A/N: Wow! Well, here we are years after I published my last story! It feels a little weird being back after all this time, but I am so excited! I'm all quarantined because of COVID and was needing something to pass the time, so here I am! I hope that you are all well and I hope that you enjoy this story!

There's something to be said for the comfort that mundanity brings. Waking up every single day in a warm, comfortable bed, eating food you didn't have to hunt or fish for yourself, not having to look over your back every moment of every day for fear that some demon or bandit was going to come out of nowhere and attack you. Yes, it was nice, living with modern comforts like indoor plumbing, hot baths and scented soaps…

And, of course, it was nice not being yelled at every time I made a mistake or stepped on a certain half-demon's toes… It was a relief. I was better off this way. I couldn't be happier.

And yet…

I sighed as I swept the stone walkways of Higurashi Shrine, making sure that everything looked impeccably neat. I was able to lose myself in the soft sound of the straw broom swiping at ground, the quiet whispers of the wind, the faintest sound of a tree rustling. It wasn't often that we got visitors, but I had picked up the habit from Grandpa to always be ready to make a good first impression. Now that Grandpa was gone, I was the new head to the shrine and, while it had been an unexpected responsibility, I was doing the best that I could to make my family proud. Even if that simply meant sweeping or picking garbage out of the offering boxes.

This wasn't how I had expected to spend my days. I had actually truly planned to live the rest of my life in the Feudal Era with InuYasha and Shippo and Sango and Miroku…. But here I was. I was back in the time I was meant to be in and there was truly no point in sitting and lamenting about love lost, the adventures I would miss and what could have been. It was never in my nature to mope; I had more of a proactive way of approaching my problems.

"Welcome!" I heard Souta holler as he opened the door to the house, backpack slung over his shoulder. It drew my attention to a group of visitors making their way up the steps and I couldn't have been more pleased that I had followed my instincts to tidy things up.

Souta walked passed me and, as he made his way down the steps that led to the shrine, he stopped and shared dutiful pleasantries with the group of visitors he had so keenly spotted before me. Then, he was on his way to school. He was taking junior high by storm and was well on his way to becoming Student Council president. At least one of us would be known for having a solid education.

As the group of what appeared to be college students made their way up the tree-lined steps toward the shrine, I set aside the broom and brushed off the hakama I wore. In fact, my outfit resembled Kikyo's so much that I almost wished someone from the Feudal era could see me now… I was sure I was a spitting image of her with my hair tied back with a ribbon, wearing the white and red garments of a priestess…. The only thing that set me aside from any other priestess was the large pearlescent jewel hanging from my neck, the Shikon no Tama.

"Hey, Kagome!" a familiar voice called out and I startled back to the present, smiling bemusedly until I could finally make out who our surprise visitors were.

"Eri, Yuka, Ayumi!" I called out, a smile spreading across my face as I clasped my hands over my chest. I hadn't known that they were back from college already and was even more delighted that they had come to see me. "And… And Hojo!" I added when I saw him as well. It was almost like stepping back into the past, looking at him. If it weren't for his modern-day clothes, I would have thought he was Akitoki.

The three girls rushed up the last few steps, lunging forward and wrapping themselves all around me. Immediately, they began babbling a mile a minute about how wonderful college was, all the new friends they were making, the boys they talked to—though Ayumi made it perfectly clear that she only had eyes for her current beau, Hojo—and all of their classes and professors.

"It's almost perfect!" Yuka exclaimed, "The only thing that could make things better would be if you were there with us."

"Yeah, well…" While I had managed to get my life and my schoolwork together enough that I did manage to graduate high school on time with my friends, my grades unfortunately weren't competitive enough to get into the good colleges like theirs were. I had entertained the thought of going to a community college, but that would have taken time away from the shrine. "You all seem to be having enough fun to make up for my not being there! And besides, I like taking care of the shrine."

This shrine and the Shikon Jewel were the only connections I had to the Feudal Era.

Yukari was the first to break up the big group hug, looking around the shrine. "It's been so long since we visited the shrine! Can you show us around?"

"Yeah," Hojo agreed, taking Ayumi's hand as he followed behind. "I stopped by a lot to check on you when you were sick, but I don't think I ever really got a chance to look around."

I watched them stroll along the pathways, pointing at little details here and there, discussing them amongst themselves and couldn't help but feel a pang of loss. I was in a comfortable life, full of modern amenities I had often lamented giving up while hunting the jewel shards. So why was it that I felt like I would rather be anywhere else than here with the people I had once considered my closest friends?

"Kagome, what is this?" Hojo asked and I once again pushed myself out of my own thoughts to see what they were referring to. All of them stood at the door to the Bone-Eater's Well. Ayumi had her hand on the handle to try to slide it open, but it was securely locked. Patrons of the shrine weren't allowed access to the well.

"Oh, it's just a well," I told them simply. "It has some historical stories linked to it, but we just keep it locked so kids don't wander into it and fall in the well. Last thing we need is a broken neck." Or some unlucky person getting sent to the Feudal Era.

I pulled out my key and unlocked the door, sliding it open so that they all could look inside the dingy old building and the old well that had once been so mystical and magical and now simply did nothing.

"Wow…" Yuka exclaimed as she hopped down the stairs and stood at the well, leaning over to look inside. "It goes really far down, huh? You said there's all this story and mythology whatnot linked to it. What is it? Was it full of magic water or something?"

"Oh, you know, some dumb teenage girl used to jump into this well and get transported hundreds of years in the past. She made friends with a demon, a perverted monk, a monster hunter and a half-human with super squishy dog ears and they all went on amazing quests to hunt down pieces of a pretty rock together."

Silence reigned after my monologue, all four of my friends pausing and turning to look at me before their mouths and chins began to tremble and laughter exploded around me. They all stood before me, laughing at the pure ridiculousness of my statement. A well that could take you back in time; demons and monster hunters and mystical quests straight out of some anime.

Of course it was ridiculous.

A/N: And there we have it! It's a bit short (as, I regret to admit, my chapters tend to skew), but they are intended to get longer as we get into all that plotty goodness.

Please feel free to drop a review to tell me what you think, whether it be good, bad or mediocre! Thanks so much and I look forward to seeing you in the next chapter!