Half an hour later, she was standing at the entrance of a village filled with structures made of wood with thatched roofs. Her eyes widened as she glances about at the buildings in surprise and at the people who had also stopped and were openly gaping at her. The people were dressed very old fashioned in kimonos and such, at this point she wished she had paid more attention in history class as she couldn't remember the names of the garb the men were wearing. After a few moments, she composed herself enough to approach one of the females who watched her advance with a mixture of fear and curiosity.
"Um, excuse me. Could you tell me where I am?" Kagome asked in a friendly and polite manner. The woman watched her suspiciously for a moment, then seeming to decide that Kagome was not a threat, answered,
"You are in Edo. Where are you from traveller?" The lady was being friendly and seemed curious about Kagome as well. Kagome, for her part, was struggling to wrap her mind around what she had already figured out. Not only was she in her home town, but she had somehow been flung into the past. She felt her knees wobble before the ground rushed to meet her face and she was out like a light.
She blinked as her eyes tried to focus on what was directly above her head, she was staring into a thatched ceiling and for a moment her mind went into panic before she remembered the weird situation she had found herself in. She groaned and rubbed the side of her face only to encounter a bandage, she bolted to sitting position as she remembered how she had collapsed in the street after being overwhelmed by the pain in her side, the fatigue from the climb and walk and the knowledge that she was in another time period. He glanced down at her side just to see that her torso was also bandaged. Her face flamed for a moment as she thought of some stranger looking at her while she was unconscious. The thought left her as quickly as it had come as she surveyed her surroundings, she was obviously in one of the thatched buildings she had seen when she had first entered the village. Curiosity got the better of her and she pulled the sleeping yukata around around herself and ventured towards the door; in the next room and on closer inspection, the only other room, she saw the face of the lady she had spoken to in the village before her ungraceful tumble.
"Hello?" Kagome called. The woman's eyes snapped towards her in surprise, then softened in relief.
"You're finally up. I thought you would never wake up." She said as she rose, brushing the non- existent dust from her clothing.
"Why would you say that?" Kagome asked, slightly confused.
"Well, you've been asleep for three days." The woman stated with as much blandness as if she were discussing the weather, but Kagome could see the dark circles under her eyes that belied the extent of her worry about Kagome's state.
"Three days?!" Kagome exclaimed in a loud whisper, "Well, at least now I know why my side no longer hurts," unconsciously rubbing the affected area.
"Um, thank you so much for looking after after I fell." Kagome said with a deep bow.
"You're welcome, now come eat before you collapse again. You haven't eaten since you've been here." Her stomach seemed to take that as it's cue to grumble loudly. A blush spread across Kagome's face as she thanked the woman for the food, of which she ate three bowls.
"I'm Kagome Higurashi by the way, I completely forgot my manners." Kagome said once her stomach was sated.
"I'm Yumi Ishiki, I'm the miko of this village." The lady replied and for the first time Kagome noticed that Yumi was in fact wearing the traditional miko garb she remembered seeing on one of the educational trips her school had taken to the National History Museum. Keeping the surprise hidden from her face, Kagome continued the conversation.
"What year is it?" This question earned her a weird look from the miko who answered nevertheless,
"It is the year 1190, in the Kamakura period. Why do you ask? Have you lost your memory?" Yumi asked looking at her worriedly. Meanwhile, Kagome's head spun as she realised she had been tossed centuries into the past. She came out of her stupor when she realised Yumi was looking at her with soft worried eyes and she realised that she had not answered the question.
"Oh, no. I just hit my head before" Kagome said, it was the truth in a sense.
"Where are you from Kagome? Your clothing was so indecent for a young woman to be wearing." Yumi continued, placated by her answer. Kagome was about to be greatly offended and was going to give Yumi a piece of her mind when she remembered that her jeans shorts and slinky blouse were not items that would even be thought of until another few centuries and even then would not get to Japan until much later. She had no idea how to explain that to Yumi, so she decided to remain quiet.
She saw Yumi preparing to push the subject when she suddenly remembered the well, it had brought her here, it would take her home again. She rose quickly to her feet and rushed to pull her own clothing unto her body before bolting through the door.
Outside, villagers stopped to gape at her again, but she only stopped for a second to get her bearings before taking off in the direction of the well. Her mind only faintly registered Yumi calling out for her to wait. Kagome sped through the trees, barrelling through the foliage until she came upon the clearing with the well in the center of it. She stopped to catch her breath in relief before staggering towards the structure, she leaned over the edge of it still taking gulping breaths before launching herself into it in desperation. She felt the pain of landing on her injured side again and lost consciousness.
