Chapter Four

It was always a rush to get ready whenever Kagome slept past her alarm. Now that she was in her senior year of high school, with rigorous studying and multiple entrance exams, sleep was a luxury she didn't have. Not a lot of teenagers had the time, either. They all have less than half a year to prepare for collage, and she was going to make the most of her education now, so that she can get into the top collage of her dreams. But she had a bad habit of oversleeping. By now her friends, classmates, and teachers were all used to seeing her a little late, tired, or not well presented.

Today was going to be a mixture of all three, apparently. Kagome would be lucky to make it to school ten minutes after the bell. Her eyes had black marks under them, showing the five hours of sleep in the last forty-eight hours was beginning to show. And she couldn't find her school tie. She was sure she washed it with her uniform the night before, so why wasn't it hanging in her room?

Throwing open her door, she called out to her mother. 'My school tie! Have you seen it?'

It was Sota who answered her, though. 'She put it on your chair cause you left it downstairs!'

Kagome's eyes flickered to the other end of the hall, towards the room where his voice came from. 'Thank you!'

There was no time to wonder why he answered instead of her mother, or to wonder why he was still home instead of at school. Sota was almost never late. Kagome remembered he used to get mad at her for taking too long, or forgetting important things like her homework. Now that he was older, though, he never reminded her about these things. He lived his own life now. The house was peaceful, happy, and whole.

'You're going to be late,' Sota's voice told her from the open doorway.

Kagome fastened the tie around her neck before turning to face him. 'What are you still doing here?'

He shrugged. 'Mum said she needs my help around the house today. I can afford to take one day off school. Besides, she can't move all that wood on her own.'

'Oh, right,' she breathed, casting her gaze down.

A few weeks ago her grandpa decided it was time to update the safety of their shrine. If visitors were going to come in and out, praying to the gods, then they should do so knowing the structures of this temple are safe. And, because of this, the shrine built around the well had been pulled down. Sota has been a huge help to his grandpa, moving all the heavy wood because it would cost them too much to hire a handyman. The well itself won't be touched, but it will remain out in the open. Visitors can wish upon the well if they choose.

Because of the exposure, Kagome is forced to lay eyes on the well every time she passes to the front gate of the temple. A reminder that a long time ago, her life may have went down a different track.

Sota saw her expression change, noticed the sadness touch her eyes. It happened every now and then, when she was reminded. None of the family knows exactly what happened that night three years ago. All Sota can remember was Kagome locking herself in her room for a whole week, refusing to talk, and sometimes even refusing to eat. But one day, she just walked down stairs and went to school, not saying a word to anyone. Kagome started eating at the table with them again, going to school every day, and talking and laughing like her old self. And when he says it returned to normal, it meant that Kagome never travelled back to the feudal era. It was like it never existed. No-one wanted to say anything in case it upset Kagome or sent her back into her state of depression. Occasionally, though, she would get this look of sadness in her eyes. It broke Sota's heart every time she was like this. Because something happened that night, and he knows it has something to do with that dog-eared boy. Sota would do everything in his power to make sure no-one hurt his sister like that again.

'When did you get so big,' Kagome muttered.

Sota shook his head to clear his mind before cocking his head to the side in confusion. 'Huh?'

His sister was smiling over at him, but the sadness wasn't completely gone from her eyes. 'You've matured so much. And I've seen you outside helping grandpa. You lift those pieces of wood like they weigh nothing.'

'I'm fourteen now,' he said defensively, playing along. Sota knows she is only trying to get the past out of her mind. 'I have muscle.'

'Oh, you have muscle?' She laughed.

'And I'm taller than you now,' he added proudly.

Kagome's heart lightened. Before she knew it, her school tie was back on the chair and she was busying herself with undoing the laces of her shoes. 'You know what? I think school will do just fine without me today. How about I help with clearing the wood?'

'You sure? Don't you have a test to study for?'

'Sota, I was up till one studying.'

'Point taken.' He waited for her to finish slipping off her socks before announcing, 'Last one there has to make lunches for a week!'

'You're on!' She laughed as Sato raced down the hall, a little child still in his heart.

Outside the weather was nice. Not too cold or too warm. They found their mother on her way to the main shrine, only stopping long enough to tell her kids she would be back soon. Kagome and Sota walked in the opposite direction, towards the large pile of splintered wood that needed to be carted to the back of the temple. Their grandpa had arranged for a removal dumpster to be placed there for the broken bits of wood to be thrown into. But as the two teenagers looked over the massive stack of wood, they wondered if the dumpster would be big enough.

'Well, we might as well start,' Kagome said, sauntering over to the pile.

The well stood to her left, encircled by rope so visitors wouldn't lean over the edge and fall in. It was too dangerous. Even Kagome could hurt herself, no longer able to pass through the ground at the bottom. Her eyes landed on the edge of the well, holding it in her line of sight until she almost tripped. Paying more attention to where she was walking meant that the well was completely out of her path of sight.

'Won't it be easier if you get changed out of your uniform?' Sota asked, catching up to her.

Kagome shook her head. 'It'll be fine.' She stopped in front of the pile of wood and tied her hair into a high pony tail. It's grown almost to her bottom in the past few years, and it always got in her way now. 'Common, let's start here.'

Together, the two siblings began moving the pile of broken wood. Kagome was more help than Sota would have thought. For a girl, she could lift her weight, and she never complained about the hot sun or the splinters he could see on her hands. His sister was working at full pace. At first he thought nothing of her dedication to their job, until they paused for a small lunch break. Kagome turned her back to the wood stacked near the well and then briskly walked back towards the house. He realised she was trying to ignore the well. She was forcing herself to work so close to it, and it pained her.

'Hay, Kagome!' He rushed to catch up to her.

He planned on telling her to ditch the work and help their mother out with the chores inside. This way she didn't have to work so close to the well. However, just before he reached the wide footpath-the one Kagome was already standing on-that led to their house, something sharp hit his left arm. Sota stumbled to a halt, surprised at the sudden pain that jolted through his body like an electric shock. What...? He glanced down to see a long wooden pole sticking out of his arm, just above his elbow. Blood flowed down his arm, dripping from his fingertips.

'Sota!'

Kagome ignored her instincts to find where the arrow had come from. Instead, she rushed back to Sota just before he collapsed. Her younger brother was heavy, but she managed to catch most of his upper half so his head wouldn't smash into the dirt. Was he unconscious? Kagome gently laid his head down and began checking his pulse. Still alive, but knocked out. A normal arrow wouldn't cause enough pain to render someone unconscious, especially if that person was only hit in the arm. Perhaps it wasn't a normal arrow?

Scared and confused, Kagome lifted Sota's arm so there was no pressure on the arrow. She gripped the wood, focusing hard. Half a minute later she was convinced this wasn't a normal arrow. Her eyes lifted and scanned the whole area, looking for whatever-or whoever-was out of place. The arrow that had penetrated her brother's skin was infused with magic; a magic she would know anywhere. But nothing was out of place. Kagome closed her eyes and stilled her mind, allowing her body to focus on sensing the familiar magic. She has done this before, years ago when searching for shards of the jewel.

It was too late for her to move when her body caught a wave of the magic. Kagome was still crouching beside her brother when the arrow hit her back. Pain rippled from the small of her back, just below her left kidney. But it was a known pain to her, and her body was still the reincarnation of a priestess, making it noticeably stronger. Just like the time when the arrow had pierced her leg, the wound throbbed, stinging as her blood began soaking into her white shirt. Kagome's eyes became clouded, but instead of giving into the crippling pain, she managed to get her legs under herself and stand. Now that the arrow had been shot again, the magic was easier for her to sense.

Kagome turned in the direction the arrow had been shot from and gave a small, emotionless, smile. 'Hello, Kikyo.'

'So you found my hiding place?' The familiar voice of the dead woman Kikyo was as emotionless as always. Kagome's neck was stiff as she held eye contact with the priestess in the tree, perched on one of the larger branches. 'At first I wasn't too sure you were her. You seem...different. But then I sensed a small amount of my power in you.'

'Why are you here?'

Kikyo sighed. 'So quick to get to the point. But, alright. I'm here to end your life, Kagome. Like I should have three years ago at the well.'

Kagome's hand instinctively moved down to the pink scar on her leg, long since healed. Now she would have a matching pink line on her back. 'Why now after all these years? You have your world, and I have mine.'

'Inuyasha still cares for you. My world isn't the same, and it won't be until he hears that you don't exist; in our world or yours.'

'He...still cares?' Kagome head fell forward, hiding her face from Kikyo. Was this true?

'Yes,' the priestess clarified. 'And because of your hold on him, he does not wish to follow me into death. He does not wish to be mine.'

Before Kagome could process her words or even utter a reply, another one of Kikyo's arrows was flying through the air. Kagome jumped out of the way just in time, but in doing so, she had smacked her head on the ground. The priestess watched from her perch in the tree as the young girl rolled over, realising too late that the arrow was still stuck in her back. Kagome screamed in agony as more pain shot through her body. Her eyes clouded, and her head began spinning.

Kikyo's voice sounded really far away. 'If you want to make this harder, I can always go for the easier target.'

Kagome rolled her head to the side to see her hitch another arrow, this time pointing it at Sota. 'No! Leave him out of this!'

Kikyo contemplated ignoring the girl, but then diverted the path of her arrow at the last moment, instead shooting it at Kagome. Unable to dodge it, nor having the strength to do more than clinch her jaw shut, Kagome allowed the arrow to pierce the flesh of her arm. The pain of the arrow in her back coincided with the fresh pain from her arm and almost sent her mind into darkness. Kagome used her remaining strength to glare at the priestess in the tree. Sweat beaded on her forehead, rolling down her temples and soaking her hair. There wasn't an inch of her body that wasn't in agony. Her mind was holding on by a thread of string, forcing her eyes to look through the mist.

'Sota...' Her voice was barely a whisper.

She rolled her head to the side, looking for her brother. He was still there, a few meters away. Kagome watched closely, relieved when she saw his chest was still rising and falling at a steady rhythm. Then she glanced back at the tree. Kikyo was gone. Kagome's eyes flickered around, her head rolling this way and that, trying to see every angle. Each neck movement was another shot of pain down her spine, but none of that mattered at the moment. Finally, she saw something. Kikyo's red pants-high priestess clothes-were the last thing Kagome's saw, disappearing over the edge of the well. So, she went back home? Did she think her job was done? Kagome knew that she would lose her struggle the moment she lost consciousness. Her wounds, plus the magic of a priestess, were too much for her body to handle. She would slip into darkness forever.

A tear rolled down her cheek at the same time she found her voice, muttering only one word. It was a name she hasn't spoken in three years.

'Inu...yasha.'