Episode 3: Through the Looking Glass and Back Again

Asuho wrinkled her nose as the ripe scent emanating from her body. Three days in this cesspool without a shower or a proper change of clothes left her feeling and smelling absolutely disgusting.

She managed to distract herself with chores, although any other day she would reject the idea of manual labor with her nose in the air, but mending clothes wasn't so bad, in fact it wasn't any different from sewing mountains of sequins onto her backpack as she had done in elementary school. Her mother had done the lion's share of the work, but Asuho had still helped.

The sewing needle pricked another wound into the pad of her finger and she made a frustrated noise, teeth ground in irritation as she stuck her bleeding injury in her mouth, swiping her tongue across the dot of blood.

Glaring at the kimono she was mending didn't make her feel any better, so she paused in her work, Kaede watching nearby as the girl pressed her hand against the still aching brand on her chest.

"That pentagram is a seal of enslavement," he explained, not giving her the slightest dignity by looking her in the eye. "It will allow me to access the pearl's power, as well as summon you when I wish. Hear this human, no matter how far you run the seal will pull you back to me, the Rainbow Pearl once belonged to my father so it is rightfully mine, as are you, from this day forward."

Her legs were jelly, her heart thundered like a stampede of horses, her hands trembled with fear and exhaustion, yet his every word rang in her ears like static that refused to diminish in volume.

She stared at him, green eyes wide with disbelief, and the smallest sound left her.

"Huh…?"

The freak with the fluffy tail had basically tattooed her against her will and just left right after. Even boys at school who asked for her number weren't rude enough to not call back! Asuho scowled as she ran her finger over the lines etched into her skin, already having tried to wash it off yesterday to no avail.

She just wanted to go home, but Kaede didn't let her move around much, arguing that Sesshomaru had sapped too much energy from her body and that it was unsafe to make the journey back to her era.

Oh yeah, she wasn't dreaming at all, she was actually in Feudal Japan, which did not make her feel any better either.

As she worked, patching a hole in the faded purple kimono in her lap, she thought about her dad and how he was probably home from his business trip by now, not that he would be worried by her absence or anything, but he had to have noticed at some point. Did he walk by her room and wonder where she was? Did he bring her something from Osaka? Did he think of her at all in the three weeks he'd been gone?

She also thought of Minako and Sayori, how they would definitely be bugging out about her being absent from school for three days, sitting close to each other in tense silence due to their alpha-friend's vacant presence, and no doubt throwing up arms and raising voices when they didn't hear from her and realized she really was missing.

The worst part of all however, was the third day of missing out on gym class with Hojo…

Tokyo was starting to heat up with the approach of summer, which meant seeing the cutest boy in class all sweaty in his gym uniform… ooh la la…

Her fantasy was broken when Kaede laid out her newly-washed school uniform and backpack, her Shikon no Tama and Kumabear miraculously still intact.

"Sesshomaru has not returned for some time, so I deem it is safe for ye to return to your own time." The old woman sighed, bowing her head slightly as if she were apologizing for all that had happened, uggo tattoo and all.

Asuho felt like she could breathe again, and thank god too, her nail polish was far too chipped for her to keep her sanity in this dump for much longer. Without much more than a nod to Kaede she changed back into her uniform, securing the plaid blue bowtie and tying her brown sweater around her waist, giving the toe of her shoe a tap to fit them into place on her feet.

The priestess accompanied her to the Bone-eater's well, watching as she swung her bag over her shoulder and took a peek into her compact mirror, swiping a stray hair out of her face.

"Be cautious, child." She advised as the blond climbed over the well. "Sesshomaru's slave seal has bound ye to him indefinitely, he can call ye back to this era whenever he wills it so."

The teenage girl promptly and unapologetically ignored the old woman, letting go of the side and dropping down to the bottom of the well, her left eye glowing brightly as the power of the Yellow Rainbow Pearl took her back to her own time.

She had fallen through the ground at the bottom of the well, a bright multi-colored light engulfing her entire body before she blinked and found herself standing in the dirt at the bottom of the Higurashi's well.

Climbing out had been an annoying task, Asuho had scraped her knee again, but when she found herself standing in the sun beating down on the Higurashi shrine in modern Tokyo, she honestly didn't really care.

She just wanted to go home, get in the bath, and never come out again.

When she finally did get home, the apartment was empty, so either her father wasn't home yet or he had already left again. It didn't matter much to her though, she thought as she began shedding her clothes and running the bath, filling it with as many soaps, salts, and oils as she could. She never wanted to smell like a Feudal village again!

The hot water seemed to seep every ounce of the previous days away, and Asuho hummed as she scrubbed the dirt and grime off of her skin until it was practically all red.

The most annoying part however, was that she couldn't really deny her trip to the Higurashi shrine as anything more than a dream anymore. Not with the red pentagram standing out harshly against her flushed skin just above her budding breasts.

It really did happen.

She ground the nail of her thumb between her teeth, a nasty habit she had worked years to outgrow for the sake of her nail polish, but the last few days had reignited it in full as Sesshomaru's face appeared in her mind.

Who does that psycho think he is? Attacking a cute girl like that? And what was all that crap he was spouting about me being human vermin?! As if! If anyone gets to be called vermin its him! With his freaky face tattoos and dumb cosplay, hasn't anyone told him Halloween was months ago? What a neet…

She thought all these things angrily as she blew bubbles into the water. Once the water had gone cold she climbed out and wrapped herself in her fluffiest robe, ignoring the thought of Sesshomaru's own fluffy tail that had popped into her head against her will.

Refusing to let the white-haired neet occupy anymore of her thoughts, Asuho instead focused on what she knew best, her appearance.

Drying her flaxen hair and schooling it into twin plaits, fastening them with ties that looked like bunny-tails, she started scrubbing the chipped periwinkle polish from her nails and replaced it with a shimmering peach color before moving on to smearing mascara onto her lashes and matching peach gloss onto her lips.

Luckily, her favorite blue sweater stopped just below her collar, meaning that it fully covered the pentagram and she could pretend it didn't exist for the rest of the day. Thank god too, it was so not cute.

Asuho huffed as she gave herself a final onceover, puckering her lips and winking at her reflection before giggling cutely into her hand. She twirled in front of her mirror, watching her skirt flutter around her legs as she admired herself, when she suddenly noticed her eyes had somehow changed from green to molten gold.

Not just that, but her reflection no longer showed her face anymore!

Sesshomaru's face filled her mirror as he looked at her completely emotionless, reaching his hand out and actually passing through the glass into Asuho's bathroom. She screamed as she tried to back away but froze when she felt his icy claws brush gently against the side of her face.

She opened her eyes to find him staring, unable to move her body as she felt him start pulling her towards him, her own body passing through the glass like it was the surface of a pond and falling against him as her left eye exploded in yellow light.

The pentagram burned harshly on her chest, and before she knew what was happening, Sesshomaru had already dropped her in a heap on the forest floor.

Asuho pulled herself to her knees, eyes darting around and taking notice that she was back in the center of a never ending forest and not her clean, air-conditioned bathroom.

She screamed.

She was back in Feudal Japan again!

Trying to stand, she suddenly felt very weak, every ounce of her energy leaving her as her vision swam and she fell back onto her knees. Sesshomaru turned his back to her, completely ignoring her as she rose a hand to her forehead and felt ice cold sweat permeating her skin.

"What… what did you do to me…?" she asked weakly, too tired to even bite an insult in his general direction.

The fluffy-tailed demon cracked his knuckles, his claws flexing at the tips of his fingers as he regarded her with apathetic contempt. "I've just drained all of your demonic power, I told you that the pearl that resides in your left eye now belongs to me… I plan to use its power many more times from this point forward, now get up."

His harsh glare made her wince, the blond scared silent as she shakily pushed herself to her feet. Just who the hell is this guy? Is he seriously gonna kill me?! Asuho thought, legs shaking as she followed him through the forest.

She'd not taken a few steps before collapsing again, the fluffy neet not stopping or even looking back. She bit her tongue and growled, furious.

"If you think I'm trudging through the woods again you're more mixed up than I thought!" she hissed, clenching her fists over her knees and just about losing it when she saw dirt beneath her peach flower nails. "Just let me go back home you neet!"

Her whining had apparently touched a nerve because when he finally turned back it was to wrap his claws around her neck, digging new bruises into her still healing flesh.

"Be quiet, impudent human girl..."

Call her an idiot, but she shut her eyes tight, blocking out his deadly stare before kicking him in the side, and though it didn't hurt him in the slightest Asuho still felt gutsier as a result. "No! Let go of me, you psycho! I don't care about your stupid pearl, I just want to go home!"

She raised her hand and slapped him across the cheek as hard as she could, and for the longest minute of her life the forest was flooded with an icy silence.

His golden eyes became blank before alighting with demonic rage. Sesshomaru growled lowly as he raised his hand, pointing two fingers into Asuho's chest and nonchalantly listening to her cries of agony, the pentagram glowing as it burned her. Her back arched backwards and she gripped her chest, pops of electricity searing her hands as the brand brought her the worst pain she had ever felt.

The golden pearl within her eye flickered, as if it was using the last of its energy to keep her conscious, and she once again fell to her knees, softly whimpering as a horrific realization washed over her…

No matter where she went or how far she ran, Sesshomaru would pull her back.

There was no escape from him, and like it or not, she belonged to him until he decided to kill her.

Asuho awoke having not remembered falling asleep, only to wince as she remembered the apathy in Sesshomaru's eyes and the throb of the pentagram in her skin.

Looking around and finding the forest bathed in the orange colors of the fading sunset, she climbed to her feet, feeling some of her strength return as she scanned the area for the demon lord that held her soul hostage, chewing the polish from her thumbnail as she did.

She found him overlooking a vast valley at the edge of the forest, Asuho pausing as she thought about approaching him. He wasn't paying attention to her, but it wasn't as if she could run or hide from him, she could only stand frozen as she waited for him to turn around.

"Your petty silence is annoying. Speak."

The sudden intrusion of his voice made her jump, raising her head to meet his eerie yellow eyes, his pupils small and gaze intense like that of a wolf or wild dog.

She swallowed thickly, "W-what… what are you going to do to me?"

For a long while he gave her no answer, until his eyes narrowed with obvious irritation.

"I have told you; the Rainbow Pearl that has been bound to your soul belongs to me… so I shall use it's power to obtain what I desire, whether or not your worthless life is extinguished in the process is irrelevant to me."

His harsh words stung. Asuho bit her lip, the taste of her peach-flavored gloss being all that grounded her enough to keep her from bursting into tears, though they did gather just behind her eyes.

So this was it huh? She was going to die no matter what, whether she stayed or tried to run, Sesshomaru would kill her. The only difference was when he would do it. If she stayed he would drain her dry until she was wrinkled and ugly, a walking corpse, and if she ran he would just kill her and take the Whatever Pearl by force anyway.

Damnit! She thought, wanting to cry out. Why did this have to happen to me?! I'm pretty and smart, my father has enough money to send me to whatever high school I want, sure I've never had a boyfriend but I thought I had all the time in the world for that! I have everything a girl could have to live for… so why me?!

Sesshomaru only moved again when the rustling of the underbrush became too loud for him to ignore, he turned towards the tree line, expression stony as his ivory hair was carried by the breeze. The girl flinched, hugging herself as the rustling grew closer until the ugliest little creature she had ever seen emerged from the shrubbery.

"Lord Sesshomaru! I am so glad to have found you!" it said, waddling it's wrinkled little body over to the demon lord. Its expression of joy was then suddenly replaced with a gaping beak filled with horror and shock. "Wh-what is this!? Begone bedeviled human scum! You are not worthy to be in the presence of Lord Sesshomaru!"

"Hah?!" she sneered, upper lip curling in disgust at the little frog-face, shouting and waving his freaky old man's cane at her. "What did you say? You're one to talk considering you're just about the ugliest thing I've ever seen!"

"Wh-what?!" it shrieked. "I am the vassal of the Great Demon of the West, Sesshomaru! I am sworn to his service, who on Earth do you think you are speaking to?! Human witch!"

"Witch?! What kinda nerve does a frog have to have to say that to a cute girl!?" she hissed, stomping her foot.

"Cute?! You are naught more than an insect!"

"Dumb frog!"

"Useless fool!"

"Slimy toad!"

"Foul wench!"

"Beak-faced kappa!"

The little troll gasped loudly at the insult, Asuho having successfully struck a nerve. "I-I am no kappa!"

"Jaken."

The bickering pair paused, both remembering that Sesshomaru was there. The kappa regarded him with respect, bowing with a shaky apology, while Asuho fearfully closed her mouth, too afraid to regard him at all.

Not that it offended him in the slightest, as he'd taken to favorably ignoring her entirely. "Did you bring it?" he asked the frog.

"Yes, my lord." He replied, Asuho noticing for the first time the massive, wrapped parcel strapped to his back, vaguely shaped like… "I have brought you a new arm suited to your power!"

With one pull the wrappings unfurled, revealing the curled fingers and leathery flesh of a monstrous demonic severed arm.

The blonde gagged when she saw it, especially the warts along the yellowed nailbeds, but Sesshomaru did not share in her disgust, sweeping over the appendage with his gaze before wrapping his claws around it and pressing it against his hollow sleeve.

He was missing an arm the whole time? She thought, unable to look away as the skin of Sesshomaru's shoulder fused and combined with the blue flesh of the demon's arm. He rose his new hand, flexing his fingers.

"This will do, for now." He said, purring.

Asuho closed her fists, feeling her hands tremble as for the first time since she'd arrived in this twisted version of Japan, she'd seen Sesshomaru smile.

It wasn't broad or wide like the wolfish grin she'd see on the faces of cinema villains, but slight and sharp, every bit as frightening as a predator ought to be.

I... did not enjoy Yashahime as much as I hoped I would. I like Moroha and wish the show was centered around her, Hisui was good, again, wish he had more screentime, and Towa and Setsuna were... meh. I know I am using Yashahime's lore for Asuho such as the rainbow pearls, but might be changing some things to create a better-flowing narrative. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this new chapter and I'll see you in the next one! Ciao!