Chapter 3: Life's Little Surprises
The next morning, Kagome took the time necessary to walk to the Higurashi shrine grounds. With it being a national landmark, no cars were able to reach the area and feeling unusually active, the demoness walked the two miles from the bullet train to the shrine, exhaustion barely creeping up on her superior being. Reaching the base of the shrine in record time, she huffed slightly out of breath from power walking and gazed up the staircase like it was the one for heaven.
Seeing the familiar old man at the top of the steps, Kagome called out to him happily, "Hello Higurashi-san!" waving for effect, she giggled when the shrine's caretaker attempted to appear stoic, merely closing his eyes and nodded his head once in an attempt to give only passing acknowledgement of her presence. Climbing the stairs one at a time, she finally joined the elder Higurashi at the top, a slight pant in her voice as she cheerfully inquired, "How are you enjoying the nice winter weather?"
Giving her a suspicious look he scoffed and replied, "Nice? Weather? You mean this never ending curse that has plagued us all!"
'There he goes again...' Kagome thought ominously. Tuning him out as he began to complain of the ice and snow, the demoness glanced around the shrine's courtyard and nodded her head in satisfaction at seeing how clean it appeared. Though she gave them enough to hire a cleaning staff to help with the shrine's upkeep, the old man refused to do so, claiming he was still young enough to take care of the entire place by himself. The white snow covered nearly everything, not even the walkways had been shoveled yet. Breathing in slightly, she sighed when she smelled the slight copper tinge of blood near the main house's front door, someone had already tripped and fallen it seemed.
"...And then my cane slipped out from under me and I fell hard on my bad knee!" he finished grumbling, patting the injured site for emphasis.
'Well, that explains it.'
"Jii-chan who are you talking to?" the door slid open and the kindly face of Katsuko Higurashi appeared, a rather large tan coat covering the woman's body. Seeing Kagome she gasped in surprise and giving her a welcoming smile said, "Abigail! It's so good to see you again! Has it been a month already?"
"It's nice to see you again too Katsuko-san," Kagome replied, "and yes it has and I have it right here;" pulling an envelope out from under her winter poncho, the disguised demoness held it out to the elder Higurashi with both hands, bowing low as she did so. "I hope you will accept this in honor of my extended family."
"But of course, girl," gently taking it from her, the caretaker held it at his side and as he normally did after taking her money, invited her to stay for a while "well then, do you feel like a cup of tea before you leave?"
Smiling gently at both the old man and Katsuko, she nodded and agreed, "Of course, I would love that."
The conversation had been light as usual, but it wasn't until the old man mentioned strange happenings on the shrine premises did it suddenly become serious.
Holding the porcelain cup in both hands, Kagome gazed at the elder Higurashi confused. "What do you mean strange sounds have been coming from the bone eaters well?"
"It's just as I said child," he replied. Taking a sip of his green tea, he allowed his words to sink in and then continued, "Lately at the most random of times, the well has been making the oddest of noises, it's almost a moaning sound I would call it, very eerie indeed."
"Moaning?" she repeated. Attempting to be delicate she suggested, "Is it possible some stupid kids have been getting into the main shrine or…"
"Impossible," he responded steadfastly, "I have several security measures installed around the shrine and well house, believe me, no one has been getting in that isn't supposed to be."
"What about Souta-chan?" Kagome thought back to the one and only child of Katsuko and her deceased husband, the little boy was only twelve but he seemed like the type who could become quite mischievous when the opportunity arose. "Remember the time he tricked you with the feather duster and the whipped cream? Maybe…"
Higurashi brushed the notion off, "Oh Souta is above messing with sacred artifacts." moving back slightly when Katsuko swooped in to pour him another cup of tea, he took in another taste of it and finished, "That well is possessed by something I know it!"
Turning to the female household member, Kagome silently asked her opinion, only to get a shrug and rational thinking, "I believe it may be the pipes that run under the well house, they haven't been redone in years and with all the ice and cold weather, it may just be time to get a proper repairman out here."
"And have them tear up the shrine Abigail's fore bosses, forefathers helped to build! It would take months to put everything back the way it was!"
"Jii-chan calm yourself, remember we have a guest." Katsuko chided gently. Giving Kagome another prize winning smile she encouraged the woman, "Do you think it's possible a plumber could check the pipes without tearing up half the shrine to do so?"
"I actually have no idea," She admitted, "if they come out here to do an inspection, they're gonna have to wait at least a few more days until the snow melts enough for them to get to the ground."
"Well there you have it Jii-chan!" she replied, happily addressing her father in law.
"What? I didn't hear her say anything."
"I'll….call someone tomorrow and see if we can't get someone over here in the next few days." Kagome finally relented, ignoring Higurashi's scowling and Katsuko's beaming.
"Oh...very well…" he finally conceded.
"Everything will be fine Jii-chan." the woman reassured her faithful caretaker.
"Well, thanks for everything," Kagome said while standing from her kneeling position, "but I really have to go now, I have to return to work in the morning and I have last minute stuff to do." Bowing to the two Higurashi's they returned the gesture and with a wave, wished her luck in continuing to run her business. Heading to the door, she quietly slipped on her poncho and located her snow boots which were also by the entryway. Just as her buckles were in place, Katsuko's voice rang out from the hallway.
"Abigail! Wait!" turning around to face the woman who was walking towards her, she stopped a few inches away, a smile on her face and something held tightly in her hands. "You forgot something."
"I did?" she tilted her head in confusion and quickly ticked off in her head all the things she had brought with her into the house. "I don't think I did."
"No it's nothing you brought with you, it's something I found while I was checking around the well to be exact."
"Really?" her interest pipped, Kagome leaned forward and gazed at the object that was now held out to her in Katsuko's hands.
In her palm was a beautiful medium sized silver mandala-like pendant which depicted a scene of a crescent moon raised high above the branches of a cherry blossom tree. Looking closer, one could see the tiny red rubies that ringed each of the branches leaves, a few diamonds thrown in as well. Katsuko had apparently added a silver chain so that it could be worn as a necklace, the light reflecting off the beautiful artifact. "I want you to have it, I know how much you love that old well." placing it in Kagome's hands, the woman closed her fingers and nodded once before scurrying out of sight, apparently embarrassed at the moment the two had just shared.
"Thanks, I guess…" she murmured, quickly slipping on the necklace and then out the door, making sure to close it back gently behind her. Seeing that it was snowing again, Kagome sighed and shaking her head began walking in the direction of the sacred well house. She wanted to hear these odd sounds herself before she bothered to call anyone about this.
Going up to the well house, Kagome examined the perimeter for a moment, finding nothing that looked too out of place to be of much concern. Pulling her gloved hands from under her poncho, she kneeled down and lightly ran her palms over the snow-covered ground in front so that she could see the pavement and once again saw no cracks or anything that would point to obvious water damage. The problem must be inside she theorized. Checking to see nobody was around, the demoness swiftly entered the well house and peered down the few stairs to the dry water hole itself. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Maybe they had to run the water in the house for her to hear anything. Sliding the wooden door shut behind her, Kagome boldly marched to the well's rim and placing her hands on the edge, looked into the bottom and sighed when she once more found nothing. Was this some kind of joke?
She had been coming here once a month for the past hundred years now, only recently had she begun arriving as Abigail Tokuoka, before that she had been Runa and before that Chizu. It was tiring sometimes to get comfortable with a new persona only to have to switch abruptly and relearn to respond to her new identity. Feeling her palm burn more hotly, she irritably scratched at it through her glove only to pause when she felt something behind her. "Who?"
It flew at her from the side. Before she could react a cloaked figure launched itself at the female, making her duck in reflex. Getting back up Kagome growled dangerously low when she saw whatever it was hanging idly from the ceiling. Even through her disguised senses, the woman could tell that it wasn't human. "What the hell is going on?!"