WEDNESDAY
Miroku was starting to worry.
When Inuyasha and Kagome had not returned the previous night as they had planned, Miroku had been surprised but unconcerned. He was even a little pleased, because it meant that the gang would be able to leave in the morning instead of at night, and Miroku would be able to sleep in a building instead of under the stars (and bugs and puking owls and wandering demons.) Maybe Inuyasha and Kagome had finally succumbed to the overwhelming sexual tension between them and jumped each other. Whatever the reason, Miroku had been certain they would be back by morning.
"Do you think they're in danger?" Sango asked now. She was sharpening Hiraikotsu for the third time that morning, picking up a whetstone and putting it down again, and occasionally getting up to pace.
"I doubt it," Miroku replied, back resting comfortably against the wall of Kaede's hut. After Inuyasha and Kagome had not come home the night before, and continued to not arrive that morning, they'd spent their time in Kaede's hut working on their weapons. "From what Inuyasha's described, the most dangerous thing he's likely to run into in that era is some sort of machine that shoots little arrows made of metal. Maybe it would kill a normal human, but Inuyasha's been run through more times than he can count. I'd say he's not in any danger."
"Might something have happened to Kagome, then?"
"Do you really think with Inuyasha there, there would be anything she'd be in danger from?"
"No, I suppose not," Sango said, running a hand through her hair. "But I was thinking something more along the lines of a magical or demonic danger."
"There aren't any demons in her time, Sango."
"I know that! But think—what magical object is there consistently in Kagome's time?" Sango asked. Miroku looked at her blankly. "The well. And since it's also the portal between our two times, if something happened to it—or to them in it—we're all in big trouble."
"True," Miroku murmured. "Are you saying they may be trapped inside the well?"
"That's exactly what I fear," Sango sighed. "That or trapped behind the well, in Kagome's time. Or maybe the well transported them to another time period, all of a sudden. Or perhaps into some danger we can't even imagine. I don't know what to think."
"Perhaps, if that were the case, it could be the work of a demon?" Miroku suggested, pushing off the floor and standing up.
"When is it not?" Sango snorted. She glanced at Miroku as he rose and headed towards the door. Ah, good; they were thinking the same thing. She slung Hiraikotsu over her shoulder and followed him. "Do you have your sutras?"
"Of course."
Shippo and Kilala were outside, playing with some of the village children. "Kilala, to me!" Sango called, and the nekomata bounced towards her with a mew. She hopped up to Sango's shoulder and rubbed her little face on the slayer's cheek. Sango smiled down at her familiar and scratched her ears.
The Bone-Eater's Well, when Sango and Miroku got to it, looked the same as it always did. Slightly bent out of shape from when Inuyasha had stuffed it with a tree, it was otherwise a completely unremarkable old well.
Miroku knelt to examine it more closely. "Do you feel anything, Sango?" he asked.
"Nothing," she said. She circled the well, knocking on the wood and listening for a reaction. She smelled it too, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Something's not right," she said.
Miroku raised his eyebrows. "Seems normal to me."
Sango shook her head. "I know. Nothing seems wrong, but I know there's a demon involved. I feel it in my gut.
"You're a demon slayer, of course you'd think it's a demon," Miroku said. "But we need to remain open to the possibility of alternatives."
Sango ignored the monk and grabbed some vines, climbing down the well to investigate.
"I think that a demon has something to do with why Kagome and Inuyasha aren't here," she said as she climbed, just thinking out loud. "But I don't think it's all of it. I just—oh!"
"What is it?" Miroku asked, gripping the wall of the well and leaning forward so quickly he almost fell in. "Are you—ah."
At the bottom of the well was Kagome's signature bulging yellow knapsack. Sango prodded it with Hiraikotsu warily, in case it was some sort of transforming demon. When it continued to respond like a knapsack after repeated pokes, she opened it and looked inside.
"This is Kagome's, all right." She dug through it, finding the usual goodies and supplies Kagome brought from her era.
"Bring it up," Miroku called down. Sango threw her boomerang up out of the shaft, ignoring Miroku's brief shriek, and picked up the bag.
"What does she put in this thing?" she grunted as she climbed up the surprisingly sturdy vines. "Iron bars?"
"Have you considered the possibility that the problem is not in the well?" Miroku asked as he helped Sango out of the well. "Sweet Buddha, this is heavy. Have you considered the thought that they may simply have run into some trouble that's preventing them from getting to the well? Since, as we can see, it is possible for things to travel through it."
"Perhaps," Sango nodded, stretching her shoulders. "But I think the bag actually supports my theory, monk. If they were able to get to the well long enough to get the bag through, why wouldn't they go through themselves? If there were any humans or demons chasing them, they wouldn't have been able to follow them through."
"What demon would have such power, or motivation?" Miroku asked skeptically. "Maybe they can access the well physically, but are forced not to enter for some other reason? Sango, we really have no idea what might have happened on the other side!"
"I'm certain it was a demon," Sango said, shaking her head. "I can't tell you how, or why. But it was." They began to walk back to the village, occasionally switching the backpack between them. Kilala followed at Sango's heels. "Perhaps it was a Nurikabe?"
"Nurikabes are walls that impede walking travelers, not travelers through time. Besides, Kagome would have determined its true nature with ease."
"A shikichijunin, then?"
Miroku shook his head. "Shikichijunin inhabit doorways, not wells. One may have had the power to trap them, if they were to pass through its door, but shikichijunin are bound to the houses in which they dwell."
"Well maybe…an aobozu?"
Miroku raised his eyebrow at the demon slayer. "Come on, Sango, even you don't believe that."
Suddenly Kilala chirped, turning and running off the path into the forest.
"Kilala!" Sango called, dropping the bag into the dirt and running after her. "Kilala, where are you going?"
Kilala wasn't going at top speed and she wasn't transforming, but she was going quickly enough through the underbrush that Sango had to scramble to keep up. "Kilala, wait!"
She did, but it wasn't because of Sango's command. They crashed into a small clearing, Kilala bouncing forward to stand in front of the little girl sitting under a tree. Sango stopped short in surprise; she certainly hadn't been expecting that. Kilala put her chin on the little girl's lap, and gave a small mew. The girl smiled at the nekomata, and didn't seem very surprised as she patted Kilala's head.
"Oh, hello," Sango blinked, kneeling down in front of the girl. "What's your name?"
The little girl was disheveled and grimy, and as skinny as most of the village inhabitants. Sango considered the thought that she was an orphan, and wondered what she was doing in the middle of a demon-infested forest. The girl shrugged and muttered something.
"I'm sorry?" Sango asked gently, leaning forward. "I didn't catch that."
"'m Sachi."
"Okay, Sachi," Sango said with a smile. "What are you doing in the forest? It's not safe; can I take you back to the village?"
The wary girl, who at first wouldn't look into Sango's eyes, seemed to be opening up with the slayer's friendly tone.
"I'm not in danger," Sachi said pertly. Though she spoke more comfortably, she didn't uncurl from her tight sitting position, and had taken Kilala and held her against her chest. "Demons won't hurt me."
"Oh? Why is that?"
Sachi looked into Sango's eyes and bluntly stated, "Because I'm a demon."
Sango turned around to look at Miroku, who at this point had managed to crash through the thick forest into the small clearing, just in time to catch that last bit. He shook his head, with an expression on his face that clearly said, oh please.
Regardless of the child's mental state, Sango knew she had to get her out of the forest before a demon found her.
"Even demons can get hurt by stronger demons, you know," Sango humored her.
"There are no demons stronger than me."
"There are always stronger demons," Sango said. She reached forward to take hold of Sachi's arm. "Sachi, it really isn't safe—"
"No!" Sachi shrieked, yanking back her arm in a futile attempt to escape Sango's grip. In that instant, Kilala jumped of the girl's lap and transformed to her full size. She loosely grabbed Sango's upper arm in her fanged jaws. Not biting, but she clearly meant business.
Sango stared at her companion in shock. She could barely breathe. What? What? She was paralyzed as she stared into Kilala's eyes. The demon cat who'd been with her for as long as she'd been alive, her oldest friend and partner, was threatening her with her fangs?
Slowly, Sango let go of Sachi's arm. As soon as she did, Sachi scrambled away and vanished into the brush. Kilala let go of Sango and transformed, emerging from the fire as an adorable harmless kitten. She looked up at Sango and gave a cheerful little mew!
"K-Kilala…" Sango whispered, blinking rapidly to hold back tears. She took several deep breaths to calm herself, trembling.
"What was that all about?!" Miroku snapped at Kilala. The nekomata looked up at him quizzically, cocking her head in confusion, and sent a worried look at Sango.
Miroku wasn't surprising that Sango had reacted so strongly. The slayer had been threatened (and almost killed) thousands of times by scarier demons without batting an eye. But Kilala was Sango's first and longest friend. It wasn't just a threat. It was a betrayal. And it was for such a stupid reason, too. Kilala couldn't have thought Sango would harm the child—
But Sachi did.
Miroku narrowed his eyes, and looked back at the empty patch of forest that had swallowed the little girl. What was that?
Kilala hadn't been thinking clearly, that was obvious. But was it Sachi that caused it? She seemed overwhelmingly human, with her dirty yukata and shy voice, and Miroku hadn't sensed any demonic presence. But Kilala acted wildly out of character to the girl's benefit. Was such a thing possible…?
Miroku shook his head. He needed to discuss this with an expert. Fortunately, he happened to know a pretty clever demon-slayer.
Mrs. Higurashi found them in Kagome's room the next morning when she went to investigate the room's open door.
"Oh!" she whispered to herself when she saw them. Inuyasha was sleeping sitting up, cross-legged on the floor next to Kagome's bed. She'd never actually caught him sleeping before. Kagome herself seemed to have fallen on top of her covers, not even bothering to change into pajamas before conking out. Mrs. Higurashi wondered why they'd come back so soon.
She tiptoed forward into the room, hoping to shake her daughter awake to ask why they were there, but didn't get more than two steps in before Inuyasha's eyes shot open.
"What happened?" she whispered. Kagome snored on, dead to the world.
Inuyasha immediately scowled and looked down, knuckles whitening around the scabbard of the sword he'd held in his sleep. Mrs. Higurashi waited patiently.
"The well—the well didn't work," Inuyasha finally muttered hoarsely. "We went in and…stayed here." He shook his head and wouldn't look into Mrs. Higurashi's eyes. As if he expected her to be angry at him.
"Oh dear," Mrs. Higurashi murmured, bringing a hand to her mouth. She actually felt a bit light headed at the revelation. She'd always only ever wanted the best for her children, usually defining "the best" as unconditional happiness. And unlike most mothers in her position, she didn't assume that just because she was older and the mother of her daughter that she could determine that happiness for her.
Ever since her daughter had first disappeared into the feudal era, she'd felt conflicted, knowing how fulfilled Kagome's adventures made her, but also worrying about her safety. But now that the well didn't work…she felt even more so.
"Kagome," Mama Higurashi murmured, walking to her daughter's side and shaking her gently. "Kagome."
"Mrrmphgrl," Kagome grumbled, rubbing her eyes into wakefulness.
"Honey, are you all right? You want to tell me what happened?" Inuyasha seemed too miserable to tell the story in detail.
Kagome looked at her mother blearily, but there was misery in her eyes. "The portal didn't work," she grunted sleepily. "We don't know why, we don't know how. We tried for ages to make it work, and nothing did."
"What time did you go to sleep?"
"Um…two o'clock?"
Mama Higurashi looked at her watch. It read 8:16 AM. "Do you want to go to school today?"
"No..." Kagome moaned, throwing an arm over her eyes. "Yes. No. I do. Give me a few minutes to wake up."
"Of course," Mrs. Higurashi said, rubbing her tired daughter's shoulder. "I'll go make you some breakfast. Come down when you're ready."
As she left the room, Mrs. Higurashi heard her daughter's breathing deepen into sleep, and Inuyasha continued his silence. She went back to the kitchen and didn't hear a sound from them for the rest of the morning.
"It's never okay to cheat on your significant other!" Ayumi exclaimed. "I can't believe you agree with him."
"I'm not saying it's okay," Eri protested. "I'm just saying that he deserves a second chance."
"I can't believe you're actually having this conversation," Yuka muttered into the hands that held up her disdainful face.
Eri and Ayumi both glanced at their friend, unsurprised at her surly tone.
"Well, sorry I can't give you any real drama to talk about," Eri smirked, leaning back in her chair and smugly putting her hands behind her head. "That's what sucks about having such an awesome, faithful, adorable boyfriend. Just because you never watch TV doesn't mean we can't talk about it."
Yuka made a gagging motion with her finger. She didn't understand her friends' obsession with TV dramas. Why bother with fake drama when you could start the real thing? But that morning, when they were using their short break between morning classes to chat, Yuka had to admit that there wasn't much "real life" to talk about.
"You'll just have to make do with the TV programs until we can get Eri to cheat on Katsuhiko, or something," Ayumi cheerfully shrugged. "Or until Kagome comes back, I guess. Then we'll have something new to talk about."
Yuka sighed, dropping her head on her desk, and even Eri's gleeful smile dropped at the edges. "I wonder when she's going to come back," Yuka murmured.
"Poor Kagome," Ayumi sighed. She said it so much it had become a bit of a mantra among the three.
"Poor Kagome," they all repeated in unison. Eri snorted.
"Acute lead poisoning today," Ayumi mused. She flipped through her textbook absently. "It's funny, isn't it, how her ailments change so quickly. Like, she only had mononucleosis for a week and a half before she came to school, and then after that it was Kawasaki's Disease."
"Ayumi…" Eri cautioned. Yuka held her breath and said nothing. They would come to the truth on their own, even if they didn't want to admit it to themselves.
"I just wish…" Ayumi continued, trailing off.
"Wish what?" said a voice from behind them.
The three girls whirled around in unison. Standing before them was Kagome, looking pale and tired but otherwise hale. She managed a quick, small smile for her friends.
"Kagome!" Eri gasped, standing up and hugging her friend. "You're here! The teacher said you had lead poisoning!"
"Um," said Kagome, returning the hug. "I don't really want to talk about it. But still, you just saw me yesterday, no need to go crazy."
"Well we didn't think we'd see you for ages," Eri insisted. Yuka wasn't sure if she was just projecting the guilty look that flitted across Kagome's face. "But I guess you're feeling healthy now?"
"I guess so," Kagome shrugged. "Hey, can any of you lend me first period's notes?" Maybe she was trying to change the subject, maybe she wasn't, Yuka thought. But normally she was very certain about when she would get "sick." Today she seemed uncertain…afraid, even.
"Sure," Eri said, walking to her desk to grab her notebook. "Oh, by the way, if you're healthy today, do you want to go to Seibu Academy with us after school today?"
"What's at Seibu Academy?" Kagome pulled a chair over to the desk and took out her own notebooks to start copying.
"Eri's cousin and boyfriend go there—"
"Eri's dating her cousin?!" Kagome's head shot up to stare at her friend in horror. Then her brain caught up to her ears. "Oh, no. Her cousin and her boyfriend—who are different people- both go to Seibu." She looked back down at her notebook as Eri burst into laughter.
Kagome's head shot up again. "Eri's got a boyfriend?!"
Yuka waved her hand in a dismissive motion. It was old news. "Yeah, and they're totally boring—stop smirking, Eri! But anyway, their high school is putting on a charity play today."
"I heard it's really good!" Eri interjected excitedly. "The high school is full of these wackos who make the funniest plays. The middle school, too, now that I think about it. Like, there's this one girl I know who can do regressive hypnosis on people and make them—"
"What's regressive hypnosis?" Ayumi asked.
"It's like, hypnotizing you to remember when you were a baby or a fetus, or even your past life," Eri said.
"Oh please," muttered Kagome as she scribbled.
"You don't believe in reincarnation, Kagome?" Yuka asked.
"I believe it happens…" Kagome hmmed, putting down her pen and considering the question. "I just really hate the concept. You're not just Kik—some famous person's reincarnation. You are you, no matter what. Sharing a soul doesn't make you the same person."
There was a moment of speechlessness. "Wow, Kagome, it sounds like you've thought about this a lot," Eri said. Kagome shrugged in response, resuming her note-copying.
"Well I don't know about you," Yuka drawled, standing up. "But I think it's pretty cool to be a reincarnation. That regressive hypnosis girl—Aki—she did it for me last time we went to Seibu."
"You guys all went to Seibu without me?" Kagome asked, stung. Poor Kagome, always stuck in the hospital and unable to go out with her friends.
"No, it was just them," Ayumi consoled her. "I've never been before. So what did you see, Yuka? Were you still Japanese? Oh man, I want to have been, like, an Italian princess."
"You're my Italian princess," Yuka said, putting her hand over Ayumi's with a grin. "But I was definitely Japanese, judging from the clothing. I think I must have fallen asleep when Aki was doing the hypnosis, and honestly I think it was just a dream— because I was a demon, and there were demons all around me."
"Demons?" Kagome asked, lifting her head to stare intently at her friend. "What kind of demons?"
"I told you, I really think it was a dream. Because I knew there were demons all around me—I could feel them, sort of—but I could only see trees all around me. They were invisible, I guess." Yuka sighed, leaning her head back. "They were hidden, or something, but whatever was hiding them revealed them to me. Or I mean, I knew they were there even if I couldn't see them. I'm telling you, probably a dream." It was a good dream, though.
"A demon reincarnating as a human…" Kagome looked at her with a puzzled expression on her face, before letting out a little "Huh!" and turning back down to her notes.
"It's a load of junk," Eri shrugged. "Really fun and interesting junk, but no one actually believes it." She looked at her watch. "Class in two minutes."
Students began to trickle into the classroom, all reacting in various degrees of surprise to Kagome's presence. Hojo was one of the last to come in, and he was prevented from giving Kagome a box of organic vitamins (to help with your anemia, it's got iron and vitamin B12 supplements,) by the teacher walking back into the room.
"Alright everybody, to your seats," he announced, and the class quickly settled itself. "It's time for our favorite activity—learning history!"
The students let out a collective groan, but the lesson started smoothly. Before turning back to face the teacher, Yuka watched Kagome's rest her head on her desk, closing eyes underlined with purple bags. Yuka couldn't help but wonder what had kept her up so late if she'd been so healthy the night before.
The walls of the old demon-slayers' village seemed to close in around Sango as she landed, with their creaking timbers and tall spikes. The barrier had once meant safety and comfort, but now the rotting wood seemed to close in on her, suffocating.
She hopped off of Kilala's back, and gave her a scratch behind the ears as Miroku and Shippo slipped down. The nekomata gave a quick shake of her head, stretching her back and then transforming down to fun-sized.
"Thanks Kilala," Sango said, picking the demon up in her arms. "You did well; you can rest for a while now." Kilala was tough, but even she got tired, carrying two full sized adults and a kitsune for the hours journey from Kaede's village to the slayers' compound.
"Okay," Sango said to her companions. "I should be done in a few days. Come back to me then, or if you hear of Inuyasha and Kagome's return."
Miroku nodded. "Are you sure you want to do this, Sango?"
Sango started walking across the compound towards the rows of graves. Miroku followed, helping her set down the small bouquets she'd brought from the village. Shippo watched grimly from behind.
"I'm certain," Sango answered. "You were chasing Naraku long before you met Inuyasha, weren't you? I have faith in you."
"That's not what I meant, Sango," Miroku responded dryly. He looked up at the empty, deteriorating houses of the slayers' village. He wondered what memories Sango had in them, and if they'd curdled from the deaths of their inhabitants. If he said, 'I'm worried about your sanity in this traumatic ghost-village,' she'd probably hit him. But… "Do you really want to stay here all alone?"
"I'll be fine," Sango answered immediately. "I can take care of myself."
She straightened up, her flowers properly placed. "If there's any place that can give us a hint on the trouble with the well, it's this. Besides, I need to know what happened with Kilala and Sachi," she said. "I won't find any better lore on what might have happened, and what she might be, than in the slayers' records. By the time you come back I should have what I need, and then we can search for Naraku.
Miroku heaved a sigh and rubbed the back of his head. "Why the interest in the child? Don't you think you should focus on the Bone Eater's Well?"
Sango shook her head. "I think it's connected. The well suddenly stops working, just when we meet a strange, demon-controlling, human child of the village we've never seen before? It could be a coincidence, but I don't believe it."
"I did meet her, before," Shippo put in. "She's totally human. She seemed really upset that I didn't give her my candy. Weird human girl."
Sango rubbed her eyes and groaned, "I just don't understand her effect on Kilala, then!" Shippo shrugged.
"Well," Miroku said. "Shippo and I had better be off. Be safe, Sango."
"And you, monk."
The two said their farewells, and Kilala flamed up to her full size. Shippo and Miroku mounted the giant cat. With a last concerned look at Sango, Miroku patted the nekomata and ordered her upwards. Sango watched their forms shrink into the sky until they were gone.
The houses and towers loomed silently around her. Sango didn't shiver. They were full of ghosts now, and memories, but they were not vengeful.
Sango turned on her heel and began walking to the records room. She had work to do.
THURSDAY
"Don't leave the shrine," Kagome instructed Inuyasha through a mouthful of breakfast, the second day after the well closed to them. "And try not to get in the way of any tourists or worshippers either, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah," Inuyasha muttered, bothering Buyo in his usual fashion. "I wasn't planning to, anyway. I'm gonna go check out the well again."
"Did you have any luck yesterday?" Kagome finished her toast and sat on the raised floor in front of the mudroom to put her shoes on.
"No," Inuyasha growled, lifting the cat's front paws up to his shoulders. "I went in and out a few times, no luck. Other than that, there's nothing different about it at all. No youki, no spiritual pressure, no foreign scent."
Kagome sighed. "Yeah, I get the impression this isn't the kind of problem that'll just go away if we wait long enough. I already asked Gramps to look into the shrine records and see if there's anything that can help us. Maybe you could help him with that?" She grabbed her bag and headed out the door. "Until then, don't leave the shrine. See you later!"
Might as well make the most of a bad situation, Kagome decided on her way to school for the fourth day in a row. She was surprised by how easily she fell back into her old routine. Her grades were improving from quizzes and homeworks alone, and she felt more prepared for upcoming tests than she had in months. She sat with Yuka and Eri and Ayumi and Hojo at lunch and felt the real world filling her up again, becoming more solid than the dream of the feudal era.
"Alright Shimizu," Eri said, after they'd pushed the four desks together to eat their lunch on. "Give us the daily report."
"Hm," Yuka said around a mouthful of chicken. "Lessee. Our very own Hojo here won the district calligraphy contest for the middle-school age bracket, but he's too humble to brag about it himself, so I have heroically taken on that burden."
The other girls provided friendly claps and whoops as Hojo blushed. Yuka went on over his feeble protestations. "Maki and Sentaro broke up, shocking no one—"
"They were so cute together, though," Ayumi sighed.
"—and class 3-C's Loaded Gun got into a fight with a high schooler and got the high schooler suspended."
"Which one's that again?" Eri asked. "I can't keep track of all those dumb nicknames."
"Morikawa," Yuka said, and Eri made a noise like it meant something. Kagome had no idea who any of the people in Yuka's gossip report were.
The day passed uneventfully. As she walked home from school, Kagome thought: This is too easy. Since she'd met Inuyasha, her life just didn't do "uneventful."
Which was why she knew the universe was punishing her for her ingratitude when, at the base of the shrine steps, she saw three screaming police cars pulling up to a crowd of people. And in the middle of it all was a boy with long white hair and a scarlet kimono.
Inuyasha…!
"Sit!"
It looked like a fight. By the time Kagome got close, Inuyasha had already been smashed into the ground by her spell, and there was a stranger on top of him, a punkish looking, twenty-something year old man wearing a leather jacket and rings on his fingers. He straddled Inuyasha, punching him in the head.
The police rushed forward and grabbed the stranger, pulling him off of Inuyasha.
"What the hell was that for?!" Inuyasha lifted himself up from the cracked concrete, searching until he met Kagome's eyes. She pushed forward through the small crowd until she was standing next to an officer.
The police misunderstood him. "Kid, you were engaged in an act of battery and public disturbance," a female officer said. "If you want to fight, join a boxing club. You can't just start a brawl in public." She glanced down at the sidewalk where Inuyasha's face had just been and muttered, "and boy were you losing."
"Wh-!" Inuyasha began to protest, but the police officer cut him off.
"I don't know who started this fight and I don't care. But you're a minor, and it looks like you took a lot more damage than your buddy here." Kagome glanced back at the thug's face, which looked to be developing a black eye, and Inuyasha's. Inuyasha's face was red and scratched from being sat into concrete, but Kagome knew that would fade in an hour or two.
"He's Yoshinobu Ito," a third officer supplied, while his partner manhandled the thug in question into the cruiser. "He's the one who made that mess in holding two months ago, remember?"
"Right," growled the policewoman. She turned back to Inuyasha. "So you're probably not in as much trouble as he is. But we're going to need you to come with us."
"Wait!" Kagome quickly went to stand between Inuyasha and the police officer. "He was the one getting attacked, wasn't he?" The officers were getting out of their cars right when Kagome had activated the beads. Hopefully they only saw as much as she did. "He's not pressing charges, so why do you need to take him?"
"And who are-"
Yoshinobu Ito, bless his idiot soul, chose that moment to howl and kick violently at the screen between the front and back of the police cruiser. The female police officer turned and scowled, then looked back to Inuyasha.
"She speaking for you?" She asked, with a jerk of the head toward Kagome.
"Uh, yeah."
"Fine. You can go for now, but if I ever catch either of you jackasses fighting again, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Are we clear?" Without waiting for a reply, the police woman spun around and returned to her car. The three cruisers peeled away.
Kagome waited for minute until the last straggling rubberneckers had left, and then whirled around to glare at Inuyasha. "I cannot believe you!" she screeched. "I mean, I was expecting a- a broken roof, or something, but the police?! How could you start a fight with a normal human?!" She made a frustrated grasping motion at her hair, then whirled around and began stomping up the steps.
"He deserved it, Kagome!" Inuyasha leaped to stand in front of Kagome on the steps. Kagome went around him. "He was trying to force that girl into his carriage, even though-"
"And it didn't occur to you to stop him peacefully?" But then, who did she think she was talking to?
"I did try!"
"Oh yeah? For how long before you started throwing punches?"
Inuyasha opened his mouth to reply, then closed it. "Listen Kagome, just because-"
"Sit boy."
Kagome walked past the pained grunt as Inuyasha's face hit the stone steps. When she got to the house, she yelled at Sota for something stupid, and spent the rest of the night in her room, feeling guilty about it until supper. Inuyasha was absent from the dinner table. Definitely off sulking somewhere, Kagome had thought venomously.
"He's just restless," Mama Higurashi murmured afterwards in her usual peaceful manner. She rinsed a plate and held it out to Kagome to dry.
"I guess so," Kagome sighed, her voice also low. Despite the sound of the splashing dish water and Sota's TV program running in the background, she was confident that Inuyasha could still hear them, wherever he was.
"This place must be different from what he's used to," Mama went on. "He doesn't understand the laws and ways of doing things, and he has no opportunity to learn. You get upset if he leaves the shrine grounds, and he's clearly doing his best to please you, Kagome. How do you expect him to try to fit in here if you won't give him the chance to understand where he's trying to fit?"
She was right, as always. "Understanding the rules and following them are two totally different kettles of fish," Kagome grumbled. He sure didn't follow any rules but his own in the feudal era. But back then, she tended to see it as a good thing; the thought of Inuyasha meekly following the law of every two-horse feudal lord who thought he was big business was vaguely horrifying.
"And he's bored, Kagome. You can't cage a boy like him and expect him not to make his own entertainment."
Kagome smacked the towel down on the countertop and faced her mother with a huff. "Then what do you suggest, mother? How do we-" she lowered her voice, which had risen with her frustration. "How do we 'keep him entertained' in a way that doesn't end up with someone suing us for property damage?"
Her mother handed Kagome the last dish gave her daughter an admonishing look. She waited until she had her daughter's full attention before speaking.
"Let me worry about that, Kagome. Property can be replaced. Money isn't important. You know what is important?"
"People." Kagome gave her mother a small smile.
"That's right, people. I'm glad to see you haven't forgotten everything I've taught you while you were gallivanting around in the past." Mama Higurashi swatted her daughter playfully with one of the drying rags before starting to put the dishes back in their drawers. "And as for what he can do...well, I think that's a question best answered with Inuyasha's own input, don't you think?"
She turned to the window, opened to let in the night-scented breeze, and said in the same mild tone, "Inuyasha, would you come in please? There's something we need to discuss."
There was a shuffle and clatter from the tiled eaves above the kitchen window, and thirty seconds later Inuyasha walked through the door. He sat down at the table with his usual sulk. "Yeah? What is it?"
Mrs. Higurashi sat down at the table across from him and motioned for Kagome to sit down as well.
"Well, Inuyasha, we understand that being stuck in the shrine grounds all day must be pretty boring for you-"
"I didn't do it because I was bored!" Inuyasha interrupted indignantly. "Hell yeah I'm bored, but that's not why I did it. And I'd do it again every time."
"Seriously?!" Kagome began. "Why do you-" She stopped short when her mother put a restraining hand on her arm.
"Would you like to explain your side of the story?" Mama Higurashi gently suggested.
Inuyasha glared at Kagome. "Are you gonna listen?"
Kagome glanced away guiltily, then back to Inuyasha's eyes. "Yes, I am. I'm sorry I was so hard on you before." If he really would do it over again, as he'd said, then she knew there had to be more to the story than restless belligerence. "And I'm sorry for not trusting your judgment."
"Keh," Inuyasha looked away, mollified.
"I was on the roof of the shed, and this guy was at the walk up to the oratory," Inuyasha began with a shrug. "There was a girl in the oratory, drunk as a fish. I could smell the alcohol on her breath from yards away.
"She kept talking about how she needed to get home, needed to find the…" Inuyasha waved his hand in the air, searching for the word. "Some contraption from this world that takes people home."
"Taxi? Bus?" Kagome suggested. "Train?"
"The bus, that was it." Inuyasha shrugged, and went on. "He took her down the steps and kept saying he'd take her home, but it was clear what he had in mind.
"So I went down and told him to get lost. He had one of those carriage contraptions sitting in the road, and he was trying to make her get into it when I got there."
Kagome listened, eyes wide, with her hands over her mouth. Fool! She told herself. Inuyasha made a mess of things by accident all the time, but he wouldn't do anything so unreasonable intentionally. She should have known.
"He threatened me and told me to fuck off," Inuyasha continued with a smirk. "I tried to get the girl away from him, so he punched me." Inuyasha chuckled, amused at the memory. "So I slashed a hole in his carriage."
Kagome and her mother both startled at that.
"Oh my…"
"You wrecked his car? Where? How?"
Inuyasha snorted. "I only wanted to teach him a lesson, so I aimed for the extra metal part, instead of the seats. The snout at the front."
Kagome dropped her head on the table. It figured that, when he was trying to limit his damage, he aimed for the engine.
"That's when he started coming at me for real," Inuyasha went on. "I hit him a few times, but he was a scrapper. Just kept coming. Then you came," here he turned to scowl at Kagome, "and subdued me into the rock. And you know the rest."
"Sorry about that," Kagome winced. "Though actually, if I hadn't, the police would probably have considered you the primary aggressor. But I saw that guy got a few hits in; are you okay?"
Inuyasha shot her a disdainful look. Right.
"I'm glad we've cleared this up," Mrs. Higurashi said. "Regardless, I still think it's important to get Inuyasha out of the house. Not that we don't love having you here, dear," she said, giving Inuyasha a reassuring pat on the arm. "But for your own sake, it's probably best for you to have something to do during the day."
"Right," he said. Kagome sat up straighter and gave Inuyasha another look. Was he...nervous? If he was, he hid it well, because any hint of the emotion she thought she might have seen was gone.
"Excellent!" Mrs. Higurashi clapped her hands together. "How about you go to Kagome's school, Inuyasha?"
She was immediately blasted with two simultaneous screams of "NO!"
"No, no, hell no-"
"Mama there is absolutely no way he can-"
"-face a pack of wolves during the new moon than sit in that-"
"-would wreak havoc! If you think the destruction here is bad-"
"-place looks like torture! No!"
"-full of hormonal teenagers!"
Mrs. Higurashi held up her hands in surrender until the two terrified, gasping teenagers quieted down. "Alright, alright," she said. "It was just a suggestion, the first of many. You have both made your opinions clear.
"The next thing I was going to suggest was that you get a job."
Kagome's immediate thought was to protest again, but she stopped herself. Hadn't she just said she would trust Inuyasha's judgment? (At least to act on his own; she still didn't want him showing up at her school.)
Inuyasha considered the idea. "What kind of job?"
"That's up to you," Mama said. "Though I suspect that, with your lack of education or citizenship, your options will be limited. But jobs that require strength would be both available and a good match for you, I think."
Inuyasha leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Anything's fine. It's just until the well opens up and we can get back to our real work."
"Not to mention, if you have your own income, you wouldn't need to come to us for things you want."
"Like instant ramen," Kagome added.
Inuyasha cracked open one eye. "Oh really? How much ramen?"
Kagome went to grab a pen and notepad from the counter behind her, grinning. He was hooked. "Let's see. If you work half-time, for nine hundred yen an hour, and a cup of ramen is sixty yen..." she scribbled out the math. "That's about three hundred cups a week."
"Are you serious?!" Inuyasha jumped from his chair and grabbed the paper with Kagome's calculations. He discarded it half a second later, because he couldn't read the Hindu-Arabic numerals, but the excitement was still there. "I didn't realize how rich your world is, Kagome. Three hundred cups a week! Hell yeah I'll get a job!"
Kagome laughed out loud and her mother smiled.
"Excellent, I'll call the employment agency tomorrow," she said. "In the meantime, though, you'll need to get some modern clothes. Do you think you could take him shopping this weekend, Kagome?"
Kagome's eyes glittered. She'd liked playing dress up as much as any girl, when she was little. And there was no denying that Inuyasha was a very pretty doll.
FRIDAY
It was the middle of math class, when no sane person should be smiling, but Kagome couldn't help the occasional giggle. Her friends had been giving her concerned looks for the past ten minutes.
It was such a weird mental image, Inuyasha in modern clothing. Shorts. Slacks. Button-downs and wife-beaters. Skinny jeans or baggy ones. Weird, but good. Definitely good. Kagome let out another goofy chuckle and Eri whirled around again to make worried eyebrows at her.
The bell rang, and the noise of chatter began as the students got up to stretch their legs and vocal chords.
"Alright, spill." Yuka loomed over Kagome's desk, and Eri and Ayumi approached. "You look happier than Ayumi in a candy shop. What's with all the giggles?"
"Oh, can we go to a candy shop?" Ayumi gasped.
Kagome leaned back in her chair and stretched. "I'm sorry my joy makes you so angry, Yuka," she smiled cheekily.
"That's not- I'm not angry-"
"Oh, stop teasing her, Kagome," Ayumi giggled. She sat herself on Kagome's desk. "You know that if Yuka goes three days without sticking her nose into someone else's business she turns into a pumpkin."
"A tragic curse," Eri intoned theatrically, placing one hand on her brow and the other palm over her heart. Yuka hip-checked her into a passing classmate.
Ayumi continued. "So what is up?"
Kagome thought for a moment about how to tell them, in a way that satisfied their curiosity without revealing any secrets. Well, she could go with that; it was almost true, in a way...
"You could say…I've got a date."
Ayumi, Yuka, and Eri all gasped at once and started talking.
"That's my girl!" Yuka fistpumped. "Now, details! Who is it? Where? Who asked who?"
"That's so nice," gushed Ayumi. "So cute! Same guy?"
"Wait, is this that same rude guy? Or someone new?" Eri asked.
Oh shit, abort, abort! Kagome meant to just throw them off her trail, but all she'd done was chum the waters.
"Oh, it's actually not that big a deal." She desperately tried to downplay it. "He's, um, in town for a while and we're just going shopping together on Saturday. Really, it's not actually a …" she was reluctant to say the word date again. "We're just friends."
"Well, your expression during class sure seemed to say otherwise! And this is the same guy we've been hearing about for months, right? Does this mean we finally get to meet him?" Yuka's grin was wide, her eyes bright and glittering.
Not if I can help it. "Yeah, it's him. And, um, I don't think so. We're just buying some clothing and then he's leaving."
"Well then where-"
The bell cut Eri off as the teacher walked into the room, and students reluctantly returned to their seats. Kagome let out a sigh of relief; those girls could grill like master chefs. She made more of an effort to rein in her expression during the next class, but still played Inuyasha-dress-up in her head.
After about an eternity, the final bell rang, and Kagome prepared herself for another round of fending off questions. She saw her friends homing in on her like hunting dogs, coming closer, and-
"Higurashi, I'd like to speak with you for a moment."
Kagome turned to Hasegawa-sensei, and saw her friends do the same. "Oh! Um, yes, sir."
The teacher stared meaningfully at the trio until they got the message and left, bowing goodbye and closing the door. Hasegawa motioned Kagome closer to his desk. She nervously approached.
"I'm very glad to see you've been feeling better lately, Miss Higurashi," he began. "I've noticed you've been doing much better in class since you've...actually been coming to class."
"Thank you, sir?"
Hasegawa waved her response away, like an insect. "But five days cannot make up for weeks of missed content and barely-passing exam scores, you must realize. At the moment, there is a very real likelihood that you will fail ninth grade if you do not maintain the level of attendance you've been showing this week."
His crushing words sat heavy in Kagome's stomach. No, no! This can't be happening. I've got to come more often, when the well opens up. She stared miserably at her shoes.
"That is why," he continued, "I'm offering you a chance for extra credit."
"I'll take it!"
The teacher cracked a smile. "Don't be so hasty, you haven't heard what it is yet.
"There is a...student, in another class, who needs some help." Hasegawa took of his glasses and rubbed the wrinkles between his eyes, a troubled expression on his face. "He often misses classes due to...misguided attentions. I would like you to tutor him, just review the contents of any classes he missed that day. I feel that you, Miss Higurashi, must understand the difficulty of keeping up in school when you don't often attend. The review will benefit you too, in the long run."
That didn't sound so difficult. "Yes, I can do that."
The teacher let out a relieved smile. "Thank you, Miss Higurashi. I'm sure a good girl like you can help turn that boy around."
"Wait, what?"
Hasegawa-sensei rose from his chair. "His name is Natsuo Morikawa, and he really is a good boy. Please don't believe the rumors about him. And he wouldn't hit a girl."
"Wait, what?!"
"So, do you think you could start on Monday?"
When she opened the door to her house, Kagome was surprised she'd made it that far at all. She managed to get out an "I'm h-" before Inuyasha suddenly bounded in front of her.
"Where the hell have you been?" he demanded. Man, he really was like a lonely puppy. "You said you'd be home before the hour of the monkey. I thought you were dead!"
"Did you really?"
Inuyasha folded his arms and glanced away. "Well, not really. A little longer and I would have come for you."
"Sorry, a teacher made me stay late," Kagome sighed, removing her shoes and dropping her bag. Behind Inuyasha, she saw Sota peek in from the hallway. "I told you that happens sometimes, though it usually doesn't take so long. I'm surprised you didn't come tearing into the school after me."
Inuyasha scowled. "Yeah, because you said this morning that I could ruin your entire future if I showed up and broke a building, and that you'd hate me if I did." Sota made an exhausted-looking grimace and shook his head. Kagome had the feeling that she should thank Sota and Mama's deflection attempts more than Inuyasha's willpower.
Kagome blinked. "Oh, did I say that?"
Inuyasha opened his mouth, about to say something else, and choked a bit at her words. "You- how can you just blithely forget something like that?!"
"Alright, I'm sorry! I'll be more accurate about my times, from now on." Kagome began walking to her room, and Inuyasha followed.
"It wouldn't be a problem if you'd just let me come get you."
Kagome stopped short and whirled around, so that her upturned face ended up centimeters from Inuyasha's. "Don't even think about it!" she commanded, jabbing a finger at his chest. "I know you worry about me, and I appreciate that. But there are no demons now, and there's nothing I can't handle on my own."
Inuyasha just blinked, startled, into Kagome's immediate eyes.
"Oh, by the way," Kagome went on, turning and continuing toward her room. "I'm going to be coming home later every day, from now on."
"What? Why?"
"Well, I got the chance to improve my grades," Kagome mumbled, carefully not looking at Inuyasha. "By tutoring some kid."
Inuyasha followed her into her room. He loomed over her as she sat on her bed. "Are you going to come home this late every day?"
"I don't know. It depends on how quickly we get through the material," Kagome admitted. "I think it'll probably take at least this long, maybe longer."
Inuyasha scowled, (when was the last time he hadn't been?) and sat down next to her. Kagome dropped her head onto his shoulder, pretending not to notice how his muscles clenched. She closed her eyes and sighed.
"But you'll stop when the well opens up, right?" Inuyasha demanded. He didn't move his shoulders at all as he spoke, and Kagome didn't open her eyes.
"Yeah. I drop all my other responsibilities, don't I?" When I stop attending class, I'll be the one who needs tutoring...
"But you pick up the important ones," Inuyasha murmured. Kagome let out a small huff through her nose.
They sat together for a few more seconds, Inuyasha stiff and still as a rock. Finally Kagome lifted her head and clapped her hands.
"Oh, by the way, we need to buy you some modern clothing. So clear your schedule for Saturday, alright?"
Inuyasha shot her a dry glare. "You're hilarious."
OMAKE:
"I just want to make sure she's alright," Inuyasha said. He stood like a sumo wrestler in the mudroom, facing Sota and the front door.
Standing in front of the door, Sota held his ground. In his hand, he held a- hopefully- trump card.
"She's fine, bro," Sota said. "Besides, I need your help more than she does right now."
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "With what?"
"Practice. I'm never going to make the team without your help."
Sota lifted the tennis ball in his hand and threw it back into the house as hard as he could. Inuyasha missed it, barely, and scrambled after it as it bounced. His body seemed to move several seconds before his brain caught up.
Sota grinned. It wasn't quite the same as playing fetch with a real dog. But until Kagome came home, it would have to do.