Replaced
A Different Reason
Chapter One: Into the Well
My name is Kagome Higurashi. I no longer live in my own time. I do not know if there is a time to return to, even if that were possible. I am to live the rest of my life out, under the mastery of the hanyou Inuyasha, whom all my troubles were centered on. The whole reason of my transformation, relocation, everything.
All will be explained to you. Here is an impartial account that I have put together, with many of the people that have been involved. Sadly, my brother is no longer with us, and as you may have guessed, the hanyou isn't part of this. Only to hope that he won't interrupt as I record this, but I suppose that, too, is inevitable.
Kagome Higurashi was a normal teenager, with a normal life. She had her friends and her few enemies. She lived in the Higurashi Shrine with her mother, grandfather, and brother. Her father had disappeared, willingly or otherwise, about 6 years ago, when Souta was 3. Her mother had to support the whole family with her job. While the grandfather did take charge of the shop, that didn't provide a steady income.
"It's Saturday! Kagome, wake up!" Souta jumped into her room and danced around wildly. Kagome threw a pillow at him and looked up inquiringly, sleep still controlling her lids.
"Souta...what's so special about this Saturday?" she moaned, looking at the clock which read 7:04.
"Sis, don't tell me you forgot! We have the house to ourselves today!" he yelled, jumping around. It was to his own benefit, Kagome wasn't looking.
"Oh yeah...mom and grandpa went shopping, didn't they?" She yawned, snuggling back into her warm covers.
"Nope, not yet actually, it's too early for that. They will in two hours!" holding his fingers up in a peace sign for emphasis, he waved them in her face. She considered making a comment about how she could count, but decided to refrain from ruining his excitement.
"I guess you should be excited, it's the first time they've let us stay home alone since..." she didn't finish her sentence. She didn't need to. Since their father had left, it was rare that Mrs. Higurashi or their grandfather left them alone in the house. Whether it was because they didn't trust them to be responsible enough to stay, or if it was to protect them, they had always switched supervising. The children had never complained.
Souta's face fell and he agreed quietly.
"Was...dad really...that bad?" he asked.
Kagome sighed and sat up, blinking rapidly.
"No need to dwell in the past, Souta! It's a pretty day, let's go outside!" she exclaimed cheerily. He didn't know the details, he didn't have to. She herself didn't recall much.
"Bye mom!" they waved at her as she got ready to leave.
"And what about me, huh?" growled their grandfather.
"Bye!" they yelled, a huge hint present in their voices.
"Harumph!" he replied with an amused look. They were quite affectionate sometimes, but this time just wasn't one of them. He waved back, stumbled, and hurried after their mom.
"Okay Souta, we've got the house to ourselves. What would you like to do?" Kagome asked sweetly, thinking of pigging out on junk food, just lazing around, and many other useless things like that.
"Awww...we're not going shopping, are we?" he whined back.
"Not unless you want to!" she replied merrily, giving mental 'darn' inside.
"Let's...go to the well house!" he suggested. They were not allowed to go there, for reasons that had been explained and had not been explained.
Kagome hesitated. She didn't have the urge to go, but knew that someday she would. Why not now?
"Sure, but we have to come right back!" she agreed.
They gingerly made their way to the shrine, looking around furtively. Who knew who might be watching? Kagome carefully slid open the door and they poked their heads in. Souta snuck in, getting into the mood, while Kagome boldly strolled in.
They looked around. It was pretty neat, but boring (with the exception of the covered well in the middle). It had been used as storage, with empty jars and pots sitting in corners.
"Let's go back." She suggested.
They turned around and started out, when Souta accidentally knocked over two jars. One landed on the outside, but the other went down the well. Neither broke, but the crash was loud and startling.
"Souta, now look what you did! Now I have to climb down that creepy well to get it! Hand me that ladder over there, and the flashlight, please." She muttered in the end.
Souta did as she asked, and Kagome climbed down quickly.
"I got it!" she said as she threw it up to him. Souta struggled to catch it, and almost overbalanced. He replaced it, and began to leave.
"Wait! Come here, I just found this room thing!" she called back. Sweat formed on the back of Souta's neck as he crept down to join his sister. The room was packed dirt with a bit of the intricate stone and wood that made up the rest of the well. It was empty, for the half rotten bucket in the side. There were some built in shelves that looked stable still.
They explored the tiny space until Souta's watch beeped, signaling that there was half-an-hour until their mom would be back. They cleaned up, and sealed the door again.
"Our secret, Kagome?" Souta asked unnecessarily.
She nodded with a wide grin. This was the most exciting thing that had happened for a while. Life was normal, with its ups and downs, occasional fights and misunderstandings. Not every child got to find a secret room, although many had probably gone where they were forbidden.
But if something is forbidden, it's probably for a reason. That night, when the sun had just gone past the horizon, a faint yellow mist, transparent yet solid, slid out of the slats on the door. The seals had been carefully replaced, but they held power, unlike what the children believed. They needed to be placed in the right position, spot, and prayed over with an exact prayer.
None of which had been done.
The yellow mist formed a hand like appendage, and it beckoned behind it. The cloud grew in size and disappeared into the ground.
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