Somewhere to Belong
A Strange, New Place
“Uuungh, my head.” Suko put her fingers to her temple and started to rub as she slowly opened her eyes.
“Aaaagh!” she screamed, “ what are you?”
“Aaagh! Kagome!” the little kitsune screamed back.
“What’s the matter, Shippo?” Kagome asked as she urgently rushed to his side. Shippo pointed to Suko who was laying on the ground. “She yelled and scared me,” whined Shippo.
“There, there, Shippo,” Kagome comforted as she rubbed the small fox’s back.
Suko tried to make sense of all this, but, just kept making herself dizzy with the circles that her brain kept running in… then, it hit her.
“Kagome? Kagome Higurashi? Kagome-that-I-share-3rd-period-Algebra-class-with-although-not-really-because-you’re-never-there, Kagome?”
“Uh, yeah, I guess that would be me, heh, heh,” Kagome said, blushing. “And who are you?”
“I’m Suko Nakashi.”
“Suko? “The weird girl?”
Suko was not impressed by this last comment.
“You know, Kagome, you really shouldn’t be running around if you’re sick. You should be resting in bed. Now, then, how do we get you home?”
“Home is a long way away from here,” Kagome replied.
“Well, that’s all right. I’m great with directions. I know this town like the back of my hand. Just point me North.”
“It’s not that simple, Suko. I think we better have a talk.”
“Hey, Kagome,” Shippo interrupted, “is she from your time, too?”
“Yes, Shippo, she is.”
“Uh, Kagome?” asked Suko, “there are 2 things puzzling me right now… number1, what does he mean by your time? And, number 2, is your cat really talking, or, am I just going crazy?”
“Hey! I’m not a cat, I’m a fox!” protested Shippo, obviously offended.
“You’re not going crazy, Suko. Walk with me and I’ll tell you all you need to know,” Kagome assured her.
“Where are you taking me?” Suko asked her.
“To find Inuyasha.”
“Who’s Inuyasha?” Suko wondered.
For the first time, Suko really got a chance to take in her surroundings in this strange, new place. As she, Kagome, and the young fox walked among the fields and trees, Kagome told Suko about how on her15th birthday, she was dragged down the old Well by Mistress Centipede and how she had found a young dog-demon boy named Inuyasha who was sealed to the Tree of Ages by his ex-lover. She told her about the Shikon Jewel and how she had accidentally shattered it into hundreds of pieces with a misfired arrow. She also told her about how she and Inuyasha (along with a Demon Slayer named Sango, a womanizing Monk named Miroku, and the young, orphaned fox named Shippo) were all presently looking for the shards to keep them away from evil demons. And she told her all about her time travel back and forth through the old Bone Eater’s Well, which was the real reason why she missed so much school.
After a while, Suko stopped her and asked, “Kagome? Are you sure you’re not the one going crazy?”
“I know it sounds crazy, but, it’s all true. You’ll see. The only real question is why you’re here. Is there anything you can remember from before you woke up?”
Suko tried to remember, but she just couldn’t. It was like her whole afternoon up until that point had been wiped away from her memory. She remembered being at school. She remembered that jerk, Haru, and she remembered that her Uncle had given her a necklace, which, thankfully, she still had around her neck.
“Sorry, Kagome, my mind’s a blank.”
“That’s all right. We’ll figure it out. Hey! There’s Inuyasha!” she said excitedly.
Suko followed her gaze to a young, white-haired man wearing a red kimono, slashing a giant sword through the air, and… were those dog ears?
“Inuyasha!” called Kagome.
“What in the hell took you so long?” he asked in his normal, low-growl of a voice, “and who’s the girl? What, have you started bringing your little friends back through the well with you now?”
“You know, Inuyasha,” Kagome said with a huff, “if you would just shut up for 5 seconds, I would tell you!”
Inuyasha just crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes at her. Suko just stood there looking at him (very nervously).
“Her name is Suko and, yes, she is from my time, but I didn’t bring her here. Shippo and I found her in the forest on our way back from the Well. I think we need to figure out why she was brought here, though.”
“Hmpf,” Inuyasha scoffed, “all right. You can tag along with us for now if you want to. Just don’t expect me to carry you or anything. And make sure you keep up. There’s no room in this group for slackers. It’s bad enough I have to watch Kagome’s every move.”
“Is that so?” asked a very hurt, Kagome. Then, she grabbed Inuyasha’s face ever so gently inher hands and said, in her sweetest voice, “Inuyasha…”
“Yes, Kagome?” Inuyasha gulped…
“SIT!!!”
And with a “Thud!” he was eating dirt.
“She’s so cruel,” came his muffled voice from the ground.