Aomine soon learned, much to his relief, that he was not dead. However, death would have made more sense than his current situation. Based on his surroundings, he surmised that he was still in Japan, but in the Warring States Era. Aomine thanked his superior knowledge of Japanese history, otherwise, he likely would have lost his mind.

Barely.

'I am hundreds of years away from my friends, even my birth. If I wake up and this bullshit was all a dream, I'm seeing a shrink,' Aomine thought.

It was a surreal experience when he realized he had inadvertently time-traveled to a drastically different time. Everything felt too real to be a concerning dream. Even the palpable fear he felt when he was attacked felt real. Kagome had called the thing that attacked him a Spider Head, which was fitting for the ugly, arachnid adjacent thing. Since then, Aomine felt constantly on edge. That and, in all honesty, pissed off that the myths and legends of Japanese folklore turned out to be true.

Much to his relief, Aomine didn't feel alone under the care of the feisty priestess. It had been five days since he was attacked by the Spider Head demon. Under Kagome's attentive care, his shoulder felt as good as new. Maybe even stronger. Aomine rolled the appendage, testing its vitality. Not even a single muscle cramp. Needless to say, he was grateful and impressed by the young woman. For this reason, amongst many, is why he didn't tell her about how he came upon the village. He didn't want to open up a conversation and have her run away screaming about his lunacy.

"Hey, so, I'm actually from the future and I met your descendants trying to save one of them from the bottom of a well. I traveled through time through that well and now I'm here very much alive, please help me."

Complete fucking lunatic. Oddly enough, even though Kagome was a descendant of the Higurashi family she was the one weird connection to his true time. Aomine ran a rough hand through his hair. If he kept thinking about it, he'd fucking lose it.

The sun beat down mercilessly in a small clearing in the forest. Wiping beads of sweat off his brow, Aomine groaned at the menial pile of plants in his basket. His skills were destined for a basketball court, not flower-picking. The boy tossed a glance over his shoulder at his companion who hummed a nameless tune as she worked. A small distance away, her small body hunched over a patch of greenery. Nimble fingers picked through the plants to harvest the medicinal herbs. While she had eventually forgiven him for his rudeness, Kagome still made him help her with the worst chores she could think of to make up for it. As much as it sucked being someone's errand boy, Aomine didn't mind it so much. He had free entertainment.

"Oi, woman! How much longer do we have to be out here?" Aomine complained loudly. Kagome peered at him from under her lashes for a moment before going back to her work. The basketball player pouted at the lackluster response. He picked up his basket and began harvesting next to her.

"Can we be done now, Ka-go-me." Aomine enunciated the syllables of her name with a flirtatious purr. A victorious smirk spread across his features when she bristled.

"We need to gather enough for myself and Lady Kaede. Stop complaining, we haven't even been out here that long." Kagome replied, addressing him with a deadpan expression. Without the dour expression on her face, she was practically glowing even with sweat glistening against flushed cheeks. They stared at each other for a moment before Kagome broke eye contact, mumbling under her breath about stupid men. As much as he enjoyed their banter, Aomine would much rather do so in the comfort (and shade) of somewhere else.

"Can't that old lady make the kid do it?" Aomine's chin settled comfortably on Kagome's shoulder. He pushed it further by looping an arm around her shoulders to attempt to pull a plant from the ground.

"Rin is with Lady Kaede helping with a birth," Kagome answered him, swatting away his arm from her. Before he could complain, her fingers wrapped around his to pull the stubborn root up. It erupted from the ground, clods of dirt smacking the basketball player in the cheek. "And Rin has done more than her fair share of herb harvesting, mister."

"Tch, whatever," Aomine muttered, scooting away from her when his attempt to mess with her was thrown back into his face tenfold. Splotches of red darkened his cheeks from her casual contact with his hands. As a notorious tough guy, he had an image to maintain. It was a part of his nature to tease her, but when she fought back… A sudden onset of nerves arose whenever she came close. Fucking ridiculous.

"Come on, take a break or something. We've been at this for hours."

"Don't be such a baby, if you're that bored go explore the village or something," Kagome said, wiping her dusty hands on her red hakama. Aomine scoffed at her tone which insinuated she was speaking to a petulant child. After the Spider Head incident, he preferred to stay by Kagome's side. Or, rather, within her shooting distance.

"No thanks," Aomine gave her a half-hearted glare. He plopped himself in the shade of a nearby tree, leaning his aching back against the bark. This era was irritatingly uncomfortable, from the lame chores he had to do to the freezing baths he had to take in the river. Aomine shivered at the memory of the few baths he had taken, goosebumps prickled along his arms at the thought of the merciless spring air against his poor naked body. Kagome stuck her tongue out at him and continued to ignore him. Suddenly, the basketball player had an idea.

"Oi, the old lady said something about a hot spring a couple of miles from here," Aomine said, his face seemingly disinterested as scratched the inside of his ear. When the rustling of leaves suddenly stopped he knew he caught her attention. "I have my energy back and want a warm bath."

A moment of silence passed before Kagome tied a cloth over the rim of her basket. Hook, line, and sinker. The basketball player smirked victoriously as she motioned for him to follow. As soon as he fell into step with the girl, her elbow dug into his side.

"How dare you tempt me with a hot spring," her tone feigned exasperation, but a playful smile graced her lips. Aomine smirked with a shrug, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. The priestess glared at him and smacked his hand away indignantly.

"Anything to get out of this bullshit," he laughed.

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a/n: did someone say extra chapter? No? Just me? Damn. Hehe, I figured after yesterday's goof y'all deserve another chapter.