1095.73 Days Without You
Kagome spent the past ten minutes dividing her attention between her cheeseburger and the highlights of Yuka's budding romance with student council president, Kenta Abe. It had been over a week since the well stopped working on her side so this outing was a divine intervention. "Don't tell Ito I said that; she has loose lips. Anyway," Yuka said, waving the topic away with a single french fry. Kagome took a bite of her burger, eager to hear her classmate's next topic for conversation. "Can you believe that Mr. Yamada is giving us our first exam in the second week of the year?" The question was paired with an over exaggerated hunch of her shoulders. Kagome smiled at the display. "Who does that?"
"I can't believe it either," Kagome replied, peeling back more of the cheeseburger's yellow wrapper. Without thinking, she confessed, "I've been so distracted lately... I just haven't had time to sit down and read Snow Country. How am I going to pass the test?" She may have been in the present but her brain was still in the feudal era.
Eri elbowed her in the ribs, sending Kagome's after school snack plummeting into her lap. "I guess it would be hard to focus on homework with your boyfriend hanging around all the time," she stated suggestively, raising her brows for emphasis. "What are you guys up to these days?"
Kagome blinked for a moment. Focusing first on her lap, where a grease stain was bound to be forming, and then on Eri. "Oh, just the same old things," she dismissed with the tiniest laugh. Her classmates were right: InuYasha had been distracting her just not for those reasons.
"Speaking of your boyfriend," Yuka began as Kagome grabbed a napkin. "Wasn't he at that freaky well thing the other week?"
Kagome's shoulders tensed—a dead give away. Maybe this WacDonald's trip wasn't a gift from the gods.
"Yeah, what was that?" Eri seconded, scooting a little closer to Kagome. Although she was the only who moved the message was clear: these girls were finally demanding answers.
"Well, uhm..."
There was just one problem: Kagome couldn't prove that time travel existed or that demons were real anymore. She dipped down, latching her lips onto WacDonald's classic striped straw. It wasn't as if she expected this sip to last long enough to think of a good excuse but an excuse would do. "Well, uh... My grandpa warned me about the old well. He said it had some connection to our family's ancestry and I didn't believe him so I messed around with it a little bit. I didn't expect anything to happen."
"So... what does that mean?" Ayumi asked while Kagome heaved a sigh. "Is it like...being spirited away? Is that even real?"
"Well, I... I don't remember," Kagome lied, closing her eyes and leaning back into the cushioned booth. She wished it would swallow her whole. "It was probably just one of my gramp's weird spirit things."
"But your family seemed really worried, Kagome," Yuka stated. "Are you sure that's all?"
"Like I said, I don't remember."
Kagome observed Yuka as she tapped her cup against the table's surface, frustrated. She knew it wasn't fair to Yuka or Ayumi or Eri but Kagome didn't have another choice. The Feudal Era was still her and her family's secret. "Come on, don't you remember how your boyfriend was there? He said he'd find you but we couldn't even see him, right girls?" They nodded their heads, hopeful that the statement would "spark" Kagome's memory.
"Oh, InuYasha works part-time at the shrine so he happened to be around that day." Kagome gazed away from her three friends and her mind drifted to InuYasha. He looked so surprised when he found her. His mouth was poised just enough to reveal a single canine tooth, and his brows were slanted because he was worried, and he was sweating. She was too. "He saved me."
Eri clicked her tongue before popping an elbow down onto the table and resting her chin in the palm of her hand. "You're no fun, Kagome. I can't believe you don't remember anything. I bet you're hiding something from us."
Both of Kagome's hands crashed down and she lifted herself to be above them. A crooked smirk wormed its way onto her features. It was the first time during this conversation that Kagome moved forward. She hoped her small leap was convincing enough. "No way! I'm telling you the truth..." InuYasha saved me.
-X-
A/N: The book that Kagome and her friends are reading, Snow Country, is written by Yasunari Kawabata. I'm not sure if this is something high schoolers in Japan would have to read but I had to read it in my modern Japanese literature course. It was an excellent story, I recommend it! Also, all of the previous chapters have been edited to reflect what I hope is a stronger narrative. Check them out if you'd like.
Until next time,
hanmajo