Kagome had to admit it, she was almost as reluctant to do so as the hanyou had been, but she conceded - It was time for her to go home. They were dangerously low on supplies and if they wanted to keep themselves healthy and happy she needed to go and get them. She was down to practically nothing, and needed to get more.
They were on a roll with the shard detecting, over the fortnight she’d been with them since her last visit home, they had found 9 jewel shards. She and Inuyasha hadn’t even had many arguments as of late either, but she still had to go. After all, the breaks she took were vital, everyone understood that, even Inuyasha, he just didn’t approve. They were needed not just for her future, but for the cause of the quest too. Everyone knows that the great city of Rome was not built in one day, (maybe that’s why it is not there anymore)and it seemed this mission would not be over in a couple of months either.
It was not intended to be a long visit though, strictly business. She only wanted to stay for a couple of days, stock up on some much needed supplies. They were out of ramen which was not a good thing since it subdued the hanyou better than the necklace. They were practically out of the particular fruit which she loved too, which she more or less lived on now. Seeming as she gave most of the ramen to Inuyasha anyway, she found it the fruit was all she had left for her. It gave her more energy than the copious amounts of happy food she brought back, but that was mainly on Shippou’s demand which she found she could never decline.
Yes, coming back to the feudal era without candy for the little kitsune would be suicidal on her part and hardly fair to her child – she had started to think of Shippou as her child not long ago. She could not bring back ramen as a treat for Inuyasha and not bring Shippou’s treats too. She had treats for the others as well, but they did not order things from her as if she was a live Argos catalogue like Inuyasha and Shippou often did.
She needed to take her school books with her every time she went down the well too because she was starting to fall really far behind again. Again she was reminded of Souta saying that she only had to fail the year six times and then they could graduate together. She would bring back treats for everyone so they would forgive her for leaving and she must not forget toiletries she had run out of because bathing was important to her.
Of course she would do some other things while she was there such as have a proper bath for starters. She could sleep in a real bed instead of a mere sleeping bag on the hard ground, with real sheets and a duvet and heavenly warm covers. She would go shopping, she needed to for the much needed supplies, but also just for the hell of it.
She could see her friends again, maybe meet up with them, it had been a while. She hadn’t seen Erie and Yuuka for weeks, and she even missed trying to fend off Hojo’s increasing sexual advances, just the usual. She was dying for a taste of normality aware from the threats on her life which were ever present in the feudal era. If fending off Hojo came along with that then she would leap at it, a dose of modern boredom and normal were what she really came home for. She wouldn’t be much of a help in the feudal era if she was reduced to babbling fool after all.
That boy had been increasingly insistent lately and had apparently been checking round the house every day. Her grandpa had finally stopped listing off diseases after Kagome had ordered him not to, last time he said the first thing that came into his head and it happened to be an STD. It had taken weeks to calm the boy down, but thankfully he had told no one of her grandfather’s ‘Freudian Slip’, she couldn’t think of a better excuse for the old man. Wriggling their ways out of that one had been one of the most awkward situations of her life.
Now he just said that she was off visiting her boyfriend when he came round, as long as it was not a school day, otherwise unwanted rumours would spread like wildfire. On school days she was off at work experience, or visiting a sick relative, anything but being ill, just in case another episode of STD came up in conversation again.
This was not strictly speaking a lie. After all, according to her girl friends Inuyasha was her boyfriend, dubbed ‘Mr Possessive’ and whatnot. She wanted him to be her boyfriend too, but he was not ready to see her like that yet. He was still hung up over a dead girl, and only cared about her as a very close friend at the moment. He was also a bit immature, but he would come round eventually, and she would wait for him.
The partial truthful comment however had not had the desired effect on Hojo though. He called round more often, twice or three times a day, before school, after and during lunch breaks sometimes. What is more, he shamelessly glomped her whenever he saw her, clinging on as if for dear life. She didn’t dislike Hojo, she loved him as a good friend, but could not like him as more than that because a certain hanyou already held her heart. She felt bad for him but she could not be much clearer than she was already being, it was not her fault if he was too dense to get the hint. She hoped he would find someone for himself soon. She was thankful he was not quite as insistent as Kouga, but he was getting pretty dang close.
Despite any abnormal things and unpleasant happenings in her time she was determined to not feel down when in the glorious modern era. She would relax, and have fun, and have a little break from the craziness going on down the well with a small taste of normality from her time. She would not be in danger, and only be pissed off by her brother; he could not hold a candle up to Inuyasha when it came to annoying her though, thankfully.
Souta thought his sister was becoming nicer, and consequently he became increasingly more excited to see her, not being able to wait to hear of her latest adventures. What was actually happening to cause her change in behaviour towards him was her patience towards him was only increasing. This was because so was her patience with Inuyasha, who was so much more annoying than Souta could even dream of. Kagome pretended to be annoyed by her little brother, only because she was his older sibling, but they hardly ever even fought in reality. She thought of Souta tenderly, she was actually missing him more than her mother.
Inuyasha had for once not been the reason for her decision to go home; in fact he had just nodded and said ‘come back soon’, who knew he could be so caring and considerate? His reaction had almost been sweet. Of course he had been rude and swore and she had had to sit him several times over the days she had spent with him, but that was normal.
Inuyasha actually pissed her off purposefully sometimes just to eat dirt, or so it seemed. Kagome knew he didn’t like it when she went back to her time, and although he never admitted it to anyone, the whole gang knew he missed her like crazy when she did. This made Kagome smile and she knew she had it bad for him.
Apparently he got grumpier and grouchier than usual with her gone to the modern era, swearing and getting ticked off by the smallest of things. This was not just because they couldn’t keep moving and had to stop but he actually genuinely missed her. Shippou informed her of his behaviour on her return... that is, once he stopped blabbering about how much he missed her and perched on her shoulder. She usually sat Inuyasha a couple of times when she came back for his snappish attitude and for thumping Shippou, which he did far too often, but never seriously meant it when she did so. She planned on never saying it aloud to avoid internal combustion, but she was touched, and loved him all the more.
In fact, lately, Inuyasha seemed to be returning some of her feelings and showed it through small gestures of his. Sometimes she would find him holding her hand, when he used to shy away from physical contact. An act of consideration on his part too was not running off to Kikyou whenever he saw her soul collectors. He sometimes still did so, usually in the night when he though no one was watching, but he did not go running at every opportunity anymore. He would be standing guard when she slept and bathed – with her permission of course, and she felt safe with him near her, and knew he would protect her. Kagome was pretty sure their feelings for each other were not quite mutual yet, but a girl can dream.
She promised to come back soon, and she would honour that, she always kept her promises. She often felt torn when she had to go back. She did not really wanting to leave her friends, for any length of time, they were her family in the feudal era, and she loved them all dearly. But at the same time she desperately wanted to go back home too, she had obligations in both points in time and could not give up either life.
She needed to go to stock up and break away from the craziness and study for school so she would have a future once she had finished with the past. She wanted to have a successful life in the conventional and materialistic meaning of the word, such as diploma, career and family. She had an actual biological family she loved too, and school friends that she had loved since she was in kindergarten.
Hoisting her practically empty yellow sack on her back, which still found a way to be heavy, Kagome jumped up to the lip of the well. She had a couple of changes of clothes and her bathing suit, which was her swimming costume.
She also had her bow and arrows in there; she trained when she was in her era as well so as not to let her skills get rusty, so it was important to carry them everywhere, she no longer left them in the village. She had also been learning self defence and martial arts, and a small dagger lay in one of the hidden pockets in her rucksack. It was positioned with the handle sticking out of the bag and the blade secured inside it, so she could easily whip it out if needed. Along with weapons she had a first aid kit which had not needed to be used and medicines, namely for flu that Shippou had had, that also had not been needed.
She also harboured some chocolaty treats left in her bag; although only a couple, she had confiscated them from Shippou when she caught him trying to steal them from her sack. She had intended to give most of them to him anyway, but she didn’t appreciate that he took it upon himself to get the objects of his desire. She had instructed him that all he had to do was ask and she would have gladly given them to him. She spoiled her Kit, and everyone knew it. Although unable to stay angry at him, she had to discipline him as his mother, and not in the way Inuyasha did it, with thumps to the head.
She smiled at she jumped into the well, thinking of her son and his childish ways, and of her crush and his childish ways. She thought of Sango and her compassion and skill, with Kirara and her soft, warm fur. She was even missing the lecherous Miroku who never learned, and his two cursed hands, all of her companions already. She spread her arms out, waiting for the usual soft blue light to swallow her.
She had learnt the painful way that the well gave her no warning before the journey abruptly ended. So she managed to get herself into a position that meant she landed on her feet once she landed on the ground of the well in her time. It was a familiar journey and it was usually gentle with her, but you can’t be too safe. She waited for the gentle azure hue and the scents and sounds of the city soon to follow.
However, the blue light did not come, in its place came a black swirl of pure energy. She had not a second to think about it, and not a chance to avoid it, all she registered was that it was wrong. Within a second, that dark energy swirl had engulfed her.
With a huge gasp, greedy for the air she had been deprived of, Kagome’s head burst out of the raging water of the river. She was rushed along with the current and the sudden cold air stung her lungs, but she gulped it down thankfully anyway. She could breathe again; she had thought she was going to drown.
Her relief was short lived though. Soon another wave hit her, covering her head with cold water, making it so she was continually spluttering to try and keep alive. She burst out again, trying to keep her head above the surface of the river. But it was just so deep, and it was so fast, she could not remain in control.
She tried to grab onto some rocks that were at the sides of the raging water she was engulfed in, or some weeds, low branches, passing voles, anything – but her flailing hands made contact with nothing but more water. She fought to keep her head above the surface and to fight her way to the side of the riverbank, but the current was just too strong and it pulled her along mercilessly. She was going to die!
Why oh why was she in a river instead the bottom of a well? She asked herself as she continued to try and get out of the water. The water was icy cold and it soaked her to the bone to the point where she could not feel her limbs anymore and they were simply dead weights attached to her, being thrown about in the river.
Sharp rocks dug into her arms and thighs, but she could not feel the pain, and the freezing water stopped the flow of blood. She covered her head with her arms to protect it and was thankful that at least she did not seem to be bashing into anything so hard that she broke a bone. She would be covered in cuts and bruises once she got out of here though, that is if she got out, and hypothermia didn’t finish her off.
She needed to get out of the water now, then she would look for answers and try and find out where or indeed when she was. She didn’t have anything on her, she had a nearly empty yellow sack that had somehow managed to remain on her back and that was it. She was sodden, her clothes torn to shreds and her body drenched and freezing. Her mind was not in a better state, her thoughts were all jumbled up and refusing to straighten out. Her brain simply would not cooperate and insisted it was too cold and in shock to work. She was inclined to agree to with it there, that made two of them and she did not blame her poor brain in the least for feeling so desperate, but she needed it to help her.
She pushed against the water with her hands to lift herself out; slowly becoming unaware it was liquid and would not give her thrust. Her brain started to shut down and all she was capable of was bobbing along and gasping for breath whenever chance and luck would allow her too, other than that she was impassive and half dead.
‘Goodbye Inuyasha, don’t rebound to Kikyou too quickly, I will haunt you from my afterlife. I guess you will never know how much I loved you and for so long. Goodbye Shippou, I will miss you the most I think, and be a good little boy and don’t cry for me. Goodbye Sango, you will always be my sister, look after Shippou for me and don’t seek comfort from Miroku. Miroku, you will always be a dirty lecherous monk, and I will miss you dearly. Goodbye Kirara, you were always there for me too, carrying me on your back to the well. Goodbye Kouga, you were always a good friend and protector for me when I needed you.
Goodbye mother, goodbye gramps, goodbye Souta, and I had so looked forwards to seeing you too. Goodbye Buyo you fatty. Erie, Yuuka, and all my good friends at school, to you, one of those ridiculous diseases has finally finished me off. Comfort Hojo and make sure he finds someone new who will actually love him back. I love you all so much.’
Then suddenly Kagome was aware that she was no longer in the freezing water. She was falling through the air instead. It took a while for her hypothermia befuddled brain to work out what was going on. She was falling off the edge of a waterfall and speeding towards the pool below, Kami just hated her. The pool below was thankfully stagnant, that meant she would not be whisked away again. She would rest in the water and hopefully be washed up on the shore and she would survive, she would survive.
From where she was, Kagome was shocked to see just how high she was, below she could see the sparkling stagnant pool and also the tops of trees below her, and clouds at her level. Then a thought struck, if she hit the water, she would probably pass out, if not die on impact, and she could not move her dead limbs into a diving position to save herself. She thought her position had taken a turn for the better and fate contradicted her.
But she could alter where she fell if she could move a little as she flailed through the air, hopefully she would land in a tree, away from predators, awake and safe. There was a small chance, but hopefully she could do it, and she would live and work out a way to get home. It took all of her strength to move to the left whilst falling.
She managed to do it though - somehow. She was heading towards suddenly very sharp and uncomfortable looking treetops. She closed her eyes and covered her head with her arms to protect it, again in a rather clumsy manner seeming as she couldn’t really feel them. However, adrenaline of falling to what might be her death was soon pulsing through her, fighting off the pain and some of the cold.
She didn’t land on a branch; she went crashing straight through the canopy and into a clearing. She noticed the forest ended where she fell, just her luck. She forced herself not to say that not much else could go wrong today, because of course, it did. Her life being endangered immediately just had to follow.