At Fair: With Chūjitsuna, Kagome and Shippo

After Kamiko left everyone else split up into groups to talk about the fair. Kagome was just about to go talk to Sango and collect Shippo, who was talking with Rin about the best way to play with people who can be annoying, when Chūjitsuna called her name. Kagome smiled up at the handsome Inu youkai still blushing slightly when she remembered his invitation to pet his tail.

"Kagome, would you and young Shippo like to attend the fair with me?"

"I'd love to, but are you sure. You said you haven't been in Japan in centuries. Won't your friends want to see you first?"

"I don't have any friends in this area other than my cousin Sesshomaru. I was still young when my family moved overseas. We traveled a lot so there were few opportunities to make lasting friendships. Since Sesshomaru and Lady Yoake are taking young Rin to the fair it would be rude of me to invite myself along."

"We'll I would be happy to go with you. I'm sure Sango would love to go too," Kagome looked around the room in search or Sango, but the only other people who were still there were Miroku, Shippo and a maid. "I wonder where she went."

"Mama, Sango and Kouga left together. I think Kouga was lonely cause Javon will be with Inuyasha and their dad today." Shippo said as he jumped onto Kagome's shoulder. Shippo gave Chūjitsuna a conspiratorial wink as Chūjitsuna smiled at him.

"Well it was kind of Sango to keep Kouga company. How about it Shippo? Would you mind if I tagged along with you and your mother?"

"Nope, I don't mind. It's much better than getting stuck with Inuyasha."

"Shippo and Inuyasha act like brothers." Kagome explained when Chūjitsuna raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, so Shippo likes to pester Inuyasha like a little brother, but really looks up to him."

"Of course, but don't tell Baka Yasha that. He's still an idiot, but he's also really strong. Someday I'm going to be stronger and smarter than he is." Kagome and Chūjitsuna laughed as Shippo struck a heroic pose.

"That's my little Shippo. Don't tell Inuyasha, but I think you are already smarter than he is."

"I think Inu Baka is the only one who doesn't realize that I'm smarter than he is."

"Well young Shippo, shall we escort the fair Kagome to the festival then?"

"Yes, let's." Kagome laughed as Shippo caught one of her hands and blushed when Chūjitsuna held her other hand.

When they left the palace grounds Chūjitsuna summoned a cloud of youki under the three of them, it was similar to Sesshomaru's youki cloud, but a bluish-silver color. As they lifted off the ground Kagome gasped in awe at the beauty of the forests surrounding the palace. Chūjitsuna's tail wrapped around Kagome's waist to steady her as she leaned to the side to watch the ground fall away as they rose in the air.

"If you think this is amazing, just wait until you see the youkai village we are going to. During times of peace this is the only village that host's the Inu Youkai harvest festival. Youkai of all kinds and from leagues around gather for the festival. I remember when I was a pup my parents would bring Sesshomaru and I to the festival and we would play all sorts of games. If Sesshomaru has kept up the tradition there will be music, plays, acrobatics, games and food."

"I remember going to a festival a long time ago before papa and my other mama died. There were even fireworks when it got dark."

"Where I'm from we have festivals too, but they have really lost the meaning behind the celebration. We still have fun, but we aren't as thankful for the things we have as the people I've met here are. I have to say that I am really glad that I found my way here."

"Me too, mama. If you hadn't come, those stupid Thunder Brothers would have killed me like they did my papa."

"Those brothers were bad news even when we were children. I can't remember how many times I wanted to kill them for being morons. What happen with the Thunder Brothers?"

"Well, after they killed my papa, I ran and hide. I wanted to avenge my papa, but I wasn't as strong as I am now. So when I overheard a miko in a strange kimono and a stupid half-breed arguing about the jewel shards I stole them."

"Inuyasha ended up with his hands stuck under a stone statue, while I chased after Shippo."

"Unfortunately as I was running away, I ran right into the younger brother. Kagome managed to distract him and I got away, but Kagome was captured by him. I ran and got Inuyasha and we chased after them and rescued Kagome. Inuyasha killed the brothers."

"After that I just couldn't leave Shippo on his own. He's still just a little boy, so I've been taking care of him ever since."

"I'm glad that you weren't hurt Kagome." Chūjitsuna brought Kagome's hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. "It would have done the world a terrible disservice if you hadn't come to this area. I don't think you ever said where you are from."

"You might not believe me if I told you."

"Really, well now I have to hear the whole story. And you might be surprised at what I can believe. I have seen some pretty strange things while I traveled."

As they flew towards the village, Shippo and Kagome started telling Chūjitsuna how Kagome's adventures began. The whole time they talked, Chūjitsuna and his inner beast listened intently. Every now and then Chūjitsuna would ask a question, but for the most part he listened without interrupting.

By the time they had reached the village, Kagome and Shippo had just finished their story, ending the story at when they had met Chūjitsuna.

"That is an amazing story. It also explains the interesting outfit you were wearing when we first met." Kagome blushed when she remembered that she was wearing her pajamas when they first met. "I believe you Kagome. I have seen some strange things during my travels. I will tell you a little secret. When my parents first decided to move overseas I was not happy with their decision. I was about half of Shippo's age at the time and decided to run away so I wouldn't have to leave my home. I was just a small pup, and I hadn't learned how to change into ningen form yet. As I was running, I came across a very large neko demon. You have seen Sesshomaru's true form. Well the neko demon was about half that size, while I was no bigger than Shippo is now. I was terrified of him and when he went to pounce I jumped into the nearest shelter I could. It wasn't much of a shelter. Just an old well that was covered in vines, but it was all I could think to do. I was sure that the neko would just reach in and drag me out. But before I knew it, I was floating in a dark space and I couldn't smell the neko anymore. When I finally landed at the bottom of the well I looked up and saw that the well had been covered with a wooden slab. I could sense a faint holy power coming from the slab but it didn't seem like it was meant to harm, only to protect. So I tried to jump out of the well. I just barely reached the lip of the well and managed to shift he slab over enough to pull myself through the opening. Instead of being outside on a hill, I found myself next to the old well inside a wooden building. There were stairs leading to a door, so I nudged the door open slightly and looked out. The scene was completely different than the one I had seen before jumping in the well. The ground was hard like stone and the air smelled tainted. I didn't have long to look around though because a small old bald man and a little girl came around the corner. The man looked like he was in priest garments, and my parents warned me to stay away from priests and priestesses since they tend to try to kill youkai. So I ran back down the stairs, but I heard the man coming closer to the building, so I squeezed back through the opening into the well. The last thing I saw before the dark place came again was the slap of wood moving back to cover the opening. The next thing I knew I could hear my father and the neko fighting. About that time my mother's face showed up at the top of the well. She saw me and shifted to ningen form. She floated down, picked me up and we flew home as father finished fighting the neko demon. Of course mother and father were both furious with me for running off, but when I told them what I had seen they didn't believe me and thought I had been knock out by the fall and dreamt the whole thing up."

"Wait, the old well that you jumped into, was it near a large sacred tree?"

"I am not sure. I know it was east of here. I am sure that if I went looking for it, if it is still there, I would know it when I see it."

"The well you described sounds just like the Bone Eater Well, both in this time and in my time. I wonder if it is the same one."

"I wonder. If it was, then the little girl I saw might have been you."

"Probably not, time here seems to flow the same as back in my time. When I went home I was gone for the same amount of time as I spent here."

"Perhaps, but that would mean that I would be arriving at the well any year now. You came 500 years into the past. If I had traveled 500 years to the future then I would be arriving at the well within the next 70 years."

"Well, I have to check to see if the well still works soon. You could come with Shippo and me when I check. Then we would at least know if it is the same well."

"I would be happy to accompany you. Perhaps if the well is the same one we will both be able to see your time."

"Ok, though so far only Inuyasha and I have been able to travel through it." Kagome looked around as they started landing and gasped. She had expected to see a village like all the others she had traveled through during her time in this era. But what stood before her was completely different than anything she had ever seen before. There were buildings, but instead of being made of plain brown wood, they were made with a wood so white that the buildings almost glowed. The roads were still made of dirt, but the yards around the buildings were covered in beautiful gardens, almost like the show gardens in her time. There were clean food and game booths lining both sides of the road. Clean stalls showcases beautifully crafted goods. There were hundreds of youkai and ningens walking down the road together, some ningens even held hanyou children in their arms while their youkai partners guided them through the crowds.

"Amazing isn't it. Uncle Takehiko had this village build when he first became the Taiyoukai of the Western Lands. My father and Uncle both thought that out-casting hanyou was barbaric, so they worked together to build a place where youkai who fell in love with ningens could be together. Sesshomaru's mother did not like the idea, but she didn't oppose it either. The few times that Sesshomaru and I came here when we were pups we had a lot of fun. It really surprised me when I heard the Sesshomaru had started hating hanyou. I hadn't heard anything from Sesshomaru since shortly after Uncle died, so when I received the invitation to the harvest festival I was worried that Sesshomaru had driven off the hanyou and their parents."

"As cold as Sesshomaru seems at times, I don't think he could ever hurt an innocent child on purpose. All I had to do is see how he is with Rin and Shippo and I know that Sesshomaru isn't as cruel as he pretends to be. Sure he could kill an adult for looking at him strangely without a second thought, but I have never seen him mistreat an innocent child."

"I can see why Sesshomaru considers you both a friend and a pack mate."

"Sesshomaru sees me as a friend?"

"Of course, you said yourself that he asked you to look after Rin for him on several occasions. The only people an Inu Youkai would allow to tend to their children or wards is a member of their family pack. The only ones they would ask advice from are friends and immediate family pack mates. And the only people Sesshomaru tells jokes around are people he is comfortable with. The fact that he joked around with you during breakfast shows that he considers you a good friend."

"Well that's good, because I consider Sesshomaru a friend too. I just didn't know he thought of me that way."

"Kagome, do you know why most ningens shun other ningens who fall in love with youkai?"

"Isn't it because they are afraid of youkai and jealous of how long youkai can live? Some ningens believe that it's like being with an animal since many youkai have an animal form."

"That is the excuse that ningens use now, but at one time youkai were seen as Kami and the ningens who wed youkai were revered. That changed when the ningens who truly mated youkai started aging at the same rate as their youkai partners."

"You mean they live as long as a youkai did?"

"Yes, as long as their youkai partner lived their lifespans matched. If the youkai partner died, the ningen started aging as a normal ningen again."

"I guess that really made some people unhappy when they weren't chosen as a mate."

"Yes, in fact it was a priestess who started the war between the ningens and the youkai. She had been in love with a very powerful youkai, but he had fallen in love with her sister. Out of jealously the priestess slew her sister and used her holy power to kill the youkai. This youkai was a prince and his family responded to the death of their son and heir by destroying the village of the priestess. The priestess was able to escape and formed a "holy" army to fight against the youkai. That is what started the ningens and youkai wars. Even though the wars are long over, that hatred still lives on in memory, though not the reason behind the hatred."

"I think that the synchronized lifespans should remain a lost truth to those who are not in love with and loved by a youkai. But I do think it might be a good idea for the story about how the hatred started to be told. Maybe if ningens in this time learn the truth, the future I came from could change and there could be youkai in my time."

"There are no youkai in your time Kagome?"

"I have only seen one youkai in my time, the Tatarimokke who comforts the souls of dead children. I did see an evil Noh mask that possessed a shard of the Shikon Jewel. But other than that, I haven't seen any youkai at all."

"It is possible that the other youkai are still there, just hiding in plain sight. It is possible with practice to completely subdue our youki."

"That's true. I hope that is the case, because Shippo should have a very long life ahead of him. I would hate to think that he wouldn't make it."

"Well why not put these sad questions aside for now. I am sure that Shippo would rather be having fun than listening to us talk about a future that may not happen."

"You're right Chūjitsuna." Kagome looked over at Shippo, who was still sitting on her shoulder, and smiled. "So Shippo, what would you like to do first?"

Shippo hopped off Kagome's shoulder, grabbed her hand and dragged her into the fair.

"I want to try the goldfish scooping, mama. Then I want to get some dango. Then can we check out the masks! I want to get Rin a present! Can we get some Mochi too mama? I like Pocky best, but we ran out." Kagome and Chūjitsuna laughed as Shippo dragged them into the village.