"Hey, watch it! That box contains artefacts at least a thousand years old!"
"Careful now! Load everything slowly on the lorry!"
Kagome chuckled to herself as she watched the noisy scene before her. She was at her mother's house, doing a little visiting. Apparently the movers had arrived first when she came, shifting out the huge boxes from their shed.
Souta, now a tall, 18-year-old was running around with them, making sure they were moving the right boxes, and cautiously so. Once in a while he would go, "You guys are going the wrong way!" or "Not that one—that contains the garden tools!"
At last he joined his sister and mother at the side, wiping his sweat off his forehead.
"You need to keep telling them they're carrying prized possessions," he sighed on his haunches, "or they'll just lug everything around like airport cargo."
"But aren't these movers the ones dispatched by the National Archives Museum?" Mrs Higurashi wondered aloud.
"Gee, it's like you guys are moving from the house," Kagome laughed.
"Oh no, Kagome," her mother said. "You know we would never do that. The Higurashis have been staying at this ancestral house for more than five generations."
Souta looked over his shoulder, to the house that he had been staying at all his life. Suddenly his late grandpa surfaced in his memory. Gramps hadn't died in the house—he had died in the hospital surrounded by his loved ones. And in his will he had mentioned that the ancient treasures he had devoted his life to caring for, be donated to the National Archives Museum so people could learn about them. Maybe, deep inside the old man knew there was no one in the family he could depend on to delegate the task.
Souta sighed. He had been engrossed in his baseball games all these years, trying to score a place in the national team. Which he had succeeded, by the way. He had no right to feel disappointed that the family heirloom would now be showcased in glass boxes, where people would have to pay a ticket to see them.
As if sensing his thoughts, his sister placed a warm hand on his shoulder. "It's about time anyway, Souta," she said. Souta looked away. His sister was no longer as sentimental, her emotions more guarded. Sometimes it was like she conveniently forgot about everything that happened.
Kagome walked towards the shed, taking care not to obstruct the busy movers. It had been a long time since she last stepped inside since she moved from her hometown. It was almost empty now, the shelves encased in a thick layer of dust, a mere shell of what it used to be: a vault of magical ancient treasures.
She swiped a cob-web near her head. If Gramps was still here he would have taken care of everything thoroughly. Speaking of ancient…
Something pricked her mind. Slowly she sauntered out from the shed, then walked towards the shack which housed the old well. As she expected, it was locked with a large, heavy padlock. A yellow fuda paper talisman was pasted on the doors, indecipherable kanji scribbled on it, wrinkled and faded with age. It was different than the usual ones Gramps used. After all, it had been issued by the late head priest of Yukino-jingu, when he had come to bless the well years ago.
It almost felt like a forgotten dream, one fuzzy at its edges. Kagome could vaguely remember the details of that painful period, when the well had suddenly sealed itself in the middle of her epic adventure after Naraku's final battle.
Naraku. Even that name sounded so unfamiliar to her now. But following that event, she fell into a great dark pit, one she did not think she could escape from. For a long period of time Kagome cooped herself up in her room, a self-quarantine, barely exchanging words with her family, let alone anyone else. Her health suffered, as did her grades. Consequently she was dropped from college. And she could not even care less, for was the point? She could no longer see Inuyasha and her friends anymore. They were no longer part of her life.
Her grandfather was sure she had been cursed, and called a priest for help.
"She's not cursed," he had told her family. "She has a powerful spiritual energy inside her, but it's unable to flow. Something is blocking her channels, and it lies in her refusal to accept and heal from her trauma."
Kagome smiled to herself as she touched the curled edge of the talisman. The well had been sealed for good, lest it invoked triggers in her.
"Once upon a time, I thought my feudal fairy tale would have lasted forever."
"Sis, why are you talking to yourself?" Souta called from the back. "Is dinner at Ryoutaro's still on?"
On the train back home, Kagome drifted into sleep. She was rudely awakened by a vibrating buzz of her phone. Squinting, she read through the long chain of messages in the group chat.
"What, Eri is getting married to some old dude?" she whispered in disbelief. "Yuka's graduated from her master's degree, and Ayumi's kid just celebrated his second birthday recently." She released a long sigh. "And then there's me."
For reasons unrelated, she remembered something and hastily dialled a number.
Speaking of incoming weddings, I wonder how'she doing?
"Moshi moshi ," a young male voice answered.
"Hello, Atsushi. It's Kagome. Do you remember me?"
There was a pause. "Kagome-sama!" he then went in surprise. "Of course, I remember you. You were the only person who's managed to beat me in Go."
Kagome giggled at the memory. "Say, I haven't heard from you for so long. How are you and Saeko? I briefly remembered you saying your wedding would be held this year, right?"
"Yes, it would be this summer at the Royal Ginza Hotel. Watch out for my invitation card!" She laughed. "By the way," he asked, "are you still working at the shrine, with Amari and Jyohaku?"
"Yes, yes I am."
He drew a long breath. "You're a strong woman. There was no way I could continue to work there, not after that incident." He went silent for a while. "Kagome-sama. I still get nightmares…over that thing."
That thing… Her thoughts diverged. That thing is living with me now.
"It's completely shattered the way I see the world. It's just crazy." She could imagine him shaking his head as he said it. A woman's voice floated on the line, presumably Saeko, his fiancée. "I'm sorry, I gotta go now. Thanks for the catch-up though. It was real good to hear from you. See you guys at my wedding!"
The dial tone signaled the end of the call. She pulled away her phone, disliking the sound it made.
Kagome walked slowly towards the pathway to her house. Maybe it was the lamplight doing tricks, or just plain fatigue. But she swore she saw a little figure playing at her door. It was gone in a second, and the first thought that went through her mind was, I really need a soak in the tub and a beer.
She entered the storeroom as the bathtub filled itself. The altar at the corner glowed quietly.
"You know what's good right now?" she told herself, as she uncovered the antique phonograph by the window, then realized she had been talking a lot to herself that day. The phonograph belonged to the miko who lived there prior to her, or to be precise, Jyohaku's mother before she got married. Stacks of dusty vinyl records, mostly of English albums laid at its side. "Some music. Some music is good."
And then she slipped into her warm bath, sipping a can of Asahi Dry as the melodic voice of Doris Day filled her house.
You won't admit you love me
And so how am I ever
To know, you always tell me
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps
Something splashed on her face, and her eyes flew open. Sesshoumaru was kneeling by the tub.
Her body jerked in reflex. "You lucky son of a—"
"You fell asleep," he said.
Kagome groaned inwardly. Her beer can was floating in the cool water and her house was strangely quiet. How long had time passed?
She found herself covering her chest, then stopped herself. It's not like Sesshoumaru sees me as a woman, anyway.
"I mopped all the floors today," he told her in a proud voice. "I cleared the trash."
"Mmm, good boy," she mumbled. She kneaded her temples—she could feel a headache coming.
"I would like my reward now," Sesshoumaru said.
She saw the way his clawed, pale hands were curled around the edge of the tub, and that look on his face, that round-eyed, pleading look—
She pretended not to understand. She filched the beer can out from the water, and aimed for the trash can beneath the sink. It dropped inside effortlessly. Then she laid her head back and shut her eyes.
"Sesshoumaru, I'm tired of this." Her words bounced back from the ceiling, hitting her face. "Really, I am. I'm tired of playing the waiting game. You have to tell me something, anything. And you know exactly what I'm talking about here. Stop beating around the bush."
"And what is it that you wish to hear exactly?"
She exhaled slowly, frowning. She did not know why it was difficult to form her next words.
What is it? What is it that's really important—that I need to know?
Or am I just scared—that it no longer matters?
"If it is my half-brother that is in your mind, then I can only say that he was well, the last time I saw him." Sesshoumaru lightly fingered his chin. "In fact I remember that he had slightly put on weight."
Kagome lifted herself and fixed him with an incredulous stare. If only she had her beer can with her so she could throw it at his face. "Idiot. If you can even remember such an unnecessary detail, you could have afford to remember everything else!"
"It was some time after you left. There was a great fire that ravaged the village where he and his comrades lived."
"Fire? What fire?"
"The fire that consumed half of the villagers' lives."
She felt her blood rush cold in her veins. No, this can't be true. This is…this is the truth, isn't it? The truth I've been waiting for…
"But Inuyasha survived, didn't he? He was not part of that half. You said the last time you saw him, he was… And my other friends—"
"Kagome Higurashi," Sesshoumaru said steadily, looking into her eyes. "That is your name, no?"
Pushed into sudden confusion, his bright eyes held on to hers. Really, they were saying. Do you really want to know, Kagome Higurashi?
She found herself giving him an agonized smile. Once again, a dead end in the conversation.
Slowly Kagome stood up from her bath, water droplets cascading down her body. Sesshoumaru's line of sight followed her with great interest. She smelled subtly of diluted beer.
"I'm gonna take a light shower now. Go."
He shook his head. "This Sesshoumaru wishes to watch further."
He found himself reaching for the door after she threatened him with a wet kick. "Insufferable woman," Sesshoumaru muttered.
"I heard that, you stupid dog!"
To be continued…
[Credits: 'Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps' as written by Joe Davis, Osvaldo Farresbr /
A lot of foreshadowing in this chapter!]