My mouth made an 'o' – not really sure if I should start checking the girl for any brain damage. "You have got to think I'm crazy," she laughed – her laughter rang in the cold halls of the large museum. I shook my head, no - making her exhaled softly. "I don't think you're crazy, Kagome," I laughed. "But claiming to have known a warrior from a whole different time period seems kind of far-fetched."

"Do you want to know why I almost failed high school and why I barely talk about it?" I nodded; of course I wanted to know. "Well, it's because I was somewhere else – collecting shards…"

I lifted my eyebrow at her and interrupted, "shards?"

She hummed and bit her lip, "yes, shards. Jewel shards to be more specific."

I eyed her for a moment – we both had secrets the other did not know about. Her mother had once given me very specific instruction to not question Kagome about the past three years she had spent in high school. I had only shrugged my shoulders at that time, but now it seemed Kagome willingly would talk about her past. She must have asked me to come here for a reason. Perhaps, now that we had known each other for a year, we could finally expose ourselves to each other a tad more. I made up my mind. "Perhaps," I started and began to walk towards a couch positioned by the entrance door of the feudal section, "if you start at the very beginning I'll be able to understand more?" She nodded and followed me.

We sat down and I crossed my jeans-cladded legs and folded my hands in my lap – waiting for her to start her story. Her brown eyes searched mine, "promise you won't interrupt me."

I nodded.

She inhaled deeply and began. "I suppose it all started on my fifteenth birthday, the same year I started high school. My cat had gone missing and I went looking for him – the little, fat annoyance never leaves the shrine ground anyways," she said and smiled. "I found him in the well-house located across our house, hissing at the well. As a kid, I had always feared the dark depths of the well and I rarely went in there." She paused and crossed her legs as well – crossing her arms in the process. "When I found him, I picked him up and was about to exit the well-house, but I suddenly felt the presence of something evil behind me and the well's insides began to glow a bright, blue color and out came a huge monster with six arms." Kagome looked at me for any signs of disbelief and I did my best to remain serious.

I knew for a fact that demons did exist. As a matter of fact, the curator of the museum was a demon himself – a fox-demon. I nodded for her to continue.

"The demon, Lady Centipede, grabbed me and I lost Buyo who ran out of the well-house in panic. Souta arrived and saw the demon – he panicked himself and ran out the well house to get grandpa. I don't recall neither of them returning before I was pulled down and into the well. The atmosphere in there was something I'll never forget. It felt as if I was floating as I traveled further into the depths." Her brown eyes looked straight ahead of her. "Lady Centipede still had a firm grasp of my arm and her long, pink tongue shot out and licked my face – claiming that I had 'it'." She turned her head to look at me, "At that time I had no idea what she was talking about."

"Like any normal person would I began to struggle against her hold and I slung my free arm towards her and a bright, pink light shot out from my hand. After that, the well's glow stopped and I was surrounded by the dark. The only piece left of Lady Centipede was her arm, which I had ripped off. I had no idea how I did it or how it happened – and I thought it had to be one of those weird dreams."

"I began to call for Souta to get grandpa or mom to help me out. I waited, but nobody came and that's when I first noticed the vines that hung down from the side of the well. Looking above me, I found the roof of the well house gone and – thinking it weird – I started to climb. At the top I found myself in a clearing surrounded by trees. My house was gone." She looked at me and got up from the couch and extended her hand to me, wanting me to follow her. I did.

We walked towards a glass containing a red kimono. The tablet under it read; "The Fire Rat Robe." I hummed. "When I started walking around the clearing I tried to visualize our estate and the Goshinboku – you know the huge tree in our courtyard." I nodded and she continued. "When I saw the huge tree I ran as fast as I could to get home, hoping that my house would be there. But it wasn't. When I came I saw a boy at my age trapped to a tree, an arrow sticking out of his chest." She went to touch the glass, but stopped herself. "The branches of the tree had circled themselves around him, as if they were embracing his body. He looked to be sleeping and I stepped up to him and that's when I first noticed his appearance."

"On top of his head sat two puppy-ears positioned on each of his sides. They looked so soft and I couldn't help myself. I just emhad/em to touch them. And I did, too." Kagome smiled and I imagined she saw something only she could see, but it was a sad smile. "I heard someone yell behind me, and I turned to see villagers with arrows pointed at me. The leader spoke up first and he claimed that I was a demon and they bound my hands and feet, slung me over a horse as if I was a bag of rice and carried me to their village. In a historical view, I realized that this small village would later grow into the large city I love and have always known as Tokyo."

"In the village, I was led to the priestess there – Priestess Kaede of Edo – and she examined me carefully. Well, she examined me after she tried to throw purified powder on me," she growled and I was startled at the sound, raising my eyebrow once again at my Japanese friend.

We began to move towards a glass contained positioned in the center of the room and my curiosity got the better of me. A pink ball lay in the center, resting on a white, silk cushion. "What's that?"

"That's the Shikon no Tama – a powerful jewel from the feudal era. Well, it was anyways. I destroyed it. This is only a replica," she said matter-of-factly. I nodded and let her continue her story. "This piece of junk was what kept me away from my life in the present, but it also made me a life in the past as well…"

She shook her head. "After Kaede had examined me, she noticed that I reminded her so much of her deceased sister who had been so much older than herself, the Shikon no Tama's protector – Kikyou. I was told how the brash half-demon, InuYasha, had befriended her sister, made her fall for him and how he turned on her to steal the Shikon no Tama for his own winnings." She paused and threw a glance at the red kimono that was now behind us, "but what InuYasha hadn't known at that time was that anybody who wishes a selfish wish upon the jewel will be cursed. And InuYasha wanted to become a full-fledged demon so he could become stronger and more powerful."

"The jewel was originally created from a battle between the infamous Midoriko, the most powerful priestess known, and hundreds of demons. The battle lasted for three days and three nights before Midoriko could feel herself fading away. She led the demons inside a cave, a cave located near the demon slayer's village, where she purified the demon by using her own soul as a weapon. She trapped her soul and the demons' souls inside her which created the Shikon no Tama from her chest." A loud thunder came close to us and I had to bite down a yelp.

'Damned weather,' I cursed and willed the lightning to fade away. Happy that the thunder faded slightly, I continued to listen to Kagome's story.

"Some say that Midoriko only took her own life as the demon had killed the only man she had ever loved and there is evidence for it as well, however, it could also just be a normal man trapped inside the demon's forged body."

Kagome looked at me, and I made my best to look like a question mark, having no idea what she was talking about.

"Elaborate," I demanded.

She sighed and nodded.