InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kismet ❯ The Tea Ceremony and the Forbidden Well ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. There I said it. happy?

~ beginning of a memory "talking" "Memory speaking" 'thinking'

A/N: *smile* New chapter! n_n I'm HYPER today! Now on with the chap

"Kismet"

Chapter two

The Tea Ceremony and the Forbidden Well

"The mother was murdered." a silhouetted figure spoke into the deafening silence. "Yes. A random killing?" another unseen figure joined in. "No, it was planned." the first with glasses one held out a long paper with several creases. "Hm. The report says she had children; Two." the second man spoke, staring at the paper. "A girl and boy. The boy is only an infant and was in the other room during the scene; but the girl," The man with glasses trailed off. "Go on doctor." The doctor sighed. "The girl is six and; From inside a closet she witnessed the whole ordeal." the other man gasped and the conversation as scene dissolved into pitch darkness.

Kagome sat up quickly in her bed. She had, had that dream again; the one that was a memory. Kagome searched around her bed for her bear and picked it up quickly before looking around the room. There was a night stand by her bed, a desk on the opposite wall and a window in-between; There was a dresser next to the desk and on the opposite wall to the window, there were a door and closet. This was her room and had been for the last two months, since 'The Ordeal' as everyone called it.

Kagome stepped out of bed and into her slippers; she padded quietly to the door and opened it slowly wary of the creaking hinge. She walked slowly and quietly down the hall, passing the other bedroom doors, and down the steps which led down to the family room, and from there the kitchen. When she came to the kitchen she opened the cabinet that held the cups and glasses and picked one out nonchalantly before stepping up on a stool and turning on the sink. She listened to the soft swish of the water filling up as she went over the memories of the last few months.

~

After 'the ordeal' Kagome and her brother had been placed on a special waiting list, meant for children orphaned in especially freak or horrible accidents, for a foster family. What made Kagome's case special was the fact that she had witnessed her mothers' murder, and for her to be physically able to tell them about it she had to be emotionally stable, and that required a normal family life. But when they said 'physically able' they meant physically; Since leaving the scene of the crime, Kagome had not spoken another word other than her name.

Kagome snapped back to reality as she felt the cool wet liquid of her glass begin to spill over the edge. She turned off the sink and poured a little out of the glass before taking a sip. She could remember the first time she had, had a drink in this home.

~

Kagome was smart, smarter than most children her age, and when all the social workers, doctors and other adults spoke about her or her case, she understood completely. The social workers had been able to find a foster family within a week, and Kagome was grateful to be out of the hospital where they had been keeping her and her brother during that time. The family was a single couple, and the woman's father who took care of the shrine that was a part of their home. Kagome remembered hearing that it was because they couldn't have children that they didn't have any, and though she didn't quite understand, she dismissed it.

The couple had been very nice and began treating her and her little brother Souta as if they were really their parents. Kagome liked them, but that wasn't enough to make her speak; It was something deeper, and until it was found Kagome couldn't even will herself to speak another word apart from her name. When she had first arrived the woman of the house had asked her if she wanted a drink; That was before she knew that Kagome wouldn't speak; So she took the nod as a yes and had given her water, in this same cup.

Kagome walked up the steps slowly, careful not to spill her drink. She walked down the hall looking at each door as she passed it and when she reached her own door she was slightly startled by the small kitten that brushed by her feet. Kagome smiled bending down to pick up the kitten with her free hand and held it gingerly in her arm as she pushed open the door with her back. She carried the cat to her bed and plopped it down there as she put her drink on the night stand and climbed into bed. She pat the cat lightly and scratched its ears, which it must have liked because it started to purr.

Kagome remembered that the kittens name was Buyo but being as she was she had only been able to call him Kagome but he didn't seem to mind. Buyo curled up on the blanket and stopped purring as he went to sleep, so Kagome followed the example by falling back on her pillow, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Kagome was awakened lightly the next morning by her foster mother Sachiko. "Kagome, wake up." Kagome blinked a few times before fully opening her eyes. "Kagome we're having a very important annual Tea Ceremony today and I've gotten you a kimono to wear. Would you like to see it?" Sachiko asked sweetly. Kagome nodded and sat up in bed before getting out. She picked up Buyo as she passed him curled up on the bed.

Kagome followed Sachiko into another room. She'd only been in this one a few times and remembered being told it was where a lot of the traditional shrine and special ceremony equipment was kept. It was a lovely room and if she hadn't known better she would have thought she had just stepped back in time. Sachiko was already at the closet by the time Kagome regained herself, so she walked over as Sachiko opened the sliding doors and pulled out a small kimono on a hanger while smiling. "This kimono is for you."

Kagome put down Buyo and patted the soft fabric. It was a pure white kimono embroidered with several palm sized, pink, five petaled sakura blossoms and a few smaller red ones along with tiny clusters of leaves to the side of every other blossom. it was lovely. "Do you like it?" Sachiko asked nicely. Kagome nodded and Sachiko smiled. "Good. Well I'll go and get breakfast ready and after we've eaten I'll help you into it okay?" Kagome nodded again and Sachiko just smiled laying the kimono on a chair and leaving the room. Kagome stared at it for another moment and then followed Sachiko's suit. This may be an interesting day.

* * *

After breakfast, just like she had said Sachiko dressed Kagome in the kimono and put a sakura barrett in her hair. The sash holding the kimono at her waist was a pink the same color as the larger sakura's on the kimono and the straps for her sandals were a slightly darker pink while the soles were a black matching that of her own hair. "You look darling." Sachiko said motherly. Kagome smiled a little bit and then continued to play with the fabric on her sleeves. Sachiko took her down to another room where she picked up a tray of small sandwiches and then led her outside to the garden where they were having the Tea Ceremony.

The garden was decorated beautifully and the Sakura trees being in full bloom was just an added bonus. It smelled lovely, Kagome had thought. The sent of tea herbs, incense and the spring blossoms all mingled and filled her lungs making her suddenly feel happy. Though it was not to last, because just then the first people arrived for the ceremony and with them was the boy that had been tormenting her since she arrived. (a/n: nope, not Inuyasha ^^)

Yukio Anami. He was an eight-year old that lived across the street, who found such pleasure in asking her questions he knew the answer too and he knew she couldn't answer, but asked them still just to see the painful looks on her face. She loathed him with every ounce of strength she possessed.

Yukio's parents walked in being greeted by Sachiko's father when they went in, Yukio stayed behind to stand next to Kagome. Kagome glared into the air, refusing to do him to honor of looking him in the face. "So Kagome, whatchya doin? Are you standing there hoping you'll turn invisible?" 'You have no idea.' Kagome thought. "Huh, aren't ya gona answer me? Oh yeah! You can't cus you aint talkin!" Kagome glared harder. 'What an imbecile' she thought, referring to more than just his way of speech.

Yukio stopped leaning against the wall and walked in front of her causing Kagome to stare right through him, giving her eyes a glazed over look. "Hey Kagome why don't ya look at me, huh? Can you not see right either?" he continued. 'Ignoramus.' Kagome was glad she spent all that time reading the dictionary since it had improved her insults ten fold, but she really wished she could speek just a little to be able to say them. "Why not say somethin Kagome? You can say one word, Kagome! Kagome, Kagome, Kagome!" Really, really wished.

Though he kept going on with stupid rumblings and she was quite used to this, what he said next she would never have expected; Not even from him. "So Kagome, why don't ya talk? Oh I know why! It's cus yer Mom got killed right?!" STAB! that's what he had done just then; Stabbed her healing wound right back open, but he didn't stop there. "Yeah, she got murdered, but I bet it coulda been stopped. Yep, you coulda stopped it, but you just hid! It's probly all your fault she's dead."

Kagome couldn't breathe; She tried but it just wouldn't happen. Her fault? Was it her fault that her mother had been killed? Could she really have stopped it? "Hey stupid, what's wrong with you now? Why wont you breathe stupid? Your changing color." He just wouldn't shut up. Kagome had turned her head to the ground a while ago but now sh flipped it up to face him full force. Kagome took one good breath changing her face back to normal color and then closed her eyes tight making all her previously unnoticed tears spill over.

When she opened her eyes she saw that Yukio's face was shocked for some reason that she really didn't care, and she swung her arm back and lunged it forward with every bit of pain she was feeling right now. WHAM! Yukio choked and doubled over from the powerful force to his stomach. Kagome stood still with new tears filling her eyes and spilling on to her cheeks. Yukio sat up a little to be able to speak. "You . . . you BITCH!" But Kagome didn't hear him, because she had already begun to run.

She had no idea where she was going and only realized in when she opened her eyes to see the doors to the forbidden shrine. No one was aloud in there but Kagome had already thrown caution and everything else to the wind, and opened the doors only turning back to close them behind her. She looked in and saw many old and dusty boxes and scroll papers, but in the center of the shrine, there was a well. The well was sealed up and covered in demon wards, but for some reason Kagome felt drawn to the well.

She stepped forward slowly and walked down the steps in front of the well. When she reached it she tore off a few of the demon wards as easily as if they were merely ordinary pieces of paper, and lifted the cover off of the well and looked inside. It was very deep; It went down about five feet before the water began, and she couldn't even see where the water met the ground. Kagome stood at the lip of the well thinking. She didn't blink but her tears still ran down her cheeks and fell into the well. Plip. plip.

She watched her tears ripple the water as she climbed up and stood on the rim. She stood steady for a moment and took one look back before staring into the well. She knew she couldn't swim, and the well had no ladder or way out if she were to fall. Kagome took a deep breath and watched her tears fall one last time, and the moment they hit the surface she fell silently and freely towards the water. She blocked out the sound of the splash as she sunk slowly to the bottom. 'I'm sorry Souta,' she thought. 'I wasn't a good sister.' and after that, everything went blank as she made contact with the bottom of the well. And suddenly, she began to glow.

The floor and water and everything else around her disappeared as she began to float in a strange blue void and reappear at the bottom of a now dry well. Kagome opened her eyes to the sudden returning feeling of weight. When she looked around, she was surprised to see not only that the well was dry, but so was she! It didn't make sense; Had she just dreamed it? There was no real way to tell so she just grabbed onto the suddenly apparent ladder attached to the side of the well and began to climb up.

When she reached the top she was at a complete loss. Everything around her was green and the tree's were absolutely huge; There were many plants that she had only seen in history books and even more that she had only seen in mythology books. She was in the middle of a forest and she could swear that a few minutes ago, the well had definitely been inside a shrine in Tokyo. Nothing was recognizable and Kagome felt incredibly lost. If she had really fallen in the well like she remembered, could it be that God had saved her by some how bring her to this strange place? Out of everything she was confused about, there was one thing she did know; She was definitely not in Tokyo anymore.

@ @ @

A/N: Okie dokie in case anyone was wondering Kagome now lives at the Sun Set shrine now (obviously ^^)and her foster family's last name is Higurashi. Also the name Yukio means 'gets what he wants' which probably explains its self, and all the improper English (or Japanese as the case may be ^^) is purposeful because he's stupid and evil and ignorant and I'm really starting to hate him more than I should ^^;;

Anyway, let me know how you like this chapter and I PROMISE that Inuyasha will come in in the next! ^^ Ja ne!