"Does nobody else think it's odd?"

It had been such a random statement to be announced during dinner, but her younger brother was spontaneous, if nothing else.

"No one had gotten si—" but he didn't finish his sentence due to the warning glare she had given him.

Don't.

She knew he could all but hear the words in her head. For a while now, or more recently in the past month or so, her little brother had fallen down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories.

The most recent one?

The pandemic was a hoax.

Luckily, her mother's soft voice spoke with thoughts that mirrored her own.

"Please don't, Souta. Not at the dinner table."

A loud huff could be heard from her brother, indicating his feelings on such disregard for his view on current politics and the pandemic. Kagome contemplated telling them truths that he couldn't see. Information that would never be presented on the news. The reveal of such information hadn't been her biggest concern. Mostly, the problem would be if they would believe her or not. Or would her little brother even care? Would it change his views?

Deciding it couldn't hurt to try, she made up her mind.

"Just because we haven't gotten sick doesn't mean it's not real. We've all stayed home, remained clean, and more importantly, we're following the guidelines and suggestions from the health organization."

And for a split second, her courage wavered.

"Instead of guidelines, I think you mean demands, sis." Her brother rolled his eyes while picking at his dinner in annoyance.

Sighing in frustration from her brother's behavior and words, she continued.

"There's also...a barrier."

She waited, and braced herself for their response to such a revelation. Much like she expected, all eyes and heads snapped their attention to her, and she could see their confusion and shock plain as day. For a moment, everyone was silent. It was almost as if they were giving her time to take such words back. Or perhaps, they thought they had simply misheard.

"Barrier? Wha—" She knew what her brother was going to ask, but she also knew that she had no answers for him. In fact, such an idea to even form the barrier had been nothing short of hope for a best-case scenario.

To her shock, she didn't need to explain.

"Kagome has placed a holy barrier around the entirety of our shrine. To protect us." The loud and unwavering voice threw her for a loop. For a moment, it sounded nothing like her grandfather, but as she turned, she saw that the words had, in fact, come from him.

He knew?

Better yet, it had worked?

He could see it?!

Now, she had far too many questions for him.

For now, it seemed that such questions would wait. For almost instantly, the rest of the family began to throw out additional questions with no restraint and intrigue.

"Around the house? How?" Her mother's tone held both shock and worry. More likely, the concern for how such a thing could be done and the toll it would take on her.

Nodding, she tried to explain.

"I didn't know if it would do anything, to be honest. I learned about barriers and how to raise them in the Feudal Era. One time during a battle, my barrier kept miasma toxins from getting in." Not saying anymore; she figured they could put the pieces together. It wasn't difficult to understand why such a memory would make her try a barrier to prevent an airborne disease. It seemed that such credit to her family's intelligence was warranted because her mother nodded in understanding and her brother's brows raised in amazement.

"Does it work? Like, really work?"

She laughed. Of course, he would ask such a thing. Shrugging, she turned to her grandfather for hopefully an answer to such an inquiry. To her shock and relief, her grandfather nodded. With a knowing smile, he provided her an answer she had not expected.

"It doesn't just prevent—it heals."

What?

Did he mean?

"You can't mean—" her mother began, and just like that, each member of the family began to consider the meaning of such words.

Although, the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. After all, did she not have holy powers? Did her strengths not consist of purification? Such knowledge quickly turned to possibilities. If she could do this, what else could she do? As if reading her thoughts, her grandfather gave her a warning look and shook his head.

"Do not, Kagome. It is why I had not told you."

Slumping in her chair, she held back the defiant words she had ready.

Of course, he would say such a thing. If he knew her barrier prevented a plague and possibly healed infection, he would naturally know that with such information would come her desire to help others.

Yet, she also knew why his warning came.

The barrier around the house was the largest she had ever been able to create. At first, it had been small. Starting in the living room. Each day during the pandemic, she had thrown more and more reiki into it. After a week, it covered two rooms. A month in, the entire upstairs was covered. Two months passed, the house was secure. Four months later, she had finally been able to protect their entire property.

She hadn't known how long this pandemic would last, but she continued nonetheless.

Yet, such progress came at a price.

For one, she was constantly drained. At night, the shield would come down, and she would do her best to recover. In the morning, she would place it back up. It had taken practice, and what had at first required her total concentration could now be handled with a reminding thought here and there.

With a routine came a realization.

She was getting stronger.

As more rooms were secured and more control was learned, she grew confident.

Confident in her powers, but more importantly, herself.

At the four-month mark, she had realized she could begin multitasking between ensuring the shield remained and completing everyday tasks. With such a thought, she began to consider what else she could do to help her family during the pandemic.

That had been how she found her part-time job.

Training had been online, and the work wasn't hard. Being a customer service chat agent allowed her flexibility that a regular job wouldn't. With it, she could ensure her home was secure and gave her additional funds to make up for the shrine being closed.

It had been perfect.

"Is that why you sleep in?!" Her brother's voice rang out, and she couldn't help but laugh.

He wasn't wrong, but she was surprised he had noticed.

Her original six to seven-hour nights had turned into something entirely different. Now, she went to bed and required rest for twelve hours and sometimes a bit longer. Her mother had noticed, but she was amused to see her brother had put the facts together and came to such a logical conclusion.

"It gets tiring, but soon I hope to get stronger and will need less rest. I think my body is just trying to get to that point." Her mother nodded in understanding.

"So Grandpa...healing—?"

Silently, she thanked Souta for being so nosey. She also wanted to know. Watching her grandfather shake his head in annoyance, she knew he was preparing to answer the question anyway.

"Recently, I've observed that the illness is lessened on those that approach our shrine." He had answered with what seemed like an odd tone.

Was that a hint of annoyance hinted with worry?

Why?

Wasn't this good news?

"You must be careful, Kagome. Such power can cause unwanted attention." He stared at her with knowing eyes while continuing to eat dinner as if the entire conversation had been nothing out of the ordinary.

Careful?

With widened eyes, she tried to contemplate the meaning behind his words. She could see that he was proud and thankful even. Indeed he must have known that he and the rest of the family was the reason she had even considered the barrier. But, as she stared at him, realization dawned. He was worried.

Worried that the toll was too significant.

Worried that she would be noticed.

With narrowed eyes, she continued to try to figure out the unspoken words. Who would harm her for such a thing? Youkai? Surely not; they were all extinct. Humans? Most of them couldn't even see the barrier.

Suddenly, more pieces came together.

What if they weren't all extinct?

Youkai?

What if they had just gotten better at hiding? Was that why her grandfather was worried? Why he constantly rambled about the dangers of their kind? Did he know something she didn't? With newfound hope, she glanced at her grandfather once more. This time, before she could ask any questions, he spoke.

"It will be harder to spot if it is taken down throughout the day. Perhaps in shifts? Two hours at a time." This time, he mumbled the words low enough for only her to hear, but she nodded to let him know she understood.

Even still, she would need to ask about this further.

How had she not thought of such things?

After all, this was her grandfather. He knew of Youkai when everyone else thought they were a myth. He knew of the jewel even after the story had ended hundreds of years ago. So, why wouldn't he know even more? With appreciation in her eyes, she gave him a nod of thanks and understanding. How had she gone through half a year of a pandemic never bringing this up? Why had it taken this long for her to trust her family with such a secret?

Whatever reasons they were, they now no longer were valid.

"Thank you."

She meant it. With a full heart and a smile on her face, she gave her entire family a look of thankfulness.