from our temporary hiding place.
"Hey, you. How come you hate us so much, huh?" Kagome asked InuYasha as we walked over to where he was now sitting beside Kaede.
InuYasha stared weirdly at Kagome, though she didn't register it as she walked over to the small lake and began to wash her school uniform and the first hakui I had borrowed from Kaede. I appreciated that she would wash it for me.
"Thanks Kagome-chan," I said as I sat down beside the small fire Kaede had made.
The heat of the flames wavered over towards me and through my slightly wet clothes, warming and drying my body.
"Why such a face, InuYasha?" Kaede asked when she glanced over at InuYasha and saw his weird facial expression.
Before InuYasha could answer, there was a "Kaede-sama?" which came from one of the village women, her voice timid.
I glanced over in the direction where the voice had come from; back from where Kagome and I had changed our clothes.
Kaede turned towards the woman holding a little boy in her hand and a baby hang in a wrap of clothes on her back; "Yes?"
"It's my girl," the woman said as she stopped up in front of miko Kaede.
"She's fallen ill?" Kaede asked, which the woman responded with an affirmative nod.
Kaede then glanced back at us: "I must return to the village, try not to fight."
I waved goodbye to Kaede, then I glanced firstly at Kagome, then at InuYasha. Kagome looked slightly baffled, while InuYasha looked completely annoyed with Kaede's request. Inwardly, I sighed at the possibility of those two getting into an argument.
Silence drifted around us as Kagome hung her wet school uniform over a stick so it could dry. Kagome and InuYasha both had their backs turned towards one another.
The silence was disturbed when InuYasha said "Hey."
Not turning herself to face InuYasha, Kagome replied: "Hey, what."
InuYasha then turned his head to glance over his right shoulder.
"Take off those clothes."
Before I could react to his perverted request, Kagome had picked up a large rock and knocked it against his head. I was somewhat surprised that his skull hadn't cracked yet.
"What … was that for…?" InuYasha hollered at Kagome as if he didn't know what was wrong.
A small bump had appeared on his head from where Kagome had hit him with the rock, and Kagome stood with visible fury, still holding the big rock in her hand: "You're an animal."
I chose to keep out of their discussion as InuYasha continued to toss harsh comments at Kagome: "I didn't say 'get naked'! Just get back into your own weird clothes!"
Kagome rested her hands on her hips as she faced InuYasha, while she tossed him a taunting comment: "Because these make me look like Kikyō?!"
"That has nothing to do with it," InuYasha said stubbornly as he turned his face away from Kagome – clearly, she had hit a nerve of his.
I loudly sighed this time, maybe I should intervene in their discussion?! I asked myself internally.
"You know, if you can't be more civilized, we're never gonna be able to work together," Kagome said in a forlorn manner.
This is quickly turning sour, I thought as I got up from my position near the fire.
"Humph," InuYasha harrumphed as he had his back towards us; "That'd be fine with me; I'll find those shards even if I have to do it alone."
Definitely not good, "Ehm, guys …"
I was completely ignored.
"Oh really," Kagome said in a somewhat haughty manner, staring at InuYasha's back, "then you don't need me around, huh?" Kagome then asked in a tauntingly manner.
"Kagome-chan?" I asked as she turned around, grapping her still somewhat wet school uniform, "Where are you going?" I then asked as she began to walk away.
"What …?" InuYasha asked as he rapidly turned around in his seat to look at Kagome.
"I've made up my mind," Kagome said resolutely.
I began to walk towards her, following her as she said: "I'm going home …"
That startled me completely: home?
"Wait, Kagome-chan …" I said hastily as I ran up to her while she walked away from InuYasha.
"'Bye animal! It's been real!" she said finitely.
I could hear InuYasha yell: "'Home'…?" quickly followed by a louder: "WAIT!"
Kagome glanced back at him from over her shoulder, and I stopped up just as she did.
"Uh-uh. It's no use trying to stop me," Kagome said with irritation lacing the tone of her voice.
InuYasha came over to us and stopped up in front of Kagome: "But you have a shard of the Jewel! …" he held out his hand when he added: "Leave it here!"
Kagome fished up the small pouch with the Jewel shard from her hakui, wafting it tauntingly in front of him: "You mean this?"
He seemed eager to get the Jewel shard, but I had a feeling what was coming up next as Kagome took a resolute hold of the pouch, annoyance clearly written upon her face.
"SIT!"
Once more, InuYasha kissed the ground as the beads around his neck forced him down face first to the ground. I looked conflicted from InuYasha to Kagome, back and forth, and back and forth.
"Why~, you…" InuYasha uttered in agitation.
Kagome turned around and walked away from the scene, a "Later, dude!" spoken nonchalantly to InuYasha.
I was really conflicted by this situation. It was our duty to collect all the shards, the three of us, but now Kagome wanted to go home. And my first obligation was to make sure that Kagome was safe. I was stranded in between the two obligations. And even though I wanted to fulfill my duties of helping Kagome and InuYasha collect the Shikon shards, I had to pick Kagome over the responsibility of collecting Jewel shards. I quickly followed after Kagome, without looking over my shoulder at the hanyō.
~oOo~
"Kagome-chan?" I asked in a nervous voice.
We had been walking in silence for quite some time. She was leading us to the well from which we had come from. She didn't say a thing as she glanced at me from over her shoulder.
I sighed deeply: "I know that you want to go home …" I began saying, but I stopped myself mid-sentence.
I didn't want to get on her bad side at a moment like this. She was carrying a fuming aura around her, clearly still annoyed at InuYasha.
It wasn't like I liked the guy, but my sense of responsibility and duty lied deep in my blood. We really needed to help them – miko Kaede and the rest of Japan – by collecting the Jewel shards and make sure that destruction did not shatter this world.
She stopped up and turned around to face me. Her face was one of clear annoyance, but I could feel that it wasn't meant for me.
"Aiko-chan … I know how you feel about this whole situation …" Kagome said gently after a tired sigh, "but I miss home … and I'm sure that my family is looking for us."
I gave her a solemn nod, but then averted my eyes to the ground. This was really hard for me. Suddenly I felt arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug.
"Aiko-chan," Kagome muttered against my ear, then she sighed as well.
My arms rounded up around her slightly smaller form, using her as an anchor for my conflicting feelings. She was my responsibility! I had to get her home safely … but what about these people here?
"Let's just get to the well, then we can find out together what we'll do from there, ne?" Kagome said as she pulled slightly away from me, holding me within arm's reach so that she could look me in the eye while still being close to me.
I gave her another nod, then a small smile, keeping the eye contact: "I'm here for you, Kagome-chan," was all I could say.
She returned my smile, then grabbed my hand as she continued to lead us to the well. Gently, I clenched her hand, reassuring her that I would always be there for her.
A pleasant silence stretched in between us for the rest of the trek, until we were able to spot the familiar well that we once had come out of and entered this time period.
That seems so long ago, I thought as I slowly walked over to the well with Kagome's hand still in mine.
"The well …" Kagome whispered as we went over to the well, letting go of each other's hand and glancing down to the bottom of it.
At the bottom, which were twenty feet down at least from the top of the well, there was a big collection of bones. I had a suspicion that those bones belonged to the centipede yōkai.
"If we have any chance of returning home, this is the place," I said as I glanced over at Kagome.
She looked fearful of getting into the well. Suddenly she squatted down, hiding her face in between her arms as she looked down at the earth. Her school uniform was dropped to the ground, forgotten.
"I can't go in there," she said, her voice shaking a bit with the imminent fear she had.
I squatted down beside her and placed a hand upon her shoulder in a soothing manner: "It's alright Kagome … you don't have to."
Her brown eyes shifted back up to me, locking with my green ones: "But this is our only way home…"
My attention shifted as I felt a presence, which seemed to surround us so suddenly. It was like that of a yōkai, but it seemed to come from everywhere. The next thing that happened was a thudding noise right behind us, like something had fallen to the ground.
"Huh?" I uttered confusedly as I looked behind me.
On the ground there was a little bird, which was cut in half. Blood tickled out from both halves from where it had been split in two.
"Something's off," I said as I got up from my squatted position.
Kagome followed my example, getting up herself. Her eyes landed on the dead bird.
"What?!" she exclaimed surprised.
Then suddenly, something invisible cut into her from many different angles, blood being drawn from her left cheek.
"Kagome!" I exclaimed as I drew Ōginsairensā, my eyes searching for the culprit.
Kagome leaned up against the well, her eyes growing wide like she saw something that I couldn't see.
"HAIR?!" she exclaimed.
I don't see any hair, I thought as I held Ōginsairensā protectively up in front of me, while I glanced around for the culprit.
"La… So, you can see it, can you…?" an overly sweet female voice said from behind me.
I gasped as I turned around, only to see a woman. A woman whom was scantily clad in black, only barely covering her feminine parts. Around her slim waist there was a yellow obi with a wakizashi hanging on her left hip. The woman had black hair that went to her shoulders, with a small red ribbon tied into it.
"Though simply seeing it will do you no good!" the woman said, her sweet voice creeping me out.
I felt her presence, which surrounded us. It was the same presence I felt before the bird on the ground was cut in half.
"Who are you?!" Kagome yelled at the woman.
The presence reminded me of the centipede yōkai, and I figured that the woman in front of us was a yōkai as well.
The yōkai chuckled with her too sweet a voice: "Yura of the Hair, but I won't be offended if you don't remember it…" she smiled down at us, her main focus was on Kagome, "… Your life is about to end."
Yura lifted her hand and just as it happened, something invisible was attacking Kagome.
"Kagome!" I yelled, terrified for her well-being.
Then, as if by an invisible hand, the small pouch with the Jewel shard inside was pulled out from Kagome's grasp and flew over to Yura. Kagome gasped as the pouch disappeared from her grasp. I ran over to Kagome, my sword raised up in front of me as I placed myself in between Kagome and the mononoke, making myself into a human shield for Kagome. Yura's focus was on the pouch, which was now in her hand. She dug her hand into it, only to discover that there was only a shard of the once whole Shikon no Tama.
"Oh my! Just look what you've done to the Shikon Jewel," Yura exclaimed softly as she glanced at the pink little shard that was in between her fingers.
I scuffed annoyedly as Kagome yelled from behind me: "G-Give it back!"
Yura shifted her attention back at us as she magically drew her wakizashi, which flew up in her right hand.
Calmly and with that excessively sweet voice of hers, she said: "You may die now."
She charged us from the air, and I raised my sword to parry her attack. Her sword clashed with mine and she forced me back into Kagome. Kagome squeaked out in surprise as my back was pressed up against her front.
Then I felt it. Kagome's bodily presence behind me diminished. She was falling into the well.
"Kagome!" I yelled as I glanced over my shoulder.
It was like it all happened in slow motion. I saw her fall, deeper and deeper into the well. I didn't have any chance to try and grab her. Yura was very powerful, and I had to use both of my hands on my sword to keep her at bay.
"Kagome!" I screamed again as she was enveloped with the shadows within the well.
Tears were streaming down my cheeks as I thought of losing Kagome for real.
"Aiko!" Kagome was yelling my name as she disappeared from my sight.
Yura then removed herself from me and jumped up into the air, hovering over the well.
"It is no use trying to escape!" Yura said in a sing-song voice as she threw her wakizashi after my best friend.
"No!" I screamed as I turned around and glanced down into the well.
But the well was empty. Not even the bones that had been there before was there. The only thing that was there at the bottom of the well was Yura's wakizashi.
"La?" Yura said from above me.
I swiftly raised my tearstained face up to see her slowly swoop down to the top of the well, her feet landing on the rim of the well. I stood up slowly, raising my sword up in front of me, preparing to fight against the mononoke, with only one thought on my mind: Kagome's gone!
A/N: I hope you liked it. Please leave a review and tell me what you thought of it. Until next Sunday, take care of yourselves.
A/N – a few glossaries:
Wakizashi – a short-bladed sword with a blade length of 30-60 cm (12-24 inches).
