CHAPTER NINE
"Inuyasha!!!" she
screamed and ran towards him. A hand reached out and grabbed
her wrist, pulling her back with incredible force. She shrieked
and hit at the person with her free hand, pushing back the disguise.
Naraku laughed and snatched the Shikon shards from around her
neck. "Thank you so much, Kagome. You really have been quite
helpful."
"You... you..." she stuttered.
"Kagome!!!" Shippou screamed
as he watched what was happening.
"RUN SHIPPOU!"
He didn't protest. He knew there
was nothing he could do. "Come on Kirara!" The cat
transformed and flew them far away.
Kagome wept as she struggled in
Naraku's grip. He sneered and licked the side of her face. "I
heard you killed Kikyo."
She didn't respond. Her eyes were
trained on Inuyasha.
"Hm. I have a little punishment
set up for you, Miko." Naraku carried her, kicking and fighting
over to the well.
'He's sending me home?' she wondered.
Naraku passed his free hand over
the well, casting a spell over it. "Have fun in whatever
time you end up in, and know for the rest of your days... that
I WON."
"What!? No!!!" she screamed
as he threw her down the well.
*
Kagome came to in the bottom of
the well. She heard murmuring voices and sat up. She held her
head. "What... what happened?"
Cautiously, she clawed her way
out of the well. It was a bright, sunny afternoon and the sun
poured in through the shrine's door. "How did I get home?"
she wondered and stepped out into the sunshine.
The visitors to the shrine were
dressed in traditional Japanese kimono, and many of the men were
dressed in strange, western-style suits. There were two white
foreigners in the crowd. She turned and looked towards her house.
It wasn't there. The shrine was
the same, only the wood it was made from was still very blond
and new.
"That's weird..." she
thought.
"Can I help you?" a young
priest asked her. He was tall and dressed just as her grandfather
dressed.
"Um, no. I just need to use
the well again." She smiled politely and jumped back down.
Kamiya Kaoru rang the bell and
prayed to her ancestors. She spied the collection box and grimaced.
'I feel so bad, not being able to contribute, but since we've
fallen on such rough times, I can't afford to give anything away.
I wish there was something I could do that doesn't involve money.
Maybe I can perform a charitable act,' she thought. Kaoru got
up and went to find the priest.
Kagome landed on her butt and made
a face. "What the...?" She suddenly realized that the
Shikon shards were gone. "Oh my god! I'm trapped!"
she cried. "What happened?! Where's Inuyasha!?"
"Excuse me, Miss?" a
voice called down. "Could you please come out of the scared
well?"
She sniffed, but agreed and climbed
out. "Excuse me, but could you tell me when I am?"
"Well you're... when?"
Kagome nodded.
"About 3:30 in the afternoon..."
"No, what year please?"
The priest looked on her with pity.
"Poor dear, she's mad! This is 1877."
Kagome moaned. "Well, at least
I have another hundred twenty something years before I have to
take another test..."
"Do you have a home I should
send you to?"
"Not for a while..."
she moped. "It's over there where those wisteria bushes
are."
A young woman approached them.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help but over hear. If you'd like,
you could stay with us!"
The priest brightened. "You
would do that, Kamiya-san?"
"Sure. I got enough nutjobs
hanging out already.. what's one more!" she smiled. When
Kagome sighed she changed her tone. "What I mean is I have
a big house you can stay at with lots of cool people to talk
to until you get your bearings. Whaddaya say?" Kaoru smiled
again.
"Sure. Why not."
"I'm Kamiya Kaoru. What's
your name?"
"Higurashi Kagome."
The priest looked at her. "I'm
Higurashi Junichiro, how strange!"
"Heh," she laughed. "Not
to me, it isn't"
*
Kirara streaked across the sky.
Shippou cried and tried not to look back.
"Kirara! We must find your
Sango and the others!" Myoga advised her. The demon cat
growled and dove down. "Where are you going!?" the
flea screamed.
She hit the ground and dropped
Shippou as she transformed.
"Hey! wait!" Shippou
called after her as she ran into Kaede's house. The kitsune was
overjoyed to see his friends and even happier that Myoga could
tell them the story while Sango held him in her arms and shushed
him.
"This is terrible," Miroku
repeated.
"What can be done if we have
lost the Tama?" Kaede wondered.
"We must do something."
Sango stared at the floor as she stroked Shippou. She held him
like a baby. Tears still glistened on her cheeks. Shippou was
falling asleep. "I cannot give up."
"Sango..." Miroku watched
her carefully. Something about his love had changed. She was
so intense and sad recently, going on about Naraku like that...
He wanted to kill him if only to make her smile again. "If
only we knew where Houseki was..."
"Who's Houseki?" Myoga
asked. They gave him the short story and decided that he should
take Kirara and search Houseki out. He left after admonishing
them that they should wait till he got back before investigating
the scene.
*
After lunch Kagome helped Kaoru
mop the floors. Kaoru had protested, feeling that it wouldn't
be charity work if she had her guest doing chores, but Kagome
insisted. She was given a Kimono to wear for modesty's sake.
A man and a boy walked into the enclosure and greeted them.
"Kagome-chan, this is Himura
Kenshin and Myojin Yahiko. They stay here too. Guys, this is
Higurashi Kagome. She'll be staying with us for a while."
They had brought back tofu and
vegetables from the market and all sat down to lunch.
"Don't get too spoiled, Kagome,"
Yahiko warned. "Kenshin's the only good cook around here."
He was promptly whacked over the
head with a mallet. "Watch it, brat."
"It's true, your cooking sucks!"
"Guys, it's ok," Kenshin
tried vainly to stop them.
Kagome just laughed. "You
remind me of..." she stopped and looked down at her half-eaten
rice ball.
The fight stopped. "Of who,
Kagome-chan?" Kaoru asked.
"My friends. I have no idea
if they're even alive right now."
"Where are they?" Yahiko
asked.
"You wouldn't believe me if
I told you."
Kenshin wondered what secrets she
held. Kaoru pouted but noticed something. "Hey,
looks like we have visitors."
Standing in the entry way to the
dojo grounds, reading the sign which read "Kamiya Dojo"
were Sango and Miroku.
"Guys!!!" Kagome yelled
and jumped up. Miroku dropped his staff and embraced her. "I
was so worried! What happened!?"
Sango gasped. "You mean you
don't know?"
She shook her head. "I don't
remember." Kagome looked at Sango strangely. Not only was
she wearing her hair up, but she was clutching a bundle to her
chest. "You didn't...?"
"No!" Sango blushed and
showed her that the 'baby' was only Shippou. He stuck his tongue
out. "We had a bit of a scuffle with the temple priest."
"Ah..."
"You really don't remember?"
Miroku asked.
"Not a thing. All I know is
that my shards are gone. Where is Inuyasha?"
They looked at each other.
"Never mind. I don't want
to know. Not yet. Let me be ignorant for a little while longer."
"Myoga's gone to look for
Houseki."
"So there's still hope?"
she asked.
Miroku nodded. "I wish I'd
listened to Myoga. Maybe combined we could..."
Sango shook her head, discouraging
him from speaking on the subject further.
"I'm sorry, Kagome. I guess
there'll be plenty of time for that later."
She nodded. "Well, come here.
This nice woman Kaoru is letting me stay here. Maybe we all can
stay." They were introduced and Kaoru gladly accepted them
into her house.
END CHAPTER NINE