Note: So sorry I'm so slow these days! Graduate school is hard.

Journey to the Future – Chapter 16

Kagome walked through the small village, Inuyasha trailing behind her, after having said a short goodbye to Sesshomaru. The youkai had formed the white orb again, significantly smaller than it had been for all three of them, and shot off again like a rocket. When Kagome had asked Inuyasha about it, all he would say was that the sphere was a part of Sesshomaru in a similar way as the boa.

She had been completely amazed by how fast the youkai was capable of traveling. It had taken a handful of seconds to go a distance that would have taken Inuyasha half a day and probably several days to a week for her. His method of travel was practically teleportation. That realization led Kagome to have a little more sympathy for the wariness exhibited by most humans of this era toward youkai.

Their abilities, strength, and lifespan were so beyond what humans were capable that it was difficult for even her to wrap her mind around. Even now, she still had trouble looking at Inuyasha and accepting that he had been alive for over two hundred years.

Of course, his attitude didn't really do much to help convince her of his age.

There were only a few villagers out and they all seemed to be so busy that even Inuyasha didn't get a second glance. Kagome hoped that their lack of concern regarding the hanyou was because they were accustomed to seeing youkai and not for some other more insidious reason. Still, she slowed slightly to allow Inuyasha to draw even with her so she could keep an eye on him. The miko was completely aware that she would likely be less than useful at protecting him from humans, but she could at least watch his back.

"Please try not to make her angry," Kagome said wryly out of the corner of her mouth. "Miko aren't all as easy going as I."

"Keh! I don't usually try to piss people off," Inuyasha protested. Kagome could see that he was tense and his golden eyes flitted around the village warily.

As they approached the large shrine at the head of the village, Kagome saw a young woman waiting for them at the top of the stairs. She had straight dark brown hair with a slight widow's peak that parted in the middle and was dressed in a somewhat nontraditional priestess garb. Her overcoat was white and had two crisscrossing panels that reached her knees in front. It was tied closed with a necklace made of beads and knotted thread. She was also wearing a welcoming smile, which went a long way toward easing Kagome's fears.

"I have been expecting you," Hitomiko said, her kind brown eyes taking into the travel worn pair. "Perhaps before we speak further, you would like to opportunity to bathe and change your clothing?"

"Oh, yes please," Kagome breathed, her words coming out in a rush. Although it had only been two nights ago that she had used the baths at the inn, it had felt like a lifetime. She was chilled and sore from the weather change and from the strain of moving an unconscious Inuyasha. A hot bath to warm up and loosen her muscles was just what she needed. Also, though the hair oil treatment had done wonders for moisturizing her hair, Kagome was still interested in Hitomiko's so-called miracle hair product.

"Inuyasha, you should go first," she suggested. "If you go warm up in the baths, I won't force you to wear the boots or extra coat anymore."

The hanyou whistled appreciatively. "Damn woman! I was going to go anyway, but I'll take that deal!"

"The bath house is located at the back of the shrine," Hitomiko instructed, gesturing with her hand to the right. "You will find everything you need in the changing room."

After a meaningful look from Kagome, Inuyasha inclined his head awkwardly. "Uh, thanks." With a last glance at the two women, he trotted off and out of sight once her turned the corner.

"Would you like to have a cup of tea with me while you await your turn?" Hitomiko asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"That sounds lovely," Kagome replied warmly.

She followed the other miko into the shrine house and into what appeared to be a meditation room. Kagome was amazed at the sheer size of the shrine. It looked as if it had been expanded and remodeled many times to accommodate for the changing size and needs of the village.

"Hitomiko-san," Kagome began curiously as she settled at a low table in the center of the room. "How did you know that we were coming?"

"Oh, my! Did Kaede-sama not tell you of my abilities?" the miko asked as she prepared the first cup of tea.

Kagome untied the cloth securing her bag and set it beside her. "She told me that you are especially talented with barriers and spell work, but nothing specific."

Hitomiko pushed the bowl of tea toward her and began preparing a second cup. "What Kaede-sama did not inform of is that I am a dreamwalker," she said serenely.

"Dreamwalker?" parroted Kagome interestedly.

"Yes. My most accomplished spell allowed me to travel to another's mind in the night. It is most useful for communication," Hitomiko explained. Kagome couldn't get over how young the other woman was. She had been expecting someone around Kaede's age, but Hitomiko appeared to be not much older than Kagome herself.

"Kaede-sama knows a simple spell that alerts me to when she wishes to speak and then I make arrangements to visit her mind that night. After the magic in your well faded, Kaede-sama explained the situation and what she wished of me." She took a small sip of her tea and let out an appreciative sigh.

"Why couldn't you have just contacted me so I didn't have to come all the way up here just to talk to you?" Kagome asked, her brow furrowing as she considered the practical uses of Hitomiko's spell.

The miko frowned slightly, setting her cup down gently on the table. "Therein lays one of the weaknesses of this particular spell," she confessed. "In order for me to connect with someone's mind, I must meet them in person beforehand. Although I believe you did not come all this way just to speak to me," she added with a smile. "It is very possible that it is your power that is needed to reactivate that well."

"Which is why I need to learn how to control it," Kagome sighed.

"Precisely," Hitomiko confirmed. She picked her cup back off the table and took another sip. "You arrived here much earlier than I had anticipated, I must admit."

Kagome smiled a little sheepishly. "I had a little help with that," she admitted. "After we crossed to Hokkaido, Inuyasha carried me most of the way here. He can run so much faster than I could even dream of—and I run a lot, you know," she said with a grin. "It's just… amazing."

"I would imagine so," Hitomiko agreed. "Youkai and hanyou are capable of truly amazing feats."

At her honestly admiring tone, Kagome was finally able to fully relax. It seemed that her worries about Inuyasha being ill received were for naught. She finished her tea and set the bowl down on the table.

"I can't even tell you how thankful I am that you didn't turn Inuyasha away," she said, tracing the rip of the cup with her index finger. "The village by the sea was so hostile, just because of who he is. It was very unpleasant coming from the paradise… um, I mean the village on the other side." Kagome blushed slightly, embarrassed that she had let her private name for the lovely town slip.

Hitomiko grinned. "It does feel like a paradise, does it not? I always enjoy visiting there. It is called Enman, you know."

"Peace, huh?" Kagome said softly. "It feels appropriate. The village on the other side was just terrible by comparison. They even glared at me, just for walking next to Inuyasha! It was infuriating!"

Hitomiko reached across the low table and rested her hand gently on Kagome's white-knuckled fist. "It is absolutely wonderful to see such a powerful miko be also blessed with great compassion," she said feelingly. "There have been many aspiring priestesses who have come to me with hearts full of bitterness and hatred. I have high hopes for a future that can produce such a woman as you."

Kagome felt the heat spread from her cheeks to enflame her entire face. "You think too highly of me," she protested, feeling horribly embarrassed. "I can assure you that in my own time, I am quite average."

"Somehow, I doubt that," Hitomiko said softly, withdrawing her hand and placing it in her lap.

Clearing her throat, Kagome willed her blush away. "I spoke with a few women in Enman," she said conversationally. "They had wonderful things to say about your skill in treating hair problems."

The other woman raised an eyebrow at the abrupt change in subject, but allowed it without comment. "What sort of trouble are you experiencing?"

"I have a lot of texture in my hair," Kagome explained, pulling her braid over her shoulder and showing off the poofy, frizzy end. "I bought some hair oil in Enman that has done a good job moisturizing, but nothing for the frizz."

Hitomiko hummed thoughtfully, reaching forward again to run the strands of hair through her fingers. "I believe that my treatment will take care of this," she said, chuckling lightly at Kagome's relieved sigh.

"I'm so glad! I'm so tired of having it tied back in a braid," Kagome complained, tugging on the rope of hair. "It took me years to learn how to handle the texture and when the well stopped working, I had nothing with me but the clothes on my back."

"Yes," Hitomiko agreed. "Having any sort of texture in the hair is uncommon here and therefore few people know how to deal with it properly. You know," she added. "I developed this salve after the first time I met a youkai."

"Really?" Kagome asked in amusement.

"Oh yes. I was so jealous of his hair. It felt like the finest silk and was the color of the sun," the older woman's tone was wistful and slightly sad. Kagome wondered if maybe that youkai had been more than an acquaintance.

"That magical youkai hair is really unfair, isn't it?" She sighed, tossing her own frizzy hair back over her shoulder.

Hitomiko blinked in surprise and then snorted inelegantly, quickly dissolving into giggles. "Magical youkai hair?"

Kagome grinned sheepishly, privately glad the other woman's melancholy had vanished. "I guess it is kind of silly," she said with a laugh. "But you know, after being around Inuyasha and his brother and all the youkai in Enman, it was so frustrating to have such frizzy hair!"

"Ooooi! Kagome!" Inuyasha's voice echoed through the shrine house.

"We had better collect him," Hitomiko suggested, wiping a little moisture from her eye. "If you leave your bag here, it will be taken to your room," she said as Kagome moved to sling it back over her shoulder.

"Oh, okay. What about a change of clothes though?" Kagome asked. As soon as they found Inuyasha, she had plans to go take a hot bath and hopefully solve her hair problems once and for all.

"There is fresh clothing for you to wear in the changing room," the other woman explained, leading the way back to the main room of the shrine.

Inuyasha was peering curiously around the interior of the shrine. His hair was slightly damp and he was wearing a dark green yukata. As soon as the two women entered the room, he turned to face them with a scowl.

"Oi, some women took my clothes and wouldn't give 'em back," he complained, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Do not fret," Hitomiko reassured with a smile. "They are merely being laundered."

"But Kagome just washed them two days ago!" he protested.

"Yeah, and then you fell into a pond and they had to dry out by the fire. You smelled like smoke," Kagome pointed out, her hand on her hip.

Inuyasha colored and crossed his arms over his chest. "Keh! They better not ruin them," he said grumpily.

Kagome suspected that his irritation was actually a cover for concern at leaving the clothes which were left to him by his father in the hands of strangers. Had her modern clothing been in her bag, she may have felt the same way.

She crossed to his side and put a hand on his arm. "It'll be fine, Inuyasha. They're going to take care of all my clothes too so I'll go check later to make sure everything is okay."

"If you say so," the hanyou said reluctantly, but despite his tone, his eyes were grateful when he looked down at her.

"Inuyasha-san, if you like, there is food to eat while we wait for Kagome-san to bathe," Hitomiko offered.

Inuyasha immediately perked up, prompting an eye roll from Kagome. Food always seemed to cheer the hanyou up, even if it had been less than an hour since they last ate.

"Keh, why didn't you say so earlier?" he asked impatiently.

Hitomiko turned to Kagome and reminded her how to get to the bath house. "There is a shelf in the changing room on which I keep several different types of hair treatment. You will want to one in the blue pot. Please help yourself to anything you need. Be aware, however," she added as Kagome began to turn toward the door. "The treatment should be applied evenly to coat the hair and will require half an hour to be absorbed. Make sure to rinse it very thoroughly."

"Thank you so much, Hitomiko-san," Kagome said, smiling gratefully. "Where should I meet you guys when I am done?"

"Back in the meditation room, I believe," Hitomiko replied thoughtfully. "Unless of course, you wish to dine as well?"

"I probably won't be hungry yet," Kagome mused, gauging the fullness of her stomach. It didn't take much to make her full these days.

"Inuyasha-san and I shall await you there, then. Now," she said, turning to the hanyou. "If you will come with me, I shall take you to the dining area."

Inuyasha followed Hitomiko out of the room, his enthusiasm reminding Kagome slightly of an eager puppy. She stifled her amusement, knowing that her friend would hate being compared to a dog.

Kagome had made that mistake early in the journey. They had been about a week out from Kaede's village when Inuyasha had gotten down on all fours briefly to sniff out a game trail which had gone through a stream. He had screamed at her for probably an hour and Kagome never pointed out his canine characteristics again. At least, she didn't point them out aloud.

Stuffing her feet back into her faithful sneakers, she exited through the front of the shrine. As she walked around toward the back of the complex, she peered around curiously, taking note of the differences between this shrine and her own.

She could make out several stone lanterns along the fence line, blanketed with snow, and a komainu at the corner, looking out toward the trees. Kagome had to admit that the layout of the shrine was somewhat strange. The actual shrine was usually set back behind another building used for worship and ceremonies and was closed to everyone but the priests or priestesses that managed the grounds. However, this shrine seemed to combine all parts into a single building. She had seen the ceremony room and wondered if the physical shrine was attached to it or located elsewhere.

Because the shrine was incorporated into the village, the homes of the other residents were situated around it and the community bathhouse located in the back. Kagome had never seen anything like it, but she supposed that it wasn't feasible for every village to have such a structured shrine like her own. It looked as if the shrine was built here first and the village followed.

The bathhouse was fairly small and built around a natural hot spring at the base of the mountain, which accounted for its odd location. When Kagome entered the changing room, she found a thick, warm kimono waiting for her. The shelf of bathing supplies was located above a wall of cubbies and she was careful to pick out the blue jar as Hitomiko instructed. Then she undressed, storing her things in one of the many empty cubbies. Kagome hurried through to the bathing room. She was looking forward to soaking in the hot water and hoped that it would ease the rest of the soreness that still lingered in her muscles.