A Timeless Meeting
Kagome laid the shards out in front of her, examining them carefully. Inuyasha hovered over her shoulder.
"What're you doing, Kagome?" He asked.
She shook her head. As if pieces in a puzzle, all the shards resembled each other. It was only because the future shard was giving off a different aura that Kagome could tell the difference. Realizing that it was useless, Kagome scooped up the shards and returned them to their container. She looked up.
"Where'd Hojo-kun go?"
"That boy?" Inuyasha said. "He left a while ago. Why?"
Kagome stood up quickly, "And you let him go? He's not used to this world, Inuyasha!"
Inuyasha's ears flattened against his head at being yelled at. He stood up in front of her. "What was I supposed to do? Yell at him and force him to stay here?"
Kagome didn't say anything. She just gave an angry noise and left the hut. Kagome knew that Hojo-kun probably wasn't in any danger, but she was afraid that something might happen. He was unfamiliar with the place, after all. She paused outside while considering which direction he might have gone in. There was only one place that she knew of. The well.
She jogged through the forest. She didn't feel very rushed considering he couldn't really go anywhere, but she was just afraid that he might have tripped or something. Hojo-kun never really struck her as an outdoor person. She arrived at the well and saw him sitting on the edge of it, staring down at the grass.
"Hojo-kun! Thank goodness!" She sighed in relief and stopped to catch her breath.
"I tried the well, Higurashi-san. It won't let me go home," he said sadly.
Kagome walked over to sit next to him. "We'll take care of it. Don't worry."
"I need to go home, Higurashi-san! What about school? My family? Aren't you upset that you can't leave?"
Kagome mentally chided herself. Of course he'd be upset. Last night, a youkai had attacked. For her and the others, it was business as usual. For him, it was probably very scary. And she hadn't even tried to talk to him afterward. She shook her head. "I usually stay here for a while. My family understands, and I've just about given up on school."
She'd never seen the boy acting anything other than cheerful. It was somewhat alarming to see him so helpless. She had gotten so used to coming to this time, that she hadn't realized how hard it was for others to adjust. It's because I belong here, she thought. He doesn't.
"Higurashi-san," he said softly. "Is Inuyasha your boyfriend?"
Kagome's eyes widened at the question, "Inuyasha...and me...? No! No, of course not. We just work together to find the shards! Um...why do you ask?"
Did she imagine it or did he seem a bit relieved when she said that? He shrugged, "I just thought for a while that I was your boyfriend."
Kagome didn't know what to say. Was Hojo-kun her boyfriend? She didn't think so. They'd been out on a couple of dates. And he did give her presents all the time. She looked away and down at her own feet. Did that make them boyfriend and girlfriend? She felt him move beside her and looked up to see him smiling and offering her a flower.
"I wanted to get you a proper present, but I don't think they'd take my money here. This will have to do," he said, seemingly cheered up.
Kagome couldn't help it. She blushed. "Uh...thank you." She took the flower.
It was then that she felt it. A presence coming from the well. It wasn't a shard, though. It felt something like a youkai, but it was twisted. Different, somehow. Kagome turned and looked behind her, down into the well. She held her breath to try to keep her rapidly beating heart from bursting out of her chest. It was like a darkness enveloping her, cutting off her senses. She tried to peer into the well, but she couldn't quite see. Black hands covered her eyes, her ears, her nose. She'd never felt anything like it, and she felt like she'd never escape from it. It was a single presence. A somebody. She felt like screaming out, but she didn't think she could have made any noise. Her limbs were turning to ice, and she was sure that they would soon fade away, rendering her unable to move. To protect herself. There wasn't a way out. There was no way out...
"Higurashi-san!" She felt a hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently. Her senses were back. She blinked and looked around at the bright clearing, feeling the sun's warmth. Every sense seemed to be heightened as it went from a state of dead to alive. Input flooded in. She could hear the wind blowing gently, Hojo-kun's heart beating quickly in concern for her, her own heart, slowing down to its normal pace. The wood from the well scratched at her hands as she rubbed them slightly against it, revelling in the feeling that she had lost just a few seconds before. It was okay.
Turning her head, she looked at Hojo-kun. He looked very worried.
"Are you okay, Higurashi-san? Your eyes lost focus and you didn't respond to anything for a few minutes," he said.
Only a few minutes? Then why had it seemed like a lifetime? She nodded, "I'm fine, Hojo-kun." Instinctively, her hand went to where she kept the shards, checking to make sure they were all there. They were. Even the one from her own time was safe. She sighed in relief. "I'm fine now."
******
Inuyasha jumped into his tree with one leap and hunkered down to sulk, doubting that he'd be down for a while. Stupid girl! She hadn't even realized that he'd followed her out to find that boy. He'd left right after he'd said that he was her boyfriend. Stupid boy! Who did he think he was to claim Kagome like that? Stupid Kagome! Saying that she ONLY worked with him to find the shards! After all, Inuyasha protected her, didn't he? He'd thought that he and Kagome were a bit closer now than just shard-hunting partners. Inuyasha clawed at the branch below him. He snorted. Stupid boy with his stupid shard and stupid presents and stupid thoughts. It was all stupid.
He was in the middle of his thoughts when Miroku wandered by the tree and stopped, looking up. "Inuyasha!" He called.
"What do you want?" Inuyasha snarled back at him.
Miroku seemed to not notice Inuyasha's bad temper. Either that, or he guessed at the cause and decided not to get involved. "There are rumours of a youkai possessing a Shikon shard to the West. We were going to leave tomorrow morning, if that's okay with you."
Inuyasha just nodded, wishing the priest would go away. He didn't feel like talking to anybody at the moment.
"Kagome-sama's friend should stay here. He's unfamiliar with this world, and would only get in the way." Miroku explained.
Damn right he's getting in the way, Inuyasha thought. But he only nodded in response.
Miroku paused as if expecting Inuyasha to say more. Finally, though, he shook his head and wandered off. Relieved, Inuyasha leaned his head back against the tree he was sitting against. He should have known that Kagome had stuff like that going on in her world. After all, she liked going back so much. And she mentioned many times that she didn't like school. He should have guessed that she had a boyfriend or something. But she'd hidden it from him. That was something that he deserved to know, wasn't it?
He saw them coming from the woods in the direction of the well. Hojo was smiling, and Kagome walked beside him. Inuyasha turned his nose up as the two walked away towards the hut.
****
Kagome went to bed wondering why she hadn't seen Inuyasha for the rest of the day. She hadn't seen him since she'd yelled at him for letting Hojo-kun run off. He surely wasn't still sulking about that. She had meant to tell the others about what happened at the well, but they immediately told her about a youkai with a Shikon shard that they were going after tomorrow. Kagome got sidetracked and forgot. Strange that an experience like that could slip her mind. As Kagome snuggled into her sleeping bag, she just told herself that she'd tell them all tomorrow.
She opened her eyes once to see if Inuyasha had come in. He sometimes slept in the hut with them, usually sitting up in the corner. He hadn't come in. Miroku assured her that he had spoken to him earlier, and that Inuyasha, while apparently in a bad mood, was alright. Kagome couldn't help a sigh. Inuyasha's bad moods could be tough to handle.
She fell asleep sooner than she expected.
****
"Hello, Ka-go-me-chan." A teasing voice roused her. Kagome reluctantly opened her eyes. She was still in the hut in her sleeping bag. Around her, the others were asleep. Right in front of her was a person wearing black robes and a mask that concealed the lower half of their face. Intense blue eyes stared at her, and from beneath a hood she could see short red hair.
Kagome sat up, yelling in alarm. None of the others roused.
"Shhh...you don't want to wake the others up, Kagome-chan." The person said.
Kagome looked around, "This is...a dream?" She questioned. It felt real, though. She looked closely at her companions. Something was wrong. They weren't breathing. Kagome turned to look at Shippo, sleeping with Kirara. The kitsune was stopped in the middle of a snore.
"Time is a useful tool, if you one how to work with it," the visitor said. Kagome was sure she could here a smirk in the voice.
"Who are you?" Kagome demanded. Time was frozen. Was that even possible? Or was this truly a dream? A very vivid dream.
Ignoring the question, the person continued, "I need a favor of you, Kagome-chan." The figure put a hand on Kagome's shoulder. As they did, Kagome felt a burst of coldness go through her body. Similar to what happened at the well, but smaller in magnitude. Kagome moved to shove the hand away, but found her muscles unwilling to obey her. The person's hand travelled down her arm, taking a leisurely course until she touched the place where Kagome hid the Shikon shards. Kagome could see the smile in the person's eyes. "That shard..."
Mustering up all of her strength, Kagome jerked away and pushed against the person. Kagome fell backwards onto her sleeping bag, breathing heavy. The person just laughed and moved so that they were above Kagome's body, hands on either side of Kagome's head. It was an intimidating position. Kagome didn't have the energy to shove them away again. She didn't have the energy for anything.
"The special shard...you know the one I speak of...it's needed. My master wants it, and you must bring it to him."
"Why can't you just steal it and take it to him?" Kagome asked between breaths.
The person raised their hand and moved it toward Kagome's cheek, as if to touch it. Kagome fliched away, but she had a limited range of motion at the moment. The person gave an amused hum. "There are reasons."
"I'm not going to help you," Kagome said, trying to sound tough, but failing.
The hand touched her cheek, sending another spasm of darkness through her body. "Kagome-chan, isn't this a bit exciting?" The person laughed as Kagome tried to move enough to get away from the freezing hand. The intruder moved their face to where it was just inches from Kagome's. "If you refuse to help me, then the person you care for most will die."
Kagome gasped and shoved away from the hand. She still lay, panting heavily on her sleeping bag. The person raised one eyebrow and sat up. "Also, if you tell anyone anything about me or what's happened, that person will die. That's not a threat. It's a certainty."
Kagome attempted to sit up, but finally decided on staying where she was. What was this person doing to her?
They stood up, swing back their cloak in a dramatic gesture. "That's all for tonight. I will give you more information when the time calls for it. I just felt the need to introduce myself. Kagome-chan," they bowed. "I look forward to working with you."
Kagome blinked and saw that the person had disappeared. She heard the sounds of the others sleeping. Slight intakes of air, and Shippo's noisy snoring. Outside, the wind rustled the leaves in the trees. Kagome kept taking deep breaths, trying to fight down the feeling of helplessness that had overcome her. "Introduce themselves"?? The person hadn't even given Kagome a name! Kagome paused. She didn't even know if they were a guy or a girl. The voice was a mid-range tone, that Kagome could easily see belonging to either a male or a female. And who was this master that Kagome was supposed to take the shard to?
Kagome's first instinct was to tell the others. Get their help. However...the one she cared for most would die. It was laughable, but Kagome believed them.
Glancing around to make sure none of the others had woken up, Kagome settled down in her sleeping bag. She fell asleep quickly and slept through the night.