InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ In The Well ❯ Meeting The Well ( Chapter 1 )

 

It was not very often she was late. After all, she strived for perfection in every way possible. That included not being late. Unfortunately, it was something she was unable to avoid at the present time as she had to baby-sit Mrs. Takamura's son, Shippo the previous night. The boy had shown the hyperactive-ness that only little boys could have and had redecorated her house so thoroughly that it looked as if it was ransacked. When Shippo finally went home, Kagome had to spend almost the entire night cleaning up and rearranging everything; in result she slept late and in turn caused her to doze through the alarm clock...

 

And that was the very reason why Kagome was racing to work. Her car was also conveniently being repaired and would be unable to use until the very next week. She ran as fast as she could, pushing past random people who were walking by. Her flustered state had almost distracted her from the incessant ring tone of her hand phone. Realizing that the call might be somewhat crucial, she stopped, flipped it open and rested her elbow against a wall; ignoring the incredulous stares of the passersby she had pushed.

 

"Hello?" she asked, panting slightly from her unexpected morning run.

 

"Kagome? Why do you sound as if you've just gone on an intense work out?" asked a woman's voice. It was deep and slightly hoarse, suggesting many hours of talking; a result of being a psychiatrist.

 

"Oh, it's you Ayame. I'm on my way to work. Is there anything important?"

 

"Not rea- Wait, isn't today your day off?" asked Ayame.

 

"N- Damn," cursed Kagome exasperatedly, slapping her hand to her forehead. "I forgot. So, what was it you called me for?"

 

"Erm, there's sort of a new friend I made at work a few days ago..." trailed Ayame. “And he asked me out. Not knowing him very well, I asked him for a double date; and..."

 

"You need me to come along," said Kagome, biting her lip. "Understood. But Ayame, what have I told you about dating your patients?"

 

"That the only reason they come to see me is because of mental instability and those who do have problems such as that are not very healthy for me." Ayame recited faithfully. "I know, but I'd like to give him a chance, he seems so sincere..."

 

"Okay, sure..." said Kagome, giving in to her long-time friend. “Why didn't you ask Sango?"

 

"She said she's going to Kyoto." Ayame replied, seeming as if she was deep in thought. "I think she said something about meeting a perverted family friend - His name is Miruko or something like that. She wasn't too happy about it, but she said it was a family obligation..." Kagome could almost hear her shrug. "And you know how seriously she takes 'family obligations'."

 

"Yeah..." said Kagome, thinking of the many times she had met Sango's - as she secretly referred to; narrow minded father (though Sango had preferred the term 'traditional').”I'll come over later to set the time and date, okay?"

 

"Thanks, Kagome! I owe you one. Bye!"

 

"Bye."

 

Sighing heavily, she wandered away from her work place; tired of the amount of exercise she had just been doing. Somehow, she didn't pay attention to where she went; her feet working on its own as her head was too full of the many thoughts that had constantly plagued her.

 

When Kagome finally took in her surroundings, she found herself in a natural clearing with a weathered well as its centre. It was strange that her feet lead her to this place - a place she had never even thought existed before. In Tokyo, of all places; where pollution was becoming a rather pesky problem. The place was beautiful, and there was a faint sense of serenity that seemed to be a part of the clearing.

 

She leaned against the well, taking in the pleasant scent of the untouched nature, what seemed untouched by human hands aside from her own. Even the well had seemed that it was meant to be there, as if it was there since the very beginning of time. The fresh air was soothing and Kagome found herself almost falling asleep. She closed her eyes and -

 

"Miko."

 

Her eyes snapped opened immediately as she sprung on her feet, scanning the area with her eyes for anything of suspicious nature. Satisfied at seeing nothing, she categorized the sound she heard as a temporal delusion due to her weariness and breathed a sigh of relief.

 

"Miko." The voice emphasized the repeated word, clearly annoyed at being ignored.

 

Kagome pinched her cheek and snapped her fingers near her ear, as if testing her hearing. The voice seemed to come from inside the well, she thought. She edged towards the well nervously and peered into the well, biting her lip.

 

It was empty, with only overgrown weeds and other assorted plants at the bottom, slightly wilting from the lack of sunlight.

 

Therefore, logically, the voice that she heard was probably due to the lack of sleep as voices don't usually come from empty wells - and even if there was a voice, why would they call for a priestess? It simply did not make sense. She merely willed herself to believe her previous speculations. She succeeded briefly.

 

Which was why she was understandably shocked when the word: "Miko." was repeated for the second time, the voice sounding more frustrated at her lack of attention.

 

Kagome was forced to constrain the childish will to stuff her fingers into her ears, ignore the voice and go her merry way - back to her claustrophobic one-room apartment.

 

"W-who are you?" she managed to ask, despite the strange thickness in her throat that had most probably blossomed from her nervousness.

 

"Who I am is none of your concern." The reply of the cold clipped voice came.

 

"Excuse me!" Kagome retorted, annoyed; suddenly unafraid of this unearthly voice she was hearing. "What do you mean by that?"

 

"I mean exactly what I have said." said the emotionless voice again.

 

The voice seemed to grate on her nerves but she held her temper in check and decided to act on the curiosity that was nagging at her.

 

"Are you some kind of ghost?" she asked, staring at the air above the well, as if expecting something to materialize now that she had made some sort of guess.

 

"No."

 

And the voice said nothing else.

 

Kagome blew air into her cheeks and crossed her arm, looking every bit like the sulking child; unsatisfied by the answer she had been given.

 

"At least tell me where you are," Kagome began, trying to reason with the voice of which the source she could not see. "So I won't look like a fool, talking to myself."

 

"Perhaps… If the information you bring contents me."

 

Kagome frowned, about to refuse to the 'voice's' egoistical request when she decided to hear this mysterious person out before jumping to conclusions.

 

"And..?" asked Kagome, with an impatient tint on her voice.

 

"What has become of Japan?" There was a muffled note of curiosity in the 'voice'.

 

"Do you mean what is different recently?"

 

"That mostly depends if you consider 500 years recent."

 

"That's ridiculous," Kagome cried, throwing her hands on her hips - convinced now that the voice was merely a prank that a few teenagers pulled due to severe mental disabilities. "You can see it for yourself, and it's not like you can tell the difference anyway."

 

"If I could see, I would not have asked for your help, Miko. Are you truly that imbecilic?" said the 'voice' with repressed annoyance. "I can merely smell the changes and you seem to have awoken me, something that I did not think was possible."

 

"Smell? How? It's not like everything stinks or anything..." pondered Kagome, before reality struck her and she retaliated by remembering her theory of a prank. "Wait- you kids can't just find something else to do, can't you? There are entertainment centers all over town and of all things; you decide to play a low rate joke on the local doctor."

 

"Miko, what are you talking about?" demanded the 'voice'. "I am no 'kid', I am Youkai and I am getting rather irked at you skirting my question."

 

"Y-Youkai?" stammered Kagome, her heart racing at the word. "I thou- Youkai do not exist, whoever you are."

 

“You try my patience.” The voice said, as if she was one of the few who had the doubtful honor to do so. Kagome could almost swear she heard a hint of slightly gritting teeth. “I am Youkai and I am breathing. Now answer my question.”

 

Kagome huffed silently, slightly incensed at being bossed about by a voice that apparently came from a disembodied Youkai.

 

“Japan has been a place of great prestige, with technology that rivals western countries and trade well-known throughout the world. Our culture is constantly studied by people from other parts of the world due to its uniqueness.” Kagome proclaimed proudly.

 

There was a snort from the `voice'.

 

“If this is so,” the `voice' drawled. “Then why do I smell the world slowly dying?”

 

Kagome flinched.

 

“Many forests are cleared for progress and pollution is a constant battle,” she explained slowly. “But more people are realizing that our advancement does not necessary mean destruction of the Earth's natural resources and there are many ways practiced to preserve and conserve what the Earth has left to offer.”

 

“That does not sound very convincing, Miko.”

 

“It isn't,” said Kagome defensively. “But we are trying. Now that I have given you my information, it is your turn to enlighten me with yours.”

 

The `voice' growled, apparently not pleased.

 

“I will not degrade myself to break my word just to ignore a wench who thinks highly of herself,” the Youkai said. “Ask.”

 

Despite being called a wench, Kagome was delighted to finally be able to satiate her curiosity. “Who are you?”

 

“I am Sesshoumaru, son of Inutaishou.”

 

Even if Sesshoumaru's answer was not very detailed, Kagome felt better knowing a name to the voice. “Okay, Sesshoumaru. Where are you? Why can't I see you?”

 

“I have answered one question in exchange to the one question I have asked.” Sesshoumaru replied arrogantly. “It is my turn, I believe - to ask another question. What have become of all Youkai?”

 

Kagome bit her lip at the sudden change of events. “Well, as you must have noted,” she said thoughtfully. “I don't think there are any Youkai in this time apart from you.”

 

“You are untruthful,” said Sesshoumaru. “I can smell Youkai, only masked.”

 

“If there are Youkai left,” Kagome said irritably; “They must have come up with some sort of spell to mask themselves so that Humans do not know of their existence.”

 

“That is satisfactory.”

 

“So, where are you? And why can't I see you?” asked Kagome. “And these questions are linked to each other, so don't think about wiggling from this one. Spill.”

 

“This Sesshoumaru does not wiggle. And what does this `spill' have to do with your question?” retorted Sesshoumaru, sounding slightly offended.

 

“It's a manner of speech.” Kagome said, amused. She could barely contain a giggle. “You truly are from 500 years ago, aren't you?”

 

“Is not that what I have said?” Sesshoumaru answered with a haughty air. “I have been placed under a spell by a vengeful Dark Miko whom I supposedly refused one too many times. I am contained in a barrier in a well, of which apparently cannot be seen by anyone outside the barrier. I do not seem to be able to see outside the barrier for some reason I cannot fathom.”

 

“Oh.” Kagome managed. “Wait - a Miko propositioned you? A Youkai?”

 

“I did mention she was a Dark Miko, did I?” said Sesshoumaru, who seemed to have unexpected sulkiness laced slightly in his voice. “You are a Miko, are you not?”

 

“Er, I used to live in a shrine. And Grandpa used to give me a little Shinto training.” Kagome said nervously. “Does that help?”

 

“That is irrelevant. I sense that you are a Miko, albeit an untrained one.” Sesshoumaru uttered. “Can you break the spell?”

 

“No kissing right?” Kagome joked, despite her uneasiness. “Okay, ignore that. I'll try - Wait, will you answer more questions if I do?”

 

“Regardless of me giving replies to your incessant questions, you will try anyway.” Sesshoumaru said simply.

 

“How do you know?” asked Kagome, pouting.

 

“It is in your nature.”

 

“Fine,” Kagome replied, feeling a little resentful. “What do I have to do?”

“Place your hands on the rim of the well.” Sesshoumaru instructed fluidly. “Eyes closed, concentrate on the well, and only the well.”

 

Kagome did so, feeling as if ants were running on the length of her arms. She could feel goose bumps forming. By then, she could barely hear what Sesshoumaru was talking - there was nothing but the strange electricity-like feeling that emanated from the odd well. It seemed to twine itself around her, snaking around her body. Kagome could almost hear her heart pounding in her ears. Something inside her was repulsed by the energy and it snapped - unwinding the spell from around her and the well.

 

The energy was unlike anything that she had ever felt. A glow of heat inside her heart warmed her as the spell seemed to fade.

 

It took several minutes for Kagome to be able to breathe regularly again.

 

“What did you do?” demanded an irate Youkai that seemed to still be stuck in the well.

 

“I… I don't know.” Kagome stammered.

 

“I am still unable to get out of this infernal barrier.” Sesshoumaru grumbled. “But something seemed to have changed.”

 

Kagome leant against the well, still dizzy from the earlier show of power (of which she had thought never existed just the previous day) -

 

And fell into the well.

 

No one could exactly blame her for screaming when she came face to face with a figure with long silver hair.