Enter Kagome and Inuyasha
"I'm not going."
I crossed my arms and calmly stared down my frantic father. For the last hour or so, he had tried numerous ways to get me to agree to leaving for Japan earlier than normal. By a month.
I mean, sure, my mother's great and all, but just a little tiny bit strict. There were curfews, rules, and many chores. I loved her very much, but even I could only withstand her personality for about two months before it felt like pure torture.
The time in between my alloted visits was naturally filled with my much more easygoing father. My parents were divorced, and anyone who even talked to them for more than a couple seconds saw why.
My mother and my father were almost complete opposites, in both looks and personality.
My mother was a neat, efficient, tiny woman with golden brown eyes and long, dark hair twisted up into a tight bun at the back of her head. When she got angry at you, she would speak in a calm, cool tone, relaxing you until - bam! - the storm hit.
My father, however, was tall and thin, with blue-gray hair, sapphire eyes, and a charming smile. He was an absent-minded man, one who made up for slips in parenting with lavish gifts and loving doting. It didn't hurt that he also owned a large company, making for lots of money with which to spoil me. He almost never punished me, instead trying to look stern as he tried his hand at scolding.
'And miserably failing,' I thought with a mental chuckle. 'Seriously, I would be a snobby little princes if it wasn't for Mom by now.'
"Please, pumpkin? I have to go on a buisness trip, and I can't take you with me this time. I promise, I'll bring you something nice when I get back, as a souvenir..." He pleaded.
I took one look at his desperate face and sighed, uncrossing my arms and hugging him.
"Fine. I'll go," I said, mentally preparing for my next words. "On one condition."
He nodded, ready to give me almost anything.
"Let me practice with my sword," I took a deep breath as he eagerly awaited the rest of my seemingly harmless condition. I leveled my cool gaze at him. "In the woods."
He paled.
His voice was barely more than a panicked whisper as he pleadingly looked at me, begging me to understand as he said, "Pumpkin, you know I can't let you do that. Please, won't you ask for anything else?"
I glared at him, crossing my arms and huffing, "No. What is so bad about some trees, anyway?"
He didn't respond. It infuriated me. I threw my hands up in the air and practically screamed in his face.
"You know what?! Fine! Don't let me ever go outside! Sure, that's how you get your daughter to love you! You'll see! I'm going outside, and you can't stop me!"
I barely registered the panic and unadulterated fear on his face as I ran up to my room, grabbing my sword. I threw on a charcoal gray haori and thrust my sword into it's sheath over my shoulder as I jumped through my window onto the sturdy branches of my favorite climbing tree outside.
I was careful not to jostle my sword too much as I shimmied down the trunk of the old tree. Once low enough, I hopped down to the ground, setting off at a full sprint towards the tree line while knowing that if (and it was very unlikely) my father decided to send the guards after me to bring me back by force, they would be hard-pressed to match my speed.
I made it into the trees, only slowing down when I was sure that I was far enough from the house to not be seen. I gasped, leaning against a tree as I tried to catch my breath.
'Even when you're filled with stamina from months of training, you can still get rusty...' I thought, shaking my head and laughing, "How ironic."
I giggled myself, but ended up sliding to the ground and putting my head on my knees as the adrenaline wore off. Thoughts ran through my head wildly, making me wince at all the consequences of this, scolding from my mother and grounding from outings with my friends. I groaned, feeling less and less like this had been a good idea. I mean, it had been born out of anger, which was usually a bad idea.
'While it may have seemed like a good idea at the time, that was no excuse for brash running off and getting in trouble,' I reprimanded myself. 'You always have to think these things through!'
I groaned again. There was no use in scolding myself. I just had to get the most out of this I could, and then I could go back and face the music.
I grinned, and cracked my knuckles. First in the routine, as always, my sword. I drew it from it's sheath, trudging deeper into the woods in search of a clearing I could use. I saw a perfect one a little bit father in. Laughing, I ran forward a bit too quick, eyes widening as I slipped, the world seeming to be in slow motion as I fell down towards a raging river off the edge of the small cliff I had not realism I was on. As my back hit the icy water, it sped up again, and I was pulled farther down by the swift current. The water was black in my vision, and bubbles swirled around my face as I drifted in the now strangely calm water.
I looked up at the fading light of the surface, fuzzily thinking, 'Is this how it all ends? Am I to drown, even before my birthday comes?'
My eyes wanted to shut, so I let them, just feeling weightless and impossibly tired in the cold water. Suddenly, a pink light burned behind my eyelids and the water around me seems to pulse as I felt myself being grabbed by strong arms and dragged upwards.
Air blew icy breaths across my skin and soaked clothes as I broke the surface. My eyes opened, and I coughed up water as whoever had saved me swam towards the bank. I was choking on the impressive amount of water that came from my lungs, my throat burning, and I clutched my stomach.
"!"
A girl's voice broke through my hazy mind, causing me to look in her direction as I continued to expel the offending liquid from my lungs. She seemed to be babbling at me in Japanese, which I quickly switched to in my mind.
"-you alright? I saw you drowning, so I asked Inuyasha to get you, since he can swim faster than me. What happened? But I shouldnt be asking you questions, you just almost drowned! Oh, I was so worried. Are you sure you're okay?"
I felt a little dizzy from all the questions she was throwing at me, so I shrunk back, curling my fists into red fabric as I shivered from the cold. I blinked, looking down at the wet fabric in my hands, slowly connecting the dots. Apprehensively, I slowly looked up from my hands and met eyes with a silver haired boy. His eyes were a bright amber, and he had a set of cute silver dogs ears on top of his head.
He was the one who had saved me. Inuyasha. I stared up at his ears, and even more dots connected in my mind.
'All those old stories mother told me at bedtime... The ones that spoke of Inuyasha, the great Hanyou protector of the village of Edo and his mate, the powerful Shikon no Miko, Lady Kagome. They were real...'
"The Great Hanyou..." I whispered, not even noticing I said it aloud. His eyes widened, and the girl's chatter cut off. I ducked my head to avoid his gaze as I noticed what I had let slip.
"Arigatou. I'm sorry to have caused you trouble. If you will put me down, I will stop bothering you and leave you to yourselves. I do not wish to cause trouble to you." I whispered, now knowing exactly who they were and where I was.
The girl, Kagome, broke into my thoughts.
She quietly spoke, cautiousness lacing her tone as she said, "What did you mean when you called Inuyasha that a second ago? From your clothes, I would guess that you also come from the future. You shouldn't even know what a Hanyou is..."
I shook my head at her. "I can't tell you. I'm sorry."
Inuyasha put me down, and I suddenly noticed a weight that was absent from my hip. My eyes widened, and my breathing grew ragged. I knew I had had my katana in hand when I had fallen in the river. I couldn't lose it! My mother had given it to me when I was seven, and I had long since formed a strong bond with my old weapon, even naming it.
I looked around frantically, not noticing it anywhere. I felt tears pick my eyes and I tried to calm down, but it was impossible. My bow was still there and my arrows, too. So where was my sword? Where was Majiire?
I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I spun around, ready to lash out around whoever it was. Imagine how all my anger evaporated when I saw Inuyasha holding out Majiire to me. I gasped and smiled, gently taking Majiire back before sheathing it. I bowed many times to him in thanks, Japanese style, exclaiming how thankful I was to him for finding Majiire.
He scratched his cheek nonchalantly with one finger as he blushed, flourishing under the praise. "Keh. It was no big deal. There was really no need ta thank me."
I just grinned at him.
Kagome was watching the entire exchange with amusement. I winked at her, and she giggled.
"Hey, do you want to join us? You dont really have anywhere to go, right?" Kagome asked.
Before I could answer, Inuyasha got up in her face and growled.
"Why would we bring a random wench along? I bet those weapons are a just for show, and she can't even use them!"
An irk mark appeared on my forehead, and I was about to show him just how not for show my weapons were when Kagome smirked at him. He suddenly paled, and I too smirked as I realized what was coming.
"OSUWARI!" She shouted, causing Inuyasha to slam into the ground, creating a small crater. I laughed at him and addressed Kagome as I replied to her earlier statement.
"I would love to."
Join Qfeast to read the entire story!
Sign In. It is absolutely free!