Chapter Two

Got to Believe in Something: Why Can't it be me?

Kagome found the well house door open and swaying in the night breeze. All seemed…quiet.

She kicked the door all the way open and stepped inside. The shovel was out and she was ready to do battle. It's no bow and arrow but even if I can't charge it with scared energy I can still beat something half to death.

Kagome searched the tiny hut and only found a few dead mice and fifty years of dust. Still nothing.

Disgusted she sat on the steps leading down to the well and pointed the beam of the flash light on the boarded up mouth of the well.

It was smaller than she remembered. But then her hips were wider. Ugh, I'd rather not think about that…

The light from the flash light passed over Ayumi's dried blood. Damn that girl sure is a bleeder. I've never seen anyone who can cut their finger and get the blood on every surface of a room like she can.

She stood and examined the boards. They were nailed down and when she pulled on them they refused to budge. Still sturdy and look Grandpa's sutras are still here.

Kagome picked one up and it fell to dust in her hands. She sat back on the stone stairs. Okay what now genius? It was strange but she was almost disappointed there was no yokai well house monster to do battle with. Instead she sat on the steps facing the falsely accused well with the shovel across her knees. If Hojo finds me like this…I'll never hear the end of it.

"Inuyasha…what are you doing tonight?" her voice echoed of the back of the house. Are you with Kikyo and dozens of adorable kids with long black hair and pointy furry ears?

Kagome pushed the shovel from her lap and held her head in her hands. Wonder if his kids mouth back to him?

What am I gonna do with Ayumi? She gets worse everyday. Why won't Hojo help me? His work is important but aren't his kids important too? Sometimes I feel like I'm a single parent.

Kagome heard a creak of old wood bending. She snatched up the shovel and held it over the mouth of the well. Her hands were steady and her teeth gritted. Bring it on, I've still got it!

She stood in the defensive position for two minutes. "What the hell are you? You are not welcome here. You have no claim on me or my family. Show yourself!"

A stray cat jumped over the well and ran between her spread feet. Kagome felt incredibly stupid and tossed the shovel down. The well house was clean. She was being ridiculous. Mistress Centipede was still dust and all was quiet.

Kagome felt dejected. I'm out here yelling at a well for God sakes! What is wrong with me?

She'd long ago come to terms with losing Inuyasha. At first it was the deepest pain she'd ever felt, second only to the death of her father. But in retrospect she should have been able to predict it. He was fiercely loyal and Kikyo was his first love.

And he belongs in his own time. He would have hated here so much and I couldn't stay there. So that's it. It been settled for fourteen years… So why am I standing out here yelling at the stupid well?

Damned well, everything seemed to center around it. She was right to lock it away. If I catch the girls in here again, I'm gonna ground the living hell out of them.

Her world was here. Not there. She lived in the present not the past and her greatest fear was that one of her girls would be called into the damned well. How did my mom stand it? And how would she explain it to Hojo?

Hojo lived in a world of facts, figures and logic. There were no grays in his world. Everything except his dress socks was either black or white. There was no in-between. No room for maybes, what ifs or the supernatural. If there was a problem then he didn't want to hear about it. He wanted to solve it. She remembered all the gifts he brought her in junior high. Special slippers, herbal remedies...the embarrassing hemorrhoid pillow, all of it were his solutions to her problems.

Eight years ago…

In their apartment in downtown Tokyo the tiny sliding glass door that opened to their patio was haunted. Ever morning there was a heated discussion about who had left the door open. Kagome locked it every night before going to bed and Hojo found it unlocked and standing open every morning.

Eventually he blatantly accused her of lying about the stupid patio door. Kagome was furious. Why would she, an adult woman, lie about something so silly? The trouble started when she was pregnant with Ayumi so there were no children to blame. Why couldn't he just believe her and help her investigate the problem? How could he think she was so immature she would lie to get attention?

The last straw broke late one Sunday morning. Kagome sat on the living room couch with a hot cup of green tea with a book propped up on her oversized pregnant belly. She heard the noise of the sliding glass lock popping open and jerked her head up from the book. While she was watching the latch fell open and the door slid across the track until it was standing wide open.

Kagome set down her tea, got up to lock and close the door. She sat down and went back to her book. Ten minutes later the lock popped and the door opened again by itself. She walked out on the patio to see if there was some construction going on or anything that might be jarring or shaking the door open. But there was nothing.

She decided whether or not it was a ghost, it was dangerous to leave the door open. Kagome took a broom handle and jammed it in the tack of the sliding glass door. The door slid open then hit the broom handle and stopped.

This trick worked until the pounding started. Kagome was in the kitchen and was startled and nearly dropped a hot pan on her foot. She rushed out to the living room and watched the tiny door shake with the force of the pounding. At first she was terrified then her old self kicked in and then she was angry. Hojo thought she was crazy, or at least he treated her that way, and it was all because of this ghost.

Her first inclination was to break out the camcorder and tape it. That would show him. Then Kagome had a better idea. She removed the broom stick and leaned it against the wall. That night before she went to bed she put it back. She made sure their bedroom door was open and climbed into bed beside Hojo.

Kagome woke at 1 am when Hojo sat straight up in bed. His face was pale and his eyes wide.
"Someone's in the apartment! I'm gonna call for help."

Kagome panicked. She hadn't planned on Hojo calling the police. She put her hand on his arm. "It's just the stupid cat again. Why don't you go look?"

Hojo began to protest but the pounding started again. Kagome pulled the covers to her chin. "It's something on the balcony; there isn't anything in the apartment. We are twenty stories up; it's just the cat or something. Go look."

Hojo relented and crept from the bed to the bedroom door. Kagome leaned up so she could see his expression. His mouth fell open and he pointed. "The damn patio door, it's shaking!"

Kagome smiled and slid out of bed and stood beside him. "Look it at go."

She walked over the door and removed the broom handle. Once free the door slid open and the apartment was filled with the cool night air. She felt like throwing her head back and yelling out Ta Da!

Hojo examined the door and never did find a reasonable explanation for how it was behaving. He complained to the building's manager who moved them to a 'quieter' apartment. He never admitted the cause was supernatural nor did he apologize to Kagome. Of course she never brought it up because he was so over worked trying to get ahead at the firm.

But then how much effort did it take to tell someone 'I'm sorry and you're not crazy'? Should've, could've, would've…are the words that run the world. It was never the big things in life that drove a person over the edge but all the little things.

Present…

Kagome knew she could never tell Hojo about the well. Even if he believed her she didn't think he could take it. It was funny to think after all that happened now only she and Souta knew about it.

Sometimes it felt like a big conspiracy theory or a mirror that she could look into and see past her own reflection. When Hojo looked into the same mirror he saw his thirty one year old wife but Kagome saw so much more.

She bent down and retrieved the shovel. Ayumi must have heard a neighbor boy or a tourist singing. There is nothing here. Kagome shut the door and made sure it was firmly locked.

She jogged back to the house. Had she followed the example of Lot's wife and turned back, she would have noticed the door was glowing.

One month later…

Kagome poured the green tea and set out the breakfast milk on the table. Her girls loved sugary American cereal. It was a habit she'd tried in vain to break them of.

Ayumi poured milk over her corn puffs. "Mom have you seen my math book?"

Kagome was helping Hojo search for his keys and didn't have the time or patience to chase down a missing text book. "Didn't you put it away last night? Why didn't you get ready for school before you went to bed?"

Ayumi said. "I thought I did, I just forgot."

Miya knocked her bowl off the table. It fell to the floor and shattered into many milk covered pieces of porcelain. She began to cry.

Hojo went back into the living room still searching for his keys. "I can't be late!"

Kagome called to him. "Just take the bus. I'm sure the keys will show up later today."

"I can't! I have to drive to the airport after work. We have that meeting in Bangkok tomorrow."

Kagome's hand found her hip. "You can't go. Ayumi's play is tonight. She's worked so hard to catch up on the lines and they put her in it even though she's new. You promised."

Hojo shrugged. "I don't have a choice. The client wants to see the prototype one more time. I wanted to see the play too but this is more important."

Ayumi complained. "Dad but you promised!" She wandered in from the kitchen and looked up at him.

Before Hojo donned his poker face, Kagome saw the guilt in his eyes. Why am I mad? He really can't help it. "Ayumi, we'll just tape it and Dad will watch when he gets home." Whenever that is.

Hojo gave her a grateful look. "Thanks!" He put his hand in his suit pocket and Kagome heard the jangle of his keys. "Guess I had them the whole time." He grinned sheepishly and headed towards the front door.

Kagome said. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Hojo panicked for a moment then frowned. "What?"

Kagome rolled her eyes and he laughed. "Oh yeah." Hojo came back to give her a quick embrace and peck on the lips. The he picked up his brief case and carry on bag as he rushed out the door.

Kagome went back to the kitchen and began mopping up the spilt milk.

Hours later…

Kagome sat in front on the ledger chewing on the top of her pen. How am I ever going to make this place profitable? I don't expect to get rich but we need to make some money… Maybe I should start offering fortunes again. They are always so popular.

The phone beside her rang. She answered and it was the credit card company.

"This is your Visa card fraud protection team. We are calling to verify charges to your account."

Kagome sat down the pen. "What charges?"

"Yesterday someone purchased two round trip plane tickets from Tokyo to Hokkaido and then hotel reservations at the Noboribetsu Roykan resort." The woman's tone was brisk and business like.

Kagome bit her lip. "What the hell? I don't know anything about this."

The woman rattled of the phone number the purchase had been made from and Kagome recognized Hojo's cell phone number. She sighed. "I don't know if they are fraud but I need to check with my husband first."

"That's fine Mam you have five business days to contact us if they are not your charges."

"Thank you." Kagome hung up the phone and sat in dumb silence. The floor rushed up meet her but then she realized she'd only slipped off the chair. Who was Hojo taking to an exclusive roykan (hot spring) resort? How long had this been going on?

Kagome's mind pulled up every late night meeting, every missed family outing and all of his frequent business trips. Could Hojo betray her? Could the boy who brought her gifts have a mistress?

Fourteen years ago Inuyasha told her. "I want you to go back, it's where you belong. Go see that boy…the one who gives you stuff. You will be better off without me."

Now here she was and the boy was now a man who was cheating on her. Until now she'd always believed loyalty was the one trait Inuyasha and Hojo shared.

How could he do this? What about the girls? Don't they mean anything to him?

Kagome pulled herself to her feet. What if she was wrong and it was just a mistake or even better fraud? She was over reacting. She shouldn't worry until she had reason to. But isn't a husband who is never home and purchases resort tickets without me reason enough to worry?

Notes:

I am glad ya'll like this. I actually worked hard on this one because it doesn't take place in the good old USA and I had to do some real research. Iz helped but not much…lazy hedgehog. Going out for Sushi tonight (yay!) and am cleaning my house now (boo!) so no more updates on any stories today!