A/N Wow. Thank you. This fic has gotten more reviews than any of my other ones (except my Chobits one, and three of those are just my friends using the reviews as a message board), even though it's my newest. I started this fic just to blow off steam about events IRL, I was wavering over whether or not to even post it, it's not really like any of my other stuff at all. So thank you, and keep reviewing and I'll keep writing. Celesta1, that is really weird. Does she know any guys named Mike? Been a while…Sorry. I owe you guys at least the rest of this chapter mother's yelling at me, more later.Gads this is a long chapter.
A/N: 06/14/04 Finally done! Sorry, my sister kidnapped the disc with my files on it. Just got it back today.
4: More revelations, with a dash of demons
Krystal got off the bus that Kagome normally rode home, and pulled out her map. Kagome had been driven home by her mom, and Mike's older sister was going to drop him off after his orchestra practice. She did some quick figuring, concerning what time the practice ended and how many red lights the bus had gotten stuck at, and decided that Mike would get there about the same time she did. Almost the instant she located 3250, she was nearly hit by a Toyota Camry. Staring up from Kagome's lawn, she watched a young woman, presumably the older sister, cuff Mike affectionately as he got out of the car, still carrying the omnipresent laptop case. Krystal waved to Mike as the car roared away.
"Hi. Does she always drive that cautiously?" she asked him as she sat up.
"Nah. She drives much worse when my dad's in the car. Probably just to freak him out."
"Ah." Krystal replied weakly. "I guess we'd better knock."
"No need." Kagome said, coming around the house. "I was sitting out by the old well, it's as good a place any to talk." The three teens walked around the house and sat down by the old well. After a few seconds of just staring at each other,
"I think Mike should start." Kagome suggested.
"Why me? Make Miss Knows-a-pretty-boy-that's-way-too-annoying-to-be-her-boyfriend start!"
"What!? Why not Mr. Weird curse seal on his hand!"
"I'll start." Krystal cut in wearily. "Okay, I'm Krystal Nitta. I'm the same age as you guys, and I live with just my dad. My Mom and little brother Kyle were killed in a car accident a couple years ago, the accident left me with some pretty nasty scars, as you saw earlier, Kagome. I'm pretty normal, but my Mom used to tell me that we were descended from youkai exterminators, and my dad always said that was nonsense, demons don't exist. I believed my mom, because I've always wanted to believe that there's something beyond this ordinary existence, and sometimes needing to find it was all that kept me going. Also, I have the weirdest feeling I've met you someplace, Kagome, though I would remember if I'd met you before. Who's next?"
Before Mike and Kagome could start arguing again, there was a loud crack from the well in the center of the room, and the well cover went flying. Kagome yelped. "Ohshitohshitohshit Inu-Yasha!!!!" A giant spider crawled out of the well, its abdomen scraping against the sides, and its cephalothorax not much smaller. All eight eyes fixed on Kagome, and it hissed,
"The Jewel!" as it jumped at her. Krystal knocked it away at the last instant with the broom, breaking the broom part off in the process.
"Foolss you expect to evade me that easily?" The Spider-Youkai spat as it threw spurts of webbing at Kagome. She dodged, and it tried again, and again, missing by less each time.
On the other side of the well, Mike bit his lip as he unwound the beads from his right hand. "I guess I'll get to see if this thing's any use, after all." Krystal was scrambling up the ladder toward the rafters, still clutching her beheaded broom. Kagome was still frantically dodging webbing when a yell resounded through the small temple.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Krystal yelled, jumping from the rafters. She came down hard on the spider's abdomen, and the extra weight caused the beast to flip over.
"Wind Tunnel! Now! Before it rights itself!" Kagome yelled.
"How did you-" Mike started, but then stopped and finished unwrapping his hand, aiming the black hole that was his line's greatest weapon and greatest curse at the demon. The last burst of webbing the demon had aimed at Kagome did a 180 and was sucked in, along with everything else that wasn't nailed down. The demon was sucked in almost immediately, and as soon as it was through, Mike reapplied the protective seals. He sagged against the wall in relief.
"Well, Krystal, you were looking for something beyond the ordinary, I think you just found it."
Krystal sighed, and licked the blood off her knee where she'd scraped it in her landing. "Either of you going to tell me exactly what I found?"
Before either of them said anything, a red and silver blur burst from the well. "Kagome!" Yelled the young… well, Krystal had thought that he was human until she his ears. They were those of a dog or wolf. "Are you okay? Where's the demon?" he looked around. "Why are Miroku and Sango with you? Why are they dressed like that?"
"Inu-Yasha, I'd like you to meet my class mates, Mike and Krystal. Mike, Krystal, this is Inu-Yasha. He's half demon, and definitely not my boyfriend. He is from feudal era Japan. You see, this well is known as the Bone eater's well, and somehow functions as a portal across time.
"Are you sure they're not Miroku and Sango? They smell just like them."
"Yes, I'm as sure as I am that my name's not Kikyo. One day I fell down the well and found myself in feudal Japan. I saw Inu-Yasha bound to a tree near the well, and released him so he could kill the demon that attacked me. But then a crow demon attacked and swallowed the jewel. I killed it with an arrow, but I shattered the Shikkon Jewel into a zillion pieces. Inu-Yasha and I, along with a few others, have been hunting the shards ever since. Miroku and Sango are two of our traveling companions. Mike, how did you come to have the wind tunnel?"
"Umm, I just do. Our family priest said it was a, and I quote, 'A manifestation of a centuries old curse that had supposedly been obliterated.' Whether that's true I don't know, but it's been there as long as I can remember. I've kept it sealed ever since the time I tried to use it to clean my room when I was six, you would not believe how much my mom yelled at me for that."
"But if they're not Miroku and Sango then how…" Inu-yasha butted in.
"I think they might be their reincarnations." Kagome answered.
"What?!" Mike, Krystal and Inu-yasha yelled together.
"Um, how could we be reincarnations of people you know? As in they're still alive? I thought you were only reincarnated after you died?" Mike asked.
"Probably because they're dead now but they're alive in the time that Kagome travels to through the well. The potential parallaxes are making my head hurt." Krystal replied.
"What's a parallax?" Inu yasha asked.
Mike shrugged, "I guess that makes sense, if I knew her in a former life that would explain why Kagome seems so familiar. Let me guess, Kagome, the guy who I'm supposedly the reincarnation of also has the wind tunnel, that's how you knew I did."
"Something like that. It's getting late. See you two tomorrow at school?" Kagome replied.
"Yep." Mike replied.