The Town that Time Forgot, Chapter Four
"Here you go Kagome-chan! Careful, it's hot."
Taking the cup of tea with a grateful smile, Kagome took a moment to stare into its steamy depths and center her mind amidst a flurry of questions. Looking up at her host smiling kindly across the low table at her, Kagome found some of her earlier anxieties fading. "Thanks for this" she said with a nod to the tea, "You didn't have to."
"It's no problem" Sakura replied with another smile, pouring a smaller cup for Rokumon who took it with glistening eyes. "You seemed like you could use a break and a nice hot drink. Getting involved with Shinigami can be pretty tiring."
Kagome hummed, blowing softly at her steaming cup and glancing at the small black cat who was sipping at his tea almost reverently. She didn't want to insult the little guy by saying that he and the red-haired boy had basically ruined her day… so she kept her mouth firmly shut.
"So you're a priestess, huh?" Sakura started in a conversational manner, pushing a small basket of rice crackers towards her. "Have you been one for long?"
"I guess I started training a few years ago…." It was a bit shocking to think she'd only been aware of her abilities since the age of fifteen, and Kagome wondered how long Priestesses usually worked on honing their spiritual powers. Despite her newness to the profession, she'd had quite the crash-course battling demons day in and day out.
"You must be very skilled for them to have called on you for help!" Sakura's expression was filled with admiration, and Kagome felt her self-confidence surge a little at the praise. "Rokudou-kun told me they were being really selective about the invitations. Most of the priests and priestesses our friends went to summon were over forty at least! We have a friend who's a priestess, and she didn't even make the cut. You can't be much older than she is, and she's in high school!"
Kagome ducked her head in a sudden wave of bashfulness. She supposed it helped to be the reincarnation of a powerful priestess, and she could faintly remember Inuyasha once telling her that her powers were enough to scare even the malevolent force inside the jewel. If only she hadn't let herself get so out of practice…. "You're right – I actually finished high school just a few days ago."
Sakura gave her a bright "Congratulations!" and another sincere smile, and Kagome felt her heart warming. She hadn't made many friends in high school – it was hard enough to deal with her forced separation from her feudal-era family. Sticking to Yuka, Eri and Ayumi had been far easier than branching out, and she'd never felt she could trust her other classmates the way she trusted them. After all, they knew the truth about what she'd been through, and she couldn't imagine telling such things to anyone else. But this girl… they'd only just met, and already there was something in her manner that instantly put Kagome at ease. She wished they'd been friends earlier. This was the sort of person she wanted to share such secrets with.
Looking across at the other girl, twin pigtails falling over her shoulders as she reached for a cracker, Kagome started "Sakura-chan… do you know how long they'll need my help?" Sakura looked up at her with wide, questioning eyes, and Kagome plowed on. "It's just, I wasn't planning on being here. I didn't see the invitations, and I didn't make any arrangements to come here. I mean I just finished school and I was… kinda hoping to be with my family right now. I'm sure they're worried sick."
Concern washed over Sakura's face, and she glanced down at Rokumon with sternness. The cat didn't notice at first, happily crunching down on the offered crackers, but Sakura's disappointed voice drew his attention like a cracking whip. "Rokumon, didn't you give her any warning before taking her away?"
The cat's green eyes flicked at once to hers, his little mouth hanging open at the rebuke. "But… we just figured she knew already! Her mom said she would be able to help us!"
"I don't think she realized you'd take off with me" Kagome added with a raised eyebrow, though she couldn't bring herself to truly be angry with the cat. His round little face and pleading eyes reminded her too sharply of Shippo, and she found herself wanting to coddle him in the kit's place.
The black cat fiddled nervously with the last of the cracker in his tiny paws, large green eyes trained on the floor as he mumbled a pathetic sounding "Sorry 'bout that. We really didn't mean any harm."
As his little shoulders hunched in remorse, Kagome couldn't hold back any longer. Her arms reached out before she could think to ask permission and scooped the black cat into a gentle hug. He stiffened at the sudden move, but Kagome kept him gently cradled against her until he relaxed and began to slowly loll his thin black tail. "It's okay. I know you were just doing your job." She pulled back slightly to look down into grateful emerald eyes, and added with a smile "But how about next time, you tell my mom where I'm going first?" Rokumon gave her a fanged smile and nodded before settling into a ball in the comfortable curve or her arms.
"So… does this mean you're still going to help with the seal?" At Sakura's curious voice, Kagome dipped her head. She couldn't believe it herself, but she still wanted to help. "From what Rokudou-san and Rokumon told me, it seemed important. I've… well, let's just say I'm used to making sacrifices for the 'greater good'. My mom will just have to wait to see me when I get back." She paused for a moment, considering, and then with a sigh decided to act on her earlier decision to trust her new friends. "It's not like this is the first time I've been dragged away to save the world."
Both Sakura and Rokumon turned to her then with faces full of questions, and Kagome steeled herself to begin the tale that would test whether she'd been right to place such faith in them or not… but suddenly the room was filled with a vacuum-like sound, air whipping lightly about them, and all three looked up to see a swirling vortex form just below the ceiling. Kagome recognized it as the same sort of portal she'd been dragged into to get to the Reido, and instinctively flinched back, as if expecting to be pulled through by yet another stranger and carted off again.
She was startled however to see a vibrant head of red and long white robe fall through instead, and winced as Rinne Rokudou crashed into Sakura's carpeted floor with a pained grunt. "Rokudou-kun!" Sakura was at his side in an instant, pulling the young man to a kneeling position as he shook his head to clear away the stars. Kagome found her attention drawn away by the vortex slowly closing above him until it disappeared completely, wondering if they always spat people out so violently. A reido seemed like a very convenient thing, as long as they stopped dropping people like this.
Rubbing at a growing bumb on his forehead, Rinne squinted as he took stock of his surroundings – and promptly straightened, a red stain across his cheeks, as he saw where he was. "M-Mamiya Sakura!" Sakura met his flustered expression with pleasant patience, and Kagome had to bite her cheek to hide a blossoming smile. He was blushing! She watched as the young man finally noticed Sakura's steadying hand on his arm, and his pale face became even more flushed. 'Sooo…' Kagome thought, grinning like a cat in her mind, 'Rokudou-san has a crush on Sakura-chan, does he?' As surreptitiously as she could, Kagome glanced to Sakura, trying to gauge the girl's interest in return. 'Hard to tell…' she mused, 'but she's certainly not repulsed by him!' It was a well-known fact among Kagome's group of school friends that she had an eye for relationships, and loved to play match-maker when she had the chance. It was something Inuyasha had never quite understood, even when her long-held predictions had proven true and Miroku asked Sango to be his wife. If Inuyasha were to see her now, he'd surely give her that same eye-roll he used to when she got starry-eyed over their friends. It didn't stop her then however, and he wasn't here to stop her now.
Sakura was in the act of pouring Rinne a cup of tea, apologizing for it having cooled down while Rinne took it as though she'd handed him a diamond ring, when Kagome decided she'd given the couple long enough to catch up. "Excuse me, Rokudou-san;" Rinne's eyes shot to her in surprise, as though just realizing she was there. Kagome had to hide a laugh, knowing that had probably been the case. "I was just wondering what happened. Are we still going to be able to get to this Tomobiki place?"
The almost domestic mood the red-haired boy had been in before shattered into one of stone-faced aloofness. Taking a careful sip of his cooled-off tea, Rinne waited to swallow the drink and sigh contentedly before responding plainly "They won't let us go back. The gatekeeper kicked me out and wouldn't return the invitation."
Rokumon jumped from Kagome's arms in a flash of fur. "What?!" Placing his front paws on the young man's knees, he looked imploringly up at his partner, nearly whining "But the payment! What're we gonna do about our fees this month? We'll be in the red again!" Rinne sat in silence, his visage as calm and patient as a monk, and continued to sip his tea as Rokumon all but wailed at his feet. Finally finishing off his tea, he put a hand to the tiny cat's shoulder and said with the beginnings of a smile "Rokumon, I said they won't let us go back to the spirit path, but we don't need that path to get to Tomobiki."
Even Kagome's eyes went wide at this admission, and she leaned forward to ask hurriedly "are you saying there's another way there?" Rinne glanced her way, nodding hesitantly. She waited anxiously for him to explain, and finally he began, scratching nervously at his neck as he spoke. "You see, they're watching all the spirit paths. They want to make sure only authorized Shinigami and their guests make it to the site. But… as long as we don't take a spirit path, they shouldn't know we're going until we get there."
"So… we go by foot?" Kagome asked incredulously. This was starting to sound like a fool's errand, and she wondered just how dire the situation surrounding the seal really was, if the people in charge were going to make it so difficult to get there.
"Rokumon can fly us most of the way – people don't see him, or me when I have this on." He tugged at his haori for effect, and Kagome remembered how her mother had suddenly cried out in shock the moment he'd slipped it on. She would have been scared too to see him suddenly vanish.
"Okay," she relented, "but do you know the way? I thought this place was difficult to find or something. I'm guessing you don't just have a map to it."
"And that" Rinne said with a pained smile, "is where this comes in." He held up a jar, and Rokumon gasped at the sight. "Rinne-sama, obsession-tracking powder?" Rinne nodded solemnly, grimacing as though he'd just lost a fortune. "There's no helping it, Rokumon" he responded grimly, "we'll just have to make up the cost with the earnings from this job. Now let's hurry! We want to get there in time!"
Pulling a rumpled, empty envelope from his pocket, Rinne sprinkled it with the powder from the jar. The particles seemed to sparkle and hang in the air as he covered the flat paper, and Kagome watched intrigued as the sparkling powder trailed away from the paper to streak off through the room, straight through the wall and beyond. "That's our path!" Rinne said excitedly, as Rokumon jumped up with a laugh and hopped into a swirling gateway that appeared before him. "We'll take the Reido out of town, and then the obsession powder should lead us the rest of the way."
He quickly disappeared inside the vortex, but Kagome was hesitant to follow. Even as Sakura rose to her feet to follow, Kagome hung back. Her previous experience in the Reido had spooked her to say the least, and she still wasn't sure what to make of this 'Rinne' person. He played things close to the vest, and Kagome wasn't ready to throw all her caution aside when he wasn't willing to open up to her. Strict professionalism was hardly a basis for friendship.
Noticing the girl's reluctance, Sakura gave her a warm smile, and placed a comforting hand to her arm. "It's alright," she said softly, catching Kagome's eye, "Rokudou-kun is just on the other side waiting for us. He won't let you fall through again." The gentle assurance in the other girls voice brought a smile to Kagome's lips, and with a nod she allowed her new friend to usher her into the Reido. Perhaps if Sakura could trust him… she could rely on that for now.
A growl boiled up in Inuyasha's throat as he watched the sleeping figures of his new traveling companions. The sun had risen hours earlier… or at least, it felt that way to the impatient half-demon. He didn't know what time these lazy humans were planning to be up and moving, but if it had been up to him, they would have been travelling the moment the sun crested the hills. 'Not even Kagome used to sleep this long!' he groused, ignoring the whispering memories of slipping her onto his back some mornings when she was still too tired to stand. 'That was different' he told himself adamantly. She worked hard, and pulled her weight, no matter what he might have said to the contrary at the time. But these two….
His amber gaze flickered back to the girl and boy wrapped up in thick sleeping bags by the fire, and his growl increased in volume as they continued to doze. A sudden tiny beeping sound had him jumping nearly out of his skin, and his ears swiveled frantically to pinpoint the noise, eventually landing on a small device attached to Akane's wrist. Relief swept through him as the young woman stirred, and with a grunt her opposite hand fumbled for the annoying machine until finally she found what she was looking for and the beeping ceased. With a heavy sigh she rubbed at her eyes and lifted herself on her elbows, blinking blearily into the early morning sun. Sleep still clung to Akane's body as she slowly took in her surroundings – that is until she turned to see the white-haired, dog-eared man across the fire. She squeaked in surprise, and Inuyasha flinched at her alarmed expression; but the look faded as memories of the previous night's encounter came to her sleep-muddled mind, and she smiled.
"Good morning Inuyasha. Sleep well?" Her question was well-intended, so Inuyasha bothered to grunt in response. He didn't feel like telling her that he hadn't slept at all. He'd tried, and he couldn't. There'd been something off in the air: something strange surrounding him that had kept his sense on high alert throughout the night. It was as though at any moment he might turn around and see someone peering over his shoulder, but every time he dared glance back there was nothing but air. He was unnerved by it, and that paired with his impatience to find Tomobiki had made him irritable. Not that she needed to know any of that.
"How long before you two are ready to go?" For a brief moment Akane looked put off by his abruptness, but she didn't fight back. A soft, understanding look settled in her eyes, and once again Inuyasha regretted telling these two of his quest. He'd left out the more sensitive details regarding the well, only informing them of the essentials: he and Kagome had been separated for three years, and when he finally was able to be with her again, she'd been taken. Even that sparse story was enough to get Akane nearly crying and Ranma giving him pitying looks the rest of the night. It was enough for them to form a temporary level of trust, and he supposed it was a good idea to swap information if they were going to try working together, but… did they have to get so damn emotional about it? He was managing to hide the pain of Kagome's absence. If he had to put up with this sappy pair being all sentimental over him for the rest of their travels, he was going to lose it.
Turning her sympathetic gaze away, Akane glanced down at her still snoozing companion and said dryly "I have some granola bars we can eat for breakfast, so I guess we can be ready to leave in about twenty minutes… once Ranma gets up anyways. No telling when that'll be though."
"I'm not waiting on him." Inuyasha's jaw was set, his gaze unwavering as Akane sent a warning glance his way.
"You can try to wake him if you want, but he sleeps like a brick. And I don't want to be around when he starts fighting back."
Scoffing, Inuyasha stepped purposefully toward the cocooned boy before Akane could protest further. "We don't got all day. I want us getting to Tomobiki before sunset, and I ain't waitin' on this lazy ass to do it." Wrenching the zipper of the sleeping bag open as he'd seen them do the night before, Inuyasha grabbed a handful of Ranma's patterned green pajamas and hauled the groggy boy to his feet. Ranma slumped in his grasp, still snoring softly.
"I told you" Akane said in a sing-songy voice, pulling a frustrated growl from the half-demon. Looking around for inspiration, Inuyasha's burning yellow eyes landed on a shimmer of blue, and he made for it without another thought. The shallow stream by their camp was slow and clear enough to see to the rocks at the bottom, and Ranma wasn't likely to drown in it, no matter how appealing the thought seemed to the half-demon in that moment. He heard Akane's gasp as he drew nearer to the stream, and was distantly aware of the sound of her bare feet padding across the grass as she ran to catch up with his long gait. Whatever. He didn't have time for this. The boy would be fine.
Just as Akane shrieked a panicked "No, DON'T!" he chucked the sleeping young man in the cold water, turning away with a huff and stomping back to camp as angry sputters erupted from the water.
"You jerk! What the heck was that for?!"
It took a moment for the new voice to register in his brain, and when it did, Inuyasha nearly tripped on his own feet as his eyes shot open, perplexed. The voice that had spoken was a few octaves higher than the one he'd been expecting, but it certainly wasn't Akane's. He hadn't smelled anyone else nearby, so who…?
He turned back, brows drawn in confusion, and saw a red-headed girl wearing soaking green pajamas sitting in the shallow water, fuming and glaring straight at him. Akane stood beside the girl, trying to help her out of the water, though her eyes too were focused on the half-demon. Her normally friendly expression had turned terrified.
"Wha… what the hell?" In a few strides he was back beside the stream, and before either girl could react, he'd grabbed the soaking stranger by the back of her pajamas and lifted her from the water. She was tiny, shorter even than Akane, but her voice boomed across the clearing like a demon. "PUT ME DOWN, YOU OVERGROWN DOG! What's the big idea throwin' a person in the river first thing in the morning? What're you tryin' ta pull? Hey, are you LISTENING to me?!"
Inuyasha was in fact not listening in the slightest. His nose worked overtime as he sniffed intently at the red-headed girl wearing Ranma's pajamas, and with just a few sniffs, he came to a startling conclusion: despite the obvious increase in estrogen, this person was undoubtedly Ranma. His eyes couldn't believe it, but his nose broke through the funk of hormonal changes to find the underlying scent he remembered from just a few minutes ago. This was Ranma, the boy he'd met the night before, in a woman's body.
Dropping the girl in a heap on the ground, Inuyasha stumbled back a few steps as Akane rushed forward to help the boy-turned-girl to her feet. Ranma continued to grumble, rubbing her sore bottom and glaring blearily at the half-demon still staring. "Well?" She said gruffly, "You gonna say something, or are you gonna catch flies all day?"
The dog-demon hardly had it in him to be offended as the girls started back to camp, and he followed behind dumbly. He knew what he was seeing but… how the hell had it happened? As Ranma gathered up a change of clothes, stomping away to the tree-line to change, Akane sat on a nearby log and motioned for Inuyasha to sit as well. He plopped to the ground with a bewildered expression that refused to leave his face.
"I… guess you're wondering what's up with Ranma, huh?" 'That's one hell of an understatement' Inuyasha thought bitingly, but Akane's discomfort kept him from voicing it. Her breath released in a nervous puff of air, and she continued "Y'see, it all happened a few years ago… he went to train in China with his father. For martial arts, you know? Problem is neither of them know Chinese, and well… they went to this training ground called Jusenkyo. It's famous for being really tough – it's made up of thousands of natural springs that you're supposed to keep from falling into during training. Only… they didn't listen to the warning from the guide that it was cursed, and… they fell in." She glanced at Inuyasha, who looked more confused than before, and took a deep breath. "Ranma fell into the 'spring of drowned girl', and got… cursed. Every time he's splashed with cold water, well… you saw what happens."
Inuyasha's eyebrows shot up to his hairline, his mouth hanging open in shock. "You mean" he began haltingly, "because he fell in some stupid spring, his body changes to a girl whenever he gets wet?"
"Only with cold water" Akane clarified. "Hot water turns him back."
He wanted to laugh. He wanted to call them both crazy and leave them in the dust so he could continue on and find Kagome. He was ready to call this the most ridiculous story he'd ever heard in his life… only he'd seen the change with his own two eyes, and smelt the truth with his own nose. He bit back his disbelief, trying to remind himself that he'd seen some pretty strange things in his life, and this was just another check on a long list.
Besides, he was half-demon. Who was he to judge a half-girl?
"Rokudou-san, what exactly are we keeping sealed in Tomobiki?"
Rinne looked back from where he glided alongside Rokumon, catching Kagome's curious eye as she sat atop the monstrous cat. "They didn't tell us much" he admitted, "but I do know it's a whole town under the seal. I don't think it's just one person that was the problem, otherwise they would have dealt with them specifically."
Kagome hummed in thought. "That would make sense… though what could an entire town do that was bad enough to put them under a seal?"
"It does seem a little drastic" Sakura added lightly from her spot beside Kagome. "I wonder if their crime is really as bad as their punishment. I don't know if anyone deserves what they got."
Her words were met with Kagome's blank stare. "Punishment? You mean… the seal?"
"It's more than just the seal" Rinne called back, his tone suddenly serious as he sailed slightly ahead of them in the sunlight. "The seal was put in place to reinforce the real spell on the city." He paused for a moment, then added solemnly "You'd never heard of this city, right?" He turned piercing red eyes back to Kagome, who could only shake her head. "Well, that's it. That's the spell. Tomobiki was wiped from everyone's memories. The whole world forgot it existed. The seal makes sure that no one ever remembers it again."
A hush fell over the group. Kagome bowed her head, her mind grasping to understand. Who could have allowed those people to be erased from existence like that? Thinking back over all the horrors she'd seen in the feudal era, all the heartache and death and tragedy she'd been witness to, Kagome was suddenly glad she could remember it all. It made the happier moments in her life shine that much brighter.
"What on earth did they do to deserve something like that?" she whispered in a choked voice, not expecting anyone to hear.
Rinne stared ahead at the clouds rushing past, his eyes steely. "I'm not sure, but in the end, the Disaster Prevention Bureau had to make a choice. They still won't tell us the particulars, but Grandma did tell me this: the town itself chose to be forgotten. If they hadn't, it would've meant war."
Sabato watched as an almost imperceptible sheen flickered through the air, outlining the indistinct shape of a dome that soared nearly a mile into the sky. He hummed, tapping his chin in thought as the old man beside him nearly giggled with mirth.
"There it is, there it is! Oh Tomobiki, it's been too long!" Happosai's squat figure rushed forward, colliding with the invisible barrier, causing it to shimmer and ripple out in a wide arc to nothingness. Rubbing his round, mustached face against the iridescent wall, the old man crooned "Ooh, you've missed me, haven't you Tomobiki? Yes indeed, we go way back, don't we 'darlin'?" He gave a rasping, riotous laugh and hopped away, tapping his long pipe against the barrier before turning back to his bemused companion. "You get me in there Sabato, and I'll consider all your old debts payed! Aw heck, you'll be the one thanking me once you see what's on the other side!"
"If only I could break the barrier now" Sabato sighed in melodramatic tones, prodding the bubble-like seal with a finger. "We'll have to wait till the priests and priestesses come to fix it, and then cause a distraction." Folding his arms into the wide sleeves of his blue haori, Sabato continued with a sage nod "If we can throw off their concentration, that should weaken things enough for us to slip through."
"And when we do, you follow my lead, boy." Dashing to the tree where they'd dropped their belongings, Happosai grabbed a small, wrapped axe from the pile and held it up for the other man to see. "We each take one of these specials axes, and head to the cherry tree in the center of town. No stops, no dilly-dallying: if we don't get to that tree quickly, this'll all be for nothin'!"
Taking the axe from the old man, Sabato peered at it closely, noting the trace of purifying salt radiating from beneath the blade's wrappings. "Why?" His casual tone undermined the careful calculating in his eyes. He knew when to pay attention to important information. It was what made him such an excellent scammer. "What's so special about a tree?"
"That tree" Happosai began, his tone darkening, "is what powers the seal on the town. It's not just the barrier around the town, it's everything inside too. It's all stuck in time, ya see? And once the cherry tree is chopped down, everything and everyone is let loose, and they won't be able to put it under anymore silly spells! We'll have the whole place to ourselves to do as we please!"
Despite the old man's cheery optimism, Sabato felt the seeds of doubt. "If it's a multi-layer seal, won't it be that much harder to get inside? We might need to cause a bigger distraction than I thought." Sighing morosely, Sabato added "This is going to be more work than I wanted." Turning his bright red eyes on the short-statured man beside him, his face took on a frightening false-pleasantness as he said "This had better be worth it, old fool! Don't expect me to have your back if I don't like what I see."
"Oh don't worry my friend," Happosai said with a knowing grin, "she won't disappoint."
*Author's Note:
Sorry for the sort of short chapter - we'll get more into it in the next one. It's just been a few months and I didn't wanna leave y'all hangin like this for forever :P
So we're starting to unravel the mystery around Tomobiki! But don't be fooled - just because Rinne's been told something doesn't mean he has the whole story. He got his information from the Shirushigami who are in charge of the seal, but the residents of Tomobiki might have their own version of the tale to tell... Stay tuned!
Thanks so much for all the faves and reads and reviews! You readers keep me going and make these updates worth all the time and hard work!