If Only In Reality - Chapter 10 – "Trapped"
It had been two weeks since the final battle and there had finally seemed to be some sense of normality fall back into the small group of survivors from the village of Edo; which was a good thing… but it would have been even better if Inuyasha was up and moving around to share it with them.
Oh it wasn't that he was injured per say, but whatever the Shikon Jewel had flung into him after he'd made his wish certainly took a lot out of him. He was barely able to do anything other than go out to relieve himself and even then he needed someone to help him so he wouldn't fall. Kaede hadn't even had a clue as to what was wrong with him, but she did theorize that it might have had some internal injuries or that he was possibly "poisoned" by the purity the jewel had emanated when it disappeared.
But that wouldn't have anything to do with his constant behavioral changes right?
Ever since she had woken after the battle, Kagome had constantly watched over Inuyasha, even to the point of staying up at night fearing he would hurt himself again. For some reason while he slept Inuyasha would suddenly start fiercely growling and just a hint of his demonic markings would appear; at one point it had gotten so bad that the hanyou began to claw himself senseless, making him bleed profusely. In a way, it seemed like he was trying to fight something off but nothing was there to harm him. One night Inuyasha appeared to be worse and Kagome tried to pin him down unsuccessfully which got her clawed.
That's what made Kouga decide to stay.
He'd said that there was no way he was going to leave Kagome with Inuyasha being the way he was. Mutt or not the guy had gotten rid of Naraku and the wolf knew that if he got over whatever the hell was wrong with him that he wouldn't want to wake up to an injured Kagome covered in wounds made by his own hand.
From that night on Kouga had stayed in Inuyasha's room with her and held him down when he'd gotten to out of control. And that's what brought them to this point.
Obviously there was no way they were going to find out what was happening to their beloved hanyou in this era so a plan had been formed. Kirara was going to stay in the village and watch over Inuyasha while Kouga walked the young miko to the Bone Eaters Well. Perhaps there was some sort of clue as to what was going on in one of the medical books in her era. She knew it was a shot in the dark but it was the only any of the friends could think to do.
"I'll be back in four days to pick you up Kagome. I better not find any odd scents on my woman when she gets back."
A smile was his only response as he helped her to stand on the edge of the well before racing back to the farming village. At this point, there was no way in hell Inuyasha could be left alone for more than a few minutes at a time. None of them had any way of knowing if his demonic side was going to finally best him and they certainly didn't want to take the chance.
With one last silent prayer to the Gods, the lone miko jumped into the well and let the blue light encompass her being.
She'd been stand offish for days and the others had taken notice. Their Kagome was never like this; so quiet and solemn, but just what had happened to her? Was something wrong in her homeland? Did someone attack her? They'd had no way of knowing…
Besides, what could have possibly happened in the few short hours she had been gone?
That's right, she'd returned on foot not even five hours after Kouga had dropped her off at the well and since then she'd made sure not to get in anyone's way. The others didn't need to worry about her right now, they'd had other things to do that she felt took priority over her situation. Kaede was busy taking over the job of village miko since the original had died while fighting for their cause and Kouga was off with his pack-mates taking care of the fallen soldiers that had aided them in their battle. And there was no way she would burden Shippo, he was just a child.
So she did what she normally did in a situation like this, kept everything inside and dealt with it herself, though she knew the others were keeping an eye on her. Why did she have to be so selfless?
Thinking she could at least get some schoolwork done while she watched over Inuyasha, Kagome looked over her calendar only to discover something that made her heart break.
No one had seen Kagome all day, true that they'd usually caught a glimpse of her sometime helping Inuyasha but they had only noticed Kirara assisting him. What had happened to Kagome?
Kouga guided Kaede as he followed Kagome's scent with only the glimmering night sky to guide them. About half way there the wolf noticed something odd about her scent, but Kagome didn't drink right?
She was spotted on the edge of a hill; a bottle of sake in one hand and some sort of paper clenched in the other. What in the world would cause her to drink?
"Child what is wrong? What has caused you to turn to drink?" A withered hand was placed on the young girl's left shoulder while Kouga took a seat on her other side. Did she not know that they were there for her?
A sad smile crossed Kagome's lips as she gulped down another mouthful of sake.
"My brother's birthday was today."
"Then shouldn't you have been with him? I told you to stay in your homeland for four days not a measly few hours. You were supposed…"
"I didn't go." She interrupted him.
He eyed her for a moment. "What do you mean you didn't go? I sensed the magic as I was running off."
Another mouthful of sake – "The well worked; the magic transported me back to my era, at least it started to. I could see the roof of the well house beginning to enter my vision and just when everything began to clear I hit some sort of barrier." It was getting harder to hold in her tears.
"I don't know what happened. I tried pounding on it, infusing it with purification energy, hell I even shot an arrow at it but the damn thing wouldn't break."
The elderly woman and wolf could tell now how much Kagome had had to drink; never would she speak the way she was speaking now otherwise.
"I guess I was making some kind of noise as I was trying to escape because the next thing I know Mama is looking down at me. Her lips were moving but I couldn't hear her and then I felt this pulling sensation and Mama kept getting farther and farther away. She looked so scared." Tears began to trickle down her flushed cheeks.
Kaede's grip tightened on her shoulder. "Kagome, do ye mean to say…?"
"The stupid well spit me back out! No matter how many times I jumped in it wouldn't let me back through." She turned her teary eyes to the woman she thought of as a grandmother.
"I… I can't go home."
A/N – Total word count – 1,285
Would really love some feedback. Ya'll know I love comments.
AS A REMINDER – this story will be upped to rating "M" in a couple chapters due to upcoming events that cannot be excluded from the story. (Or else it wouldn't make any sense)
AND that this story is only updated when I'm depressed and won't be told in longer chapters until "Curiosity" is done. This will be told in drabbles for now.
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