~Authors Note~
Hello!! I am still alive!! I was.... well, I'm not even going to make up an excuse lol. Here's your chapter, enjoy!!
Chapter 12
It was a beautiful morning. Soft, puffy clouds slowly flitted through the sky, the breeze gently pushing them along.
Akeela yawned, stretching in her too-small bed. Her tail somehow manages to hang over the edge, which gives her small kitten something to play with.
"Meow", Mew said, hopping onto her lap and started purring.
"Mm, morning Mew." Akeela answered, getting out of bed and laying Mew on her pillow. She changed her clothes and threw on a white t-shirt and jeans. Walking over to the mirror, she stared at the reflection.
She was different then other people, obviously. Having ears, and a tail. Even her fangs poked out sometimes!
Akeela brushed through her hair, Because of my ears and tail… people called me a monster, freak, that kind of stuff…. Karu was the only one who never called me a monster. He accepted me for who I am. She smiled, and grabbed a different brush and started stroking her white tail. Glancing in the mirror again, she stared at the eyes that stared back. One blue, one brown. She had gotten asked about that often+, since Karu's eyes were a different shade of blue.
Fully ready for the day, she stepped out of her room. Then she remembered. It's Saturday! Karu is home! Grinning mischievously, she turned the corner and opened the door on the left very quietly.
"Huh?" Akeela was confused, the bed was made (if you could call it that). Suddenly, a pair of strong hands grabbed her shoulders. Reflectively, she grabbed the wrists and threw the figure over her back. As the figure went over, it twisted itself so it landed on its feet. Akeela could hear her heart thumping quickly, and her breath had quickened.
The figure stood up, grinning. He walked into the light and passed Akeela, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Well done, Akeela. Even after a week you still haven't gotten dull." Karu praised, walking down the stairs.
Akeela stood still for a moment, calming her heart. They had been doing this ever since she was little, training her. He would randomly "attack" her, and she would have to defend herself. It wasn't on a based schedule so she wouldn't get in a habit.
Putting her foot on the first step down the stairs, she caught a familiar scent. Bounding down the stairs, the doorbell rang and the door opened up cautiously. Even though she was bounding, she was very quiet. Falling onto all fours, she lunged herself at the frozen figure standing in the doorway.
"Uncle Hirooo~~!" She shouted gleefully, landing in his arms and wrapping her arms around his neck.
Hiro grinned, grunting. "Akeela, your 14, aint you a bit old to come barreling down an old man?" He teased, carrying her into the house.
"Aren't," She corrected, "And no, you're never to old to 'barrel down old men'". She said, grinning as she hopped out of his arms. She recognized the scent of bacon and eggs coming from the kitchen.
"Akeela, are you beating up Uncle Hiro again?" Called a voice from the kitchen.
Hiro took off his coat, "It's Hiromasa to you." He grumbled, stalking off to the kitchen, "Besides that, do you have enough to feed me?" He asked.
Karu laughed, his blond hair shaking slightly, "Of course. I always make enough for three just in case. Then if you don't show up Akeela eats your share."
"Hey!"
The sat in the living room, their stomachs full. "So Hiro, what brings you here so early today? You usually sleep in on Saturdays." Karu asked, kicking up his feet on the coffee table.
Hiro sat still for a moment, a serious expression overcoming his usual teasing face. "I found a clue to where that well is. Since neither of us had any idea where we were."
When Akeela had gotten kidnapped by those men, Karu had followed, ignoring the signs since he was following the dot on the GPS. That's the same for Hiromasa. Great policemen, eh? They had no idea where they had went, so they couldn't find the well where Akeela had emerged from.
Akeela and Karu leaned forward, curiousity covering their features. Hiromasa continued, "At lunch one day while you were on parole, one of the men had chased a guy down this road he never went on. With his descriptions, it sounded like the road we went on. It isn't used much, kind of out of the way. So I got the directions ." He finished, taking a deep breath. Akeela leapt up, "Uncle Hiro, Karu, can we go? Can we?" She asked, a pleading look on her face. With her ears slightly down and those big eyes of hers, who could say no to that anyway? Karu smiled, "Of course Akeela, I wasn't planning on saying no. Grab your coat and hat."
~At the Higurashi residence~
Kagome ate her breakfast, enjoying the company of her family. She hadn't been home in awhile, and had missed them. "I have to go after I eat, mom. Can you pack a lunch?"
"Of course dear," Mrs. Higurashi answered, continuing eating.
Her brother frowned, "Your leaving already? You've only been here for a few days." He complained.
Kagome smiled and mussed up his hair, "I know, but if I stay too long the others will worry. I'll be back soon enough, don't worry."
Finishing up the meal, Kagome hurried and packed and walked to the well house. Outside, Souta was playing with something on the ground. Hearing footsteps, he jumped up, an empty bottle in his hands.
"Hey sis! I like these shard looking things you have, are you taking them with you?" He asked.
Kagomes eyes went wide, recognizing the shikon shards. "Souta! I was looking for those! Why are you playing with them?! Their very important! Help me put them back in the jar before they get lost!" She exclaimed, panicking.
Souta's face fell, "I-I'm sorry, I just thought that they were rocks."
Kagome took a deep breath as she started gathering them up, "It's… okay. You didn't know, its fine. Just don't do it again, okay?" She said. Souta immediately perked up and helped gather them.
"All right, that's all of them. Bye sis!" He said, waving as she jumped into the well, barely able to fit with her huge backpack. Outside, the sun glinted off of the ground, casting a small purple shadow.
~Back at Akeela's house~
Hat on, trench coat on, check. They hopped into the vehicle and sped off.
"If you are able to go back, will you?" Asked Hiromasa, his shoulders slumping a bit.
Karu hesitated, "Only if Akeela would want too."
Akeela thought for a moment. It was nice here, the advanced technology, the food, houses, everything. But… she didn't belong here. And she never would.
"I want too."
Karu nodded, "If she goes, I'm going with her." Hiromasa nodded slowly, "We'll have to go over your belongings and such, then."
They jumped into a boring conversation about relastate and bank stuff, so Akeela tuned them out and looked out the window.
The scenery was turning more country, it was beautiful. Tall tree's grew high and proud, and stone walls were on either side of the road.
A memory flashed across her eyes. She and her mother had walked on this sidewalk!
"This is the right way, I remember this." Akeela informed them. "We should hop out, we're almost there, I think."
After walking down the sidewalk for a few minutes, they saw the stairs. "This is it!" Akeela shouted gleefully, and started running towards it, but stopped dead in her tracks.
Karu ran up behind her, "Whats wrong?" Akeela stood there, trembling slightly. "This is the place." She whispered. She had only told Karu, how she had almost lost it when she was surrounded.
Karu got the hint, "It's fine now, Akeela. You're fine. Let's go, come on, it's fine." He urged gently, pushing her along. Soon, they reached it to the top of stairs. They saw the big courtyard, the house, well house, and the huge tree.
"The well house," Akeela pointed, walking towards it.
Walking closer, they noticed a small boy kneeling, looking at something on the ground.
They all stopped, unsure of how to proceed. The boy looked up, startled.
"Oh, hello." Souta said, unsure of who these strangers were. He was slightly dazed at how beautiful the girl was, her eyes were dazzling.
"Hello, I am Karu. This is Hiromasa, and Akeela." Karu said, gesturing to his companions. "May we speak with your parents?"
Souta looked at them for a moment, "Um, sure. My moms here. I'm Souta by the way."
Opening the door, Souta said, "Mom! We have guests!" He shouted. A figure emerged from the kitchen. Akeela caught her breath. This is the same lady that saw me when my hat blew off… when those men tried to capture me…
"Oh, hello. How can I help you?" She asked, eyeing the strangers curiously, wiping her hands on a dish towel.
Karu bowed politely, "I apologize for intruding, but may we have a moment of your time?" He asked, looking up. He saw that the woman was staring at Akeela, confusion showing on her face.
"Ah… yes. Of course, please be seated. I am Mrs. Higurashi." She said, shaking her head slowly, as if clearing her mind. She led them to the living room, sitting down on the couch.
"What can I do for you?" Mrs. Higurashi asked.
"This… may sound strange, and not possible. But this girl got here through your well, we would like to see this well house." He hurried through the words, bracing himself for the laughter, or look of shock.
The mother only stared at Karu, then she drifted her look to the girl. "You are her, aren't you?" She asked softly, staring at her. "I would never forget those eyes, I knew I had seen you before. Your that girl that those men were after, with the ears." She said, almost whispering.
Karu looked confused as he looked between the two. Akeela nodded slowly, and took off her coat and hat, standing up.
The mother leaned back, gazing at her. The girl was beautiful, her sleek, light blond hair reached a little past her waist, her pure white ears and soft white tail contrasted perfectly with it.
"Ah, I see." She said softly, sitting straight. "So you are from the feudal age." She said, directing the question at Akeela. She nodded, "My mother and I arrived here nine years ago, coming through your well. My father went back, taking our… transportation with him. He never came back, so we are stuck here. We were hoping we could somehow find a way to get back, even without the shards." Akeela explained, then realized she had said 'the shards'. She was horrified, now this women knew how to get there!
The woman just nodded, "My daughter was taken there, she and her friends search for shikon jewels every day, that's how she comes back and forth, with the jewels they have found. She just left, actually, about ten minutes ago."
The threesome gaped at the woman, "Other. People. Go. There?" They asked, putting pressure on every word, they were shocked.
Mrs. Higurashi nodded, "Yes. When she gets back, she could take you both with her."
It was too good to be true, they thought.
"Actually, they could go right now." Souta said from the doorway, holding up a slightly dirty shikon shard, "I was playing with these and well… when we picked them up we missed one."
Akeela jumped up, gazing at them. These ones are smaller then what we had… why?
"Can we… take this too go back?" She asked, staring into the mothers eyes.
Mrs. Higurashi met her gaze, "Yes. I can see you're an honest girl. What about your mother? You said she went with you, right?"
Akeela's face turned to stone as she turned away, "My mother was experimented on and killed." She said stiffly.
Mrs. Higurashi was silent, "I'm… so sorry."
A few minutes later, they were inside the well house. "All Kagome does is jump inside will holding the jewel."
They nodded, and Karu turned to Hiromasa. "You still have those papers that we got ready a few weeks ago?" Hiro nodded, and he sighed. "I'm going to miss you two, y'know. You have to visit, alright?" Akeela gave him a big bear hug, "You'll always be Uncle Hiro… I love ya." She whispered, standing on the edge, "...Take care of Mew, okay?" She would miss that cat. Karu and Hiro shook hands, unspoken words passing between them. "We'll always be partners." They both said.
A few seconds later, all you saw was a flash, and they were gone.
~Between the two worlds~
Karu and Akeela held each others hand tightly, the shard in both their hands. Just like the first time Akeela had traveled in this, there were bright lights around them, dull and sparkly.
"Wow, this is… insane." Karu murmered, Akeela just nodded in agreement. Out of nowhere (literally), a hand appeared in front of Akeela. She swallowed a shriek and grabbed the hand tightly, wondering where the rest of the body was. There was slight vibration in the strange dimension, but they started feeling hard surface beneath their hands and feet. They were in the well, but what side?
Not bothering to look at who she was holding, Akeela grabbed Karus wrist and lunged the three of them to the top, out of the well. Landing, Akeela threw the unknown intruder to the ground and let her claws out, pushing them lightly against the figure. She growled as she took a good look at whoever she was pinning.
It was a girl, who's eyes were as big as saucers, a small whimper emerged from the frozen figure. She was pretty, with long black raven hair. She was wearing…….. the school uniform…. uh oh.
"Kagome!!!" A voice shouted, it was a mans… but not Karu.
She felt something ram into her in the side, she flew off of the girl. Struggling to get on her feet, she just barely blocked a pair of claws, interlocking them. It was a boy, with silvery hair and a red coat. He had… ears?
Wow, he looked mad.
Akeela looked passed him, "Kagome?" She asked, confused, "You're Kagome?"
Inuyasha tensed, and threw the girl back, "What do you want with Kagome, demon?" He growled, crouching.
"I-I have a shard to return her," Akeela stuttered, wow, he looked really mad. "What's it too you, mutt?" She growled back. Then she noticed the figures beside 'Kagome', there was a little boy that looked like a fox demon, a monk, and a… girl warrior of some kind.
Inuyasha straightened, "A shard?" Weird, he didn't' respond to the word mutt.
"Yes, Karu and I used it to bring myself home. I got stuck over there."
Kagome got up and walked over to Akeela, standing by Inuyasha, she was staring intently at Akeela. "I… recognize you. Your eyes… your that little girl!"
Akeela sighed, impatient, "Yes, I am. Here's your shard." She said, tossing it to the boy. He caught it easily, surprise crossing his face. "You're…. not keeping it?" He asked, confusion and amazment crossing his features.
"…Yeah, why would I? It's not mine."
Suspision crossed his face, and he took a deep deep breath. Surprise took the place of suspicion, "You're… a half-demon?" He asked, shocked. She smelt like him, just... more girly.
Her ears flattened, "Yeah, what's wrong with that?"
He just shook his head, She's the first half-demon I've met….
Kagome smiled, at ease now, "Nothing is wrong, Inuyasha is a half demon too. Behind me is Sango, Miroku, and Shippo." She said, gesturing to the others. Karu went beside Akeela, tense.
"I am Akeela, and this is Karu. He's from the other side but wanted to stay with me."
Inuyasha's eyes went wide, as with Kagomes. "You mean… the daughter of Gin, the leader of the Black wolf clan?"
"He's not the leader anymore, I am." A voice sounded behind everybody. They all turned, it was Koga.
Koga caught sight of Akeela, and his heart thudded but he ignored it, "I am Koga. Your father has disappeared, girly."
~Authors Note~
yay! so you got your chapter. be happy :) AND THEY FINALLY GOT BACK! only took 12 chapters, but hey, that's not too bad. I hope your enjoying the story, please review! It's so encouraging to receive them.
and once again, a huge thank you to Sangoscourage, your a huge help! and to all my persistent reviewers, your amazin and I love ya! (hugs)