InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shocking New Love ❯ Wish Upon a Jewel ( Chapter 22 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The next morning, Kagome woke up to the sound of her alarm clock ringing eight o' clock, signaling that it was time for her to get ready for school. She groaned and sat at the edge of her bed, rubbing her eyes and blinking from the brightness in her room. She hadn't slept very well; she kept having dreams of her and Sesshomaru being torn apart by invisible hands and they kept her from getting a good night's rest. But now that her job in the past was completed, she could go back to her old life: the life of an ordinary fifteen-year-old girl, the life of homework and pop quizzes. Even fighting demons seemed better to her at the moment.

Once she was all dressed in the clean school uniform she had put on the previous night, and her hair was all brushed, she picked up her backpack and opened her bedroom door, walking down the hall and descending the stairs into the living room. Her mother smiled when she saw her and greeted, “Good morning, Kagome. Did you have a good night's sleep?” Kagome sighed and seated herself at the kitchen table.

“If you mean `extremely horrible' by `good night's sleep', then the answer is yes…” she mumbled. Kagome's mother laughed and handed her an omelette and a glass of orange juice.

“Eat up,” she insisted. Kagome smiled and nodded, devouring the egg omelette hungrily. She hadn't eaten in what seemed like ages. When her food was finished, she guzzled down the orange juice.

Her brother Sota blinked, surprised.

“Whoa, sis, I've never seen you eat that fast!” he exclaimed. Kagome's grandfather harrumphed and said, “That despicable demon Sesshomaru hasn't been depriving you of food and drink, has he?” Kagome glared at him.

“No, he hasn't! Now stop calling him despicable, Grandpa!” she screamed angrily. Kagome's grandfather flinched at Kagome's sudden, dagger-like outburst and nodded. Kagome's mother sighed.

“Kagome is upset because she can't go back into the well,” she explained. Sota's eyes were wide with shock.

“Why not?” he asked. Kagome picked up her backpack and walked to the door.

“I don't want to talk about it, Sota… So just mind your own business for once…” she said without looking over her shoulder at her family. Before anyone could say anything, Kagome slid the door open and went outside, closing the door behind her.

As she descended the stairs leading from her shrine's courtyard down to the street below, she heard someone calling her. She turned and smiled slightly when she saw her friends Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka running up to greet her.

When the three got to Kagome, Kagome could see the cheerful smiles on their faces. She wished that she was capable of one, but after all that happened the night before, she couldn't bring herself to.

“Hi Kagome!” blurted Ayumi happily, giving Kagome a small hug. Kagome supressed a small giggle and replied, “Hi everyone. It's been ages since I've seen you three.” Eri nodded.

“Yeah. You've been gone for a whole week!” she mentioned. This statement surprised Kagome. She knew that she had been gone for a while, but she didn't know that it had only been seven days since she had last saw her friends.

“A week? Wow, it seemed longer than that,” said Kagome truthfully.

“You must've had a really nasty cold or something to have been gone that long,” said Yuka, hands clasped behind her back. Kagome's family was the only people who knew that Kagome wasn't really away from school so often because of illness. Everyone else was oblivious. So Kagome played along when her friends asked how she was feeling.

“Yeah, I had the flu…” lied Kagome. “Come on, let's get to school…” The others agreed and walked along the sidewalks, heading to their school.

The whole time they walked, Kagome was silent, keeping her eyes downcast. This worried her friends and got them thinking about what was wrong. Eri walked up beside Kagome and put her hand on her shoulder, asking, “Kagome, are you okay? You're quieter than usual.” Kagome shook her head.

“Yeah, I'm fine, Eri…” she assured, trying to sound convincing. But she wasn't as convincing as she thought she sounded and Yuka said, “You always were a horrible liar, Kagome. Really, what's bugging you?”

“It's the guy of yours, isn't it?!” questioned Eri urgently. Kagome sighed at this remark. Up until this point, she had always said that Inuyasha was her boyfriend. But now that she and him broke up, that story would no longer check out. She took a deep breath and answered glumly, “Kinda…” Frowns appeared on her friends' faces when they heard how sad Kagome sounded.

“Aw, what happened?” asked Ayumi pitifully. Kagome felt tears well up in her eyes as she thought about the night when she saw Inuyasha kissing Kikyo behind a thick tree.

“He's a two-timer, just like you said… I caught him kissing another girl…” replied Kagome, somewhat angrily. Everyone gasped.

“So we were right! We were right all along!” exclaimed Eri.

Then Kagome realized something about this conversation; it was the same one that occurred in the dream she had when she was sleeping in the cave the night she ran away when Inuyasha called her a traitor!

“Yes, Eri, you were right… And I was wrong…” she admitted. But she knew that the dream wasn't real and decided not to tell her friends about Sesshomaru.

Seeing how upset Kagome was, Kagome's friends said nothing more the rest of the way to school.

At lunch that day, Kagome sat with her friends as she usually did. As she ate her peanut butter and jelly sandwich, all she did was think about Sesshomaru. She kept asking herself, `Did I do the right thing by coming back?' or, `I wonder if Sesshomaru and the others are okay?'

She was snapped out of her little daze when she heard a familiar voice talking to her. She turned and saw Hojo, a boy her age that she thought was a `health nut' because whenever she bumped into him, he always gave her something to help with any `ailments' she may have.

“Hi Kagome. How are you feeling?” asked Hojo politely, a smile on his face. Kagome managed a small smile and replied, “Fine, thanks…” Hojo nodded.

“That's good to hear. I have something for you, so meet me after school at the entrance, okay?” Kagome considered this and nodded.

“Alright. I'll see you after school then,” she said. With that, Hojo said, “See you later!” and walked off back to his table. Kagome turned back around and continued eating her sandwich, completely ignoring Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi's mystified expressions.

After Kagome's last period class ended, she said goodbye to her friends (they had to stay behind because they were entrusted with the duty of cleaning the classroom after school) and headed to the school entrance. She couldn't help but wonder what Hojo had for her this time. In the past, he had given her a multitude of gifts, most of which she gave to her grandfather.

When she got there, sure enough, Hojo was standing at the top of the stairs, his hands in his pockets. When he saw Kagome he smiled wide and waved, walking up to her.

“Hello again, Kagome,” he greeted. Kagome said, “Likewise. So, why did you want to meet me here?” Hojo pulled his right hand out of his right pocket and handed Kagome what looked like four keychains with Japanese writing on them. Seeing Kagome's confused expression, Hojo explained, “These are good health charms. They're supposed to prevent you from getting sick a lot.”

“Thanks, Hojo, I appreciate it. Well, I gotta go. See ya later, Hojo,” said Kagome. After Hojo said goodbye, Kagome walked away, feeling a little better than she had all day. She looked at the charms in her hand and smiled. Then a thought came to her that she hadn't expected. Maybe being back to my old life won't be so bad after all. Besides, I have friends here that care about me too, she thought.

When Kagome got home, she answered her mother's usual question, `How was school, Sweetie?' and went straight to her room to start her homework. She closed the door and took off her backpack, sitting at her desk and pulling out her textbooks. She groaned when she saw algebra in the jumble of papers.

“I hate algebra…” mumbled Kagome, taking out a pencil. She realized that she was still holding her good health charms and, by instinct, put them in her right pocket. Then her hand felt something hard and round at the very bottom of the pocket and she took hold of it, pulling out to see what it was. Her eyes widened and she gasped with surprise at what she saw that she was holding; it was the Sacred Jewel! It was glowing with a bright, unearthly light and Kagome felt strangely drawn to it. She shook the wonderment off and began thinking back to between the point when she picked up the jewel and jumped into the well. She slapped her forehead when she realized that she hadn't handed the jewel to Inuyasha so he could bring it back to Kaede.

“I can't believe I forgot to leave it there…” she muttered, embarrassed with herself. Then she realized something that lifted her spirits as easily as she could lift a pebble.

“The Sacred Jewel can grant any wish! So if I wish to be able to go back through the well again whenever I please, it will grant it!” she said quietly and excitedly. Wasting no time, Kagome took a deep breath and stated clearly, “I wish that I could return to the Feudal era anytime I want to for as long as I live.” No sooner had she said this, the Sacred Jewel erupted with light, illuminating the room with its blinding glow. Kagome blinked, trying to get used to the brightness.

Once she was accustomed to the light, she gazed at the jewel and saw it sparkling with pearlescent splendor. Suddenly, she felt hopeful, happy. A few seconds later, the radiant light disappeared within the confines of the small jewel, leaving the room looking as it usually did. But after what Kagome just saw, her room seemed less colorful than she once saw it. Did my wish come true? She wondered, still dazzled.

A few minutes later, Sota ran into the bedroom, the family cat Buyo in his arms. He had a frightened look on his face.

“Kagome, did you see it?!” he asked proddingly.

“See what? Oh, you mean that light?” Sota nodded quickly.

“Yeah! What was it, do you think?” Kagome walked up to Sota and knelt down to his level, holding the Sacred Jewel out in front of her for him to see.

“It came from this, Sota. It's called the Shikon Jewel, and it has the power to grant any wish. I just made a wish on it, and I need to go and see if it came true,” she explained. Sota still looked puzzled, but he agreed. Kagome put everything she'd need in her yellow backpack and led Sota outside. First, though, Kagome made sure to tell her mother and grandfather where she would be if she didn't return in five minutes, and what to tell her teacher on the phone the following morning when she `stayed home sick'. She and Sota went outside and into the small building where the well leading from the present to the Feudal era was hidden. With faith heavy in her soul, Kagome slid the door to the shrine open and stepped inside, her little brother and her cat Buyo behind her.

Standing beside the well, her bow in hand and her quiver of arrows slung over her back, Kagome placed her free hand on the edge, leaning over and looking into the well. She looked at the Sacred Jewel, put it in her pocket, and let out a long, slow breath and glanced at Sota and Buyo.

“Keep your fingers crossed that this works...” she said softly. Sota nodded, a small smile on his face.

“Good luck, sis. Be careful over there,” he said. Kagome winked at him and jumped over the side of the well, falling into it. A bright blue glow shone out of it and then the room was silent. Just to make sure that Kagome was in the Feudal era, Sota called down the well, “Kagome, if you're down the bottom of the well, say `I'm down here' loud enough for me to hear.” He heard nothing. He cheered, happy for his sister.