Chapter 3 - meetings

Kagome had a Geometry test, so was screaming about needing to get home to take it. Inuyasha consented, but decided to complain the entire way to the well. Kagome was seriously considering “sitting” him all the way to America. The only thing stopping her was that he had agreed to let her stay for a couple days to rest, study, and take the test. Hopefully, she would pass. If not, Inuyasha was to blame.
Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara were back at Kaede's village. It had been a while since they had rested, and everyone needed it. Kagome was looking forward to a real bed, a hot bath, and home cooked food. She wasn't sure what sounded better—probably a bath, then a nap, then her mom's home cooking.
Oh, it sounded so amazingly good. She had somehow managed to tune out Inuyasha's whining with thoughts of a long bath. Her happy mood was shattered when a human girl's scream ripped through the air.
“That was a human girl,” Inuyasha said, frowning. Who would be out here?
Inuyasha sniffed the air. “There's half-demons around here.”
“What?” Kagome wondered, as they doubled their pace and headed toward the direction of the scream. It had sounded more surprised than frightened, and if it were a half-demon, there shouldn't be too much trouble. All the same, maybe they should hurry. Kagome jumped on Inuyasha's back. “What were you saying about the half-demons?”
He took off. “Half-demons. Four of them, and one human girl.”
Kagome blinked. “What…?”
Inuyasha froze for a moment, as if he had temporarily lost the scent, then found it again and took off. He followed the smell of blood. There was a torn up centipede demon, and the blood of something he didn't recognize. He looked around, listening. He heard voices, and followed them, this time more cautious. This must have been what the girl screamed about, and the half-demons must have taken care of it or something. Except that the only other blood around this place was something strange.
What was a human girl doing with a group of male half-demons anyway? He didn't smell any fear in the air, so she obviously knew them, or something. The girl screamed again, followed by the others shouting. Inuyasha leaped above the trees. There was some kind of demon reptilian bird, carrying a human girl. Should they pursue the girl, or find out about the half-demons. Probably the latter. Besides, when Inuyasha landed, he landed right in front of Kyou. Kyou instinctively laid his ears down, almost hissing at the dog, before realizing he was doing it. Instead, he pushed past Inuyasha and went chasing after Tohru.
“Hold on!” Inuyasha grabbed the cat and hauled him backwards. The two glared at each other, sizing each other up. It seemed as though they were going to stare at each other until kingdom come.
Kagome observed the half-demons and her jaw dropped. By their clothes, she could tell that they were from her time! She climbed off of Inuyasha's back. “Where… are you from?”
Yuki blinked. Momiji was the first to recover from the shock. “Where is this?” he asked her.
Kagome knew that they had to be from her time! “What year is it?”
Haru frowned. “Isn't it 1998?” *Author's Note: Kagome's time is 1998.*
“Not… here,” Kagome said. How had this happened? “Oh, boy…”
“What about Tohru!” Kyou screamed.
Kagome's eyes opened wide. “Honda Tohru?” she asked, looking at Kyou.
“Yes, a creature abducted her. We can't leave Honda-san with it,” Yuki insisted, but in a more charming way than Kyou.
Kagome nodded. “We need to get Sango and the others first. Follow me.” Inuyasha was already off, racing through the forest to get to the village. Kagome took the lead, leading the four modern half-demons through the forest as quickly as was safe. “How do you know Tohru-chan?”
Yuki gave Kagome the briefest overview he could of how Tohru had came to live with them and an even briefer introduction. “How do you know Honda-san?”
Kagome blinked. “I'm her cousin,” she said. “Kagome.”
“What?” Kyou exploded. “What the hell? Tohru came to visit you, and you're running around in some forest! And how the hell do we get back?”
Kagome wasn't sure how the best way to explain this was, so she just decided to blurt it out. “You see… That well that you fell through…” She assumed that they had somehow all fallen through. It was the only explanation, really. “It's a link to this world. To feudal Japan. Five hundred years ago.”
Haru frowned again. “How could that be?”
Kagome looked at the cow. She wondered how it could be that they were all half-demons in her world. “I don't really know, exactly. Except that the well is made out of wood from…” She realized that she would have to tell them the entire story now. Oh, great. “It's too long for right now. How can you be half-demons, though?”
“What…?” Haru wondered.
“Higarashi-san, could you explain this to us?” Yuki said.
Kagome groaned inwardly. And she had to explain about demons and half-demons too! Damn! This was going to be a long day. She wondered what they should do, though. Kirara was the only one who could catch up to Tohru now, and she could only take so many passengers. Of course, Inuyasha would probably pursue them, but these half-demons should stay at the village. She sighed. She should stay too. They would be needing questions answered, and she was the only one who could answer all of them. She could stay behind, just this once. She knew that Inuyasha could handle it. But why had that thing kidnapped Tohru? It was possible that it was just going to feed her to its young or something, and was avoiding the village because of Kaede. But something was nagging at her. She couldn't decide what.
“Kagome, are you all right?” Haru asked her.
“You were totally spacing out just now!” Momiji informed her.
“Tohru-kun does that too…” Kyou murmured. Tohru… For some reason, he couldn't help but blame himself.
Yuki looked anxiously off in the direction he had last seen Tohru. “Hagarashi-san, would you please tell us what is going on?”
Kagome nodded. “Sure-“
“Watch where you're going, you stupid cow!” Kyou snapped at Haru, when the ox had glanced behind, then ended up running into Kyou.
“Kyou—“ Yuki warned.
“Damn it, you're so clumsy! You could at least watch where you're going!”
Black Haru curled his fingers into a fist and swung at Kyou. Kyou dodged and threw a punch of his own. That one missed too, and the pair were now engaged in a fight. A fight—at a time like this. And it was all Kyou's fault. Yuki was getting angry, too. Tohru was much more important than this, but they had to calm Haru down to White Haru! Kagome was confused. Hadn't they been friends? What had happened? But Haru seemed… different. It was like he was an entirely different person. The Haru she had met had been quiet, calm, collected, and kind. This one was shouting obscenities, trying to kill Kyou, and was anything but calm. Momiji was undeterred. He had long ago figured out that Inuyasha was going to get back Tohru somehow, and everything would probably be all right. This girl knew how to get back, too. He sucked on a sucker, wondering what would happen to make Haru revert back to White Haru.
“What's… going on?” Kagome finally had to ask.
“Hatsaharu has a split personality,” Momiji volunteered. Kagome didn't like that idea. She had had experience with split personality personas, and it had not been pleasant. At least Haru wasn't trying to kill everyone, and it seemed like he was only intent on beating up Kyou.
“In our family, we call this one `Black Haru,'” Yuki said. “Haru is usually easygoing, but once someone turns him black…” They had to stop this! And soon, but Haru showed no signs of going white again by himself. Usually, that happened when someone knocked him down, or there was some kind of situation… But he already knew about Tohru. That was it. As much as Yuki didn't like it, there was only one thing to do. He moved quietly, almost gliding. He hit Haru in the back with a spinning kick, knocking the ox down. Kyou froze for a moment, then started yelling at Yuki, who called him stupid and helped White Haru to his feet. “I'm sorry I did that, but…”
“I understand,” Haru said.
Kagome stood still, utterly confused. Yuki had explained it to her, but that really didn't clarify much. He would have to explain everything to her, but he seemed reluctant to talk about his family. She noticed that when he mentioned them, he passed over crucial details—like about how an ox, cat, rat, and rabbit could all be cousins. It was just too coincidental. In fact, if she disregarded the cat… “Are there any more half-demons in your family?” she asked.
Haru realized that she meant the ones cursed with the zodiac. She did ask them about that earlier. Maybe she had mistaken the curse for that? Then again, the curse was strange in this world. “Yes,” he said carefully.
“What kind of half-demons?”
Haru regarded her suspiciously. Yuki's face was stereotypically blank, but kind. He started to walk again, hinting for the others to do so as well. They did, Kagome taking the lead again. Haru walked beside her. “I suppose… You could say… A dog, a dragon, a rooster, a boar—“ Kyou shuddered. “—a horse, a tiger, a ram, and a snake.”
That was… very strange. “You know, if not for Kyou, you would all make up the zodiac,” Kagome commented unwittingly.
Kyou's ears stood straight up, his fur on his tail bristled, claws extended, and his hair stood on end. “You shouldn't have said that,” Yuki said. “Kyou is very sensitive about that.”
“It's all the damn rat's fault!” Kyou screeched, pointing accusingly at Yuki. Kagome frowned, her confusion deepening. Haru sighed. Momiji bit his sucker in half and began to chew it, completely ignoring the other's talk. He had heard it all before—countless times, in fact.
Yuki seemed annoyed. “Stupid cat,” he muttered under his breath.
Kyou attacked him immediately, shouting obscenities at Yuki. Yuki dodged every blow he delivered, toying with for a bit, then kicked Kyou and sent him sprawling.
Kagome had had enough. “Stop!” she screamed, right before Kyou got up to attack Yuki again. “You are going to explain everything to me about your family, and you're going to do it now!”
The boys looked at each other. Kyou huffed indignantly, crossing his arms and turning away from the others. Yuki looked away. Momiji pulled out another sucker. Haru sighed. It seemed like he would have to explain the Sohma curse. But where to begin? He supposed, with the story of the zodiac. “Do you know the story of the cat of the zodiac?” he asked her, glancing at Kyou. They began to walk again, Kyou sulking in the back of the group. Kagome shook her head. Haru had expected as much. He told her about how the rat had tricked the cat into not going to the feast, and thus not becoming a part of the zodiac. Kagome was beginning to get an idea of where this was headed now. “Our family has a curse on it. When a member outside of our family and of the opposite sex embraces us, we turn into the animal we are cursed by.”
“Is everyone in your family like that?” Kagome wondered. If there was, there was either some serious bestiality, a lot of gay people, or a lot of incest. The last two were true, but Kagome was not to know that, even if she wanted to.
“Only fourteen of us,” Haru answered.
Kagome felt herself growing confused again. “Fourteen? Twelve animals, plus the cat…”
“The god of the zodiac,” the ox said quietly. Yuki hid a shudder.
Momiji stopped sucking on his lollipop long enough to make a comment. “So that makes fourteen of us.”
“So… ordinarily, you turn into the actual animals, not half-demons?” the reincarnated priestess wondered, beginning to feel dizzy with the concept. And she had thought demons were weird. Cursed humans were much stranger, particularly this family, and she didn't just mean that they turned into animals.
“Yep,” Momiji confirmed. “But this is awesome. Don't I look cute?”
He did look adorable, Kagome had to admit. “Of course you do.” So, something weird was going on with their curse. She wondered why. It could just be the old well doing something, or it could be something… more. But what? The others were wondering the same thing.
“Now you have to tell us about this world,” Haru insisted.
Kagome nodded. “It's a long story.” She told them about how she had fallen down the well, about the Shikon no Tama, and all about demons and half-demons, finishing with Naraku. By the time she had finished, they had been in the village for over an hour, and Kaede was making them soup.
Some more pieces of the puzzle had fallen into place, though. Maybe, they could discover something about why the curse was placed on them, or where it came from? Or even just who had cast it. Or perhaps not. The Sohma name was, after all, Chinese, not Japanese.
It had never really bothered them before not knowing about the curse's origins, and it didn't really bother them now either. Besides, the present was more important. Even if this present was in the past. Yuki looked up at the sky, wondering about poor Tohru. Kyou was wondering the same thing. Haru, however, was unconcerned, and he and Kagome were chatting like old friends. Yuki was happy for him; he really was. Haru needed to open up to more people, but he just wished he could be less relaxed and a bit more concerned about the present!

Meanwhile…

The battle was almost pointless. The Wind Scar held no effect, Hirakotsu just bounced off, and the Wind Tunnel was useless because of Naraku's damned bees. What the hell was he—a beekeeper? And where had all of these things come from to begin with? Miroku was considering risking the poison, but the girl was still in its grasp.
The demon just kept flying, completely unbothered by their efforts. It was like they had no choice but to just follow it. Needless to say, Inuyasha was getting more and more frustrated, so he just kept hammering it with the Wind Scar.
Finally, the demon grew annoyed and flew at Inuyasha, wrapping up a throat-soar Tohru with one of its eight arms protectively. Inuyasha dodged, using the trees for cover. It snaked through them lazily, hissing. Its breath wilted the leaves and made Tohru cough.
Inuyasha flew at it again, swinging his sword erratically. It bounced off of the demon's armored hide with such force that the fang actually bounced off of it, as if it were made of rubber. It was damned useless! He charged again, to the arm holding Tohru. Her eyes widened in fear. The thing pulled away. It was strong, but it couldn't move very fast. Maybe… it's eyes? He charged again, expecting the sword to cut through the yellow, faceted eye. It only bounced off again, and he nearly decapitated himself. He blinked and brushed off the almost accidental suicide chill and tried the Wind Scar. Nothing. It moved its head and lunged at him. This creature had every advantage, it had seemed; it could fly, its scales were impenetrable, and nothing affected it. But it was as slow as a toad missing both hind legs, and it apparently held no demonic power. Well, that was advantageous. At least it couldn't kill Inuyasha, but he couldn't kill it either. He refused to call it a stalemate, though.
He swung the sword again, connecting with one of its arms. It only bounced again. Was there no weak point? The bees buzzed angrily around it, then it heaved a sigh, destroying some foliage, and slowly, with a rattle of scales, ascended into the air again, only to be hit in the face with Hirakotsu.
How annoying. This nonsense was beginning to make the demon want to eat the girl and be done with it, but then Naraku would be after him, and Naraku knew about the blind spot somehow, which was most troubling to the demon.
Ah, well. Pretty soon, he would have no more need to stay around, and he could go back to being dormant. He had heard rumors that Naraku absorbs other demons, and knew that this may be his fate, but the half-demon wouldn't have much to gain from it.
The demon looked behind him again. Those humans and the half-demon were still pursuing him. How tiresome. He felt the demon bone bounce off of him again, and a bit of a breeze as the Wind Scar hit him. When were they going to give up? They couldn't…
He felt a gnawing hunger in his stomach. He needed to eat—and soon. After all, he hadn't so much as moved in four hundred years. He needed a snack at least. He sniffed the air. Ah, a human nearby. There was a small child in a field of flowers. Why she was there, he didn't know. There wasn't a village anywhere nearby. No matter. She was lunch.

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