Shikon in the Future Tense
Kagome examined the new shard that had come from her own time. She had left the hut to take a walk with Hojo-kun, telling the others that she wanted a chance to talk to him to let him know what was going on. He walked patiently beside her as they made their way through the forest. Kagome had a suspicion that Inuyasha was lurking about somewhere, but she didn't let that concern her. He was probably afraid that Hojo-kun was going to try to steal the shard.
The shard. It looked different. Its aura wasn't like the others. That's why it had taken her a while to recognize it. It wasn't until she was actually holding it in her hand that she had known what it was. If a shard had come from the future, did that mean that Kagome and the others would never successfully find all the Shikon no Tama shards? Or was the shard actually from the past, but had somehow crossed over to Kagome's time. Kagome mulled it over. If the latter was the case, then the shard in her hand was the only shard of its kind. However, if the former were true, then there'd be two identical shards out there. One from Sengoku Jidai...and one from her own time, the future. But what did that mean?
"Higurashi-san?" Hojo-kun stopped. Kagome looked in front of her and saw the well. She sighed. That's what she got for walking without thinking about where she was going.
She sat down on the edge of the well and indicated that Hojo-kun should sit, too. He smiled, "It's a beautiful place, isn't it, Higurashi-san?"
Did anything phase this guy? Kagome nodded. "Hojo-kun," she began. "I think it's time to tell you why I've been missing school all this time..." she trailed off.
"But it's obvious!" He said.
"Well, yes, it is, but I thought – "
"Walking around this age must be bad for your health. I'm sure you have to take a lot of time to recover when you return home."
Kagome tried to keep from falling off her seat. "Uh, Hojo-kun? I'm healthy. I'm not sick. I just spend a lot of time here."
Hojo-kun laughed and rubbed the back of his head, "Oh! So I guess you didn't need all those presents I gave you!"
Kagome smiled. "No, I didn't." She paused, "But it was nice of you to think of me." She added in case he felt embarassed.
"I'll remember that now. I'll get you different sorts of presents."
"Hojo-kun, aren't you curious as to why I spend a lot of time here?"
He blinked as if the answer were obvious, "Because you have friends here?"
Kagome sighed and explained about the Shikon no Tama. She just gave a general overview. Enough to give him an idea of what's going on. He nodded after she finished.
"I see. So what you found in the bottle of herbs was..."
"A shikon shard. Though how it got there is a mystery."
She rested her elbows on her knees and put her chin on her hands. There was a silence as each of them thought about the shard. However, she soon noticed Hojo-kun looking down into the well.
"So, Higurashi-san...we can't get home..." he trailed off. For once, he didn't look happy.
In an attempt to cheer him up, Kagome smiled, "It'll be okay! We'll get the curse off the well and then we'll be able to send you home."
Hojo-kun looked hopefully at her, the reality of the situation seeming to sink in.
"In the meantime," she continued. "We should get back to Kaede's hut so we can get some rest, okay?"
He nodded and followed her as she stood up.
****
"Oi, Kaede, tell me the truth. Can you lift the curse off the well?" Inuyasha asked. She was gathering some plants from the garden, and he sat next to her on all fours.
"I told you I couldn't. It's beyond my power."
"What about Kagome's power?"
Kaede shook her head. "Kagome is still untrained in the miko ways. There's no way she could lift a curse."
Inuyasha paused, "What about...Kikyo..."
Kaede didn't look up. Inuyasha would have thought she hadn't heard him as she continued with her work. However, he could see from her eyes that she was thinking of what answer to give him. "Kikyo-neesan could probably break the curse. I don't think she'd be willing to, however." Kaede straightened up, looking down at Inuyasha. "I would be more concerned about that shard and how it turned up in Kagome's time."
She walked away and Inuyasha sat still, letting her leave. His ears twitched as he heard Hojo and Kagome finally returning. He'd followed them for a bit, then decided to take the opportunity to speak with Kaede. Despite the many times he'd kept Kagome from going back to her home, he never wanted the well sealed. He knew that Kagome wouldn't want that. Of course, he also wanted to get Hojo back to his own time, so that the boy wouldn't get in the way. Inuyasha didn't see what the big deal was with the shard. They were collecting them, after all. Who cared if it came from the future or the present?
Inuyasha walked to his tree and jumped up to settle on the high branch. He allowed himself to close his eyes for a bit. He didn't tend to get much sleep while Kagome was in her time, though he would never admit it to her. He knew that she said her world was safer than his, but he couldn't help but worry that something might happen to her while he wasn't able to protect her.
As if his thoughts had summoned it, his ears perked up when he sensed a youkai presence. He stood up and looked around at the surroundings. He couldn't see anything, though that didn't necessarily mean much. He jumped down and ran in the direction of the youkai. It didn't take him long to realize that it was coming from the direction of Kaede's hut, where the others were asleep. Inuyasha ran even faster.
When he reached the hut, all was quiet, though he could sense the youkai close by. He could smell it in the air. He looked around, carefully searching the area. He couldn't see anything.
"Inuyasha," Miroku walked out of the hut. "You feel it, too?" He asked.
Inuyasha nodded, taking out Tetsusaiga. A few seconds later, Sango ran out dressed in her exterminator outfit with her boomerang on her back. Kirara was right behind her.
"Where is it?" She asked, looking around with the others.
Miroku just shook his head. Inuyasha growled in frustration. The youkai should be right next to them! Where the hell was the thing?
As if in answer, he heard Kagome scream from inside the hut. Inuyasha was at the door before the others could even react. The scene before him baffled him and concerned him at the same time. Kagome was in a corner, arrow ready to shoot. Shippo was still in her sleeping bag, looking at her in surprise. That Hojo boy was sitting back against the wall, looking confused as hell. Kagome seemed to be struggling against something.
"What's going on?" Inuyasha asked. The youkai presence was even greater in here. The youkai was here. It was...invisible?
"You can't see it?" Kagome yelled at him.
"You can?" Inuyasha yelled back.
Kagome got that steely look in her eye and aimed her arrow towards what looked like the empty wall opposite her. She let go and the arrow flew, hitting something. Whatever it was staggered backwards, if the movement of the arrow was any indication.
Without a second thought, Inuyasha attacked with Tetsusaiiga, aiming for where the arrow had struck. He felt some resistance, and pushed down harder, ready to cleave through the...whatever it was.
"Wait!" Kagome cried.
Surprised at the sudden request for mercy, Inuyasha stopped his downward slash and looked at her. She walked over and got on her knees close to where he was putting his sword. She seemed to be listening intently. Behind him, Inuyasha could tell that Sango and Miroku were ready to attack if the situation called for it. After a few minutes, Kagome nodded and closed her eyes, pressing her hand tightly around the little container that held the shards.
"You can remove Tetsusaiga now, Inuyasha. He's dead." She said, standing up.
"Kagome-chan, what is it?" Sango ran toward her, staring down at the nothing on the floor.
"He was a weak youkai."
"He wanted the shards?" Miroku asked, walking over to stand beside Inuyasha.
Kagome shook her head, "Only one of them. The one Hojo-kun brought from the future."
Inuyasha glanced over at the boy, who was staring in surprise at Kagome. Inuyasha supressed a grin. The boy probably thought she was a stupid, weak little girl. He hesitated in his thoughts when he realized he was proud of Kagome. How strange was that?
Kaede entered the hut at that moment. She stared at the situation and Inuyasha could tell that she could also see the youkai. Miko blood. No wonder nobody else was able to spot it.
"What did it say to you, Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked.
"He apologized. He's not usually aggressive, he said, but he really wanted that particular shard," she frowned. "He died before he could explain why."
Kaede simply nodded, "We'll have to dispose of his remains properly. Kagome and I will take care of that, seeing as we're the only two that can see him.
Sensing that the danger was over, Inuyasha withdrew Tetsusaiga and returned it to the sheath at his side. Everybody seemed content with the outcome and was settling down in various places as Kaede and Kagome removed the body. Kagome came back in a few seconds later. No doubt they were going to wait until morning to take care of the body. She looked at Inuyasha who remained standing in the middle of the room.
"Yes, Inuyasha?" She asked.
He glanced around at the others, know everybody was still awake. In fact, Hojo was still looking at Kagome with something akin to awe. Only Shippo had settled back down and appeared to be snoring lightly.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" He asked softly, so as not to let the others hear. It was a blow to his pride to drop his tough persona around them.
Kagome smiled sleepily and shook her head.
Inuyasha crossed his arms and turned his nose up, closing his eyes. "Good. I had to make sure you wouldn't slow us down tomorrow or anything."
Kagome giggled. He opened his eyes to look sideways at her. She smiled back at him, "Thank you." She said. Then she got down into her sleeping back and wrapped her arms around Shippo to go to sleep.
It wasn't until her eyes were closed that Inuyasha gave the smallest smile back to her.