Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or places. They all belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Author' Note: This will be a slight crossover with Ranma 1/2, though the Ranma characters won't really make much of an appearance beyond possibly brief cameos.

Somewhere in the Bayankala Mountain Range, Qinghai Province, China

A short man slowly entered a valley filled with springs, being cautious to avoid falling into any of them. He headed for a small hut set to the side, a thick letter clutched in his hands. The man looked around for his daughter but finding her nowhere in sight he sighed and took a seat outside of his home.

The man looked over the sealed letter in his hand and allowed a slight smile to cross his face. "Aah. Nobuo-san has written me again. I did not expect him to respond so quickly. I wonder what tale he will share this time." Though he was surprised to have received a reply so soon, he was happy as the twice a month letters had become one of the few good things to look forward to. He eagerly began to open the letter.

Suddenly a strong wind blew, taking the papers from his hand and scattering them along the ground. "No!" he exclaimed, and hurried to retrieve the pages, still being careful to avoid the springs. "Aah, that was close" he said to himself as he retrieved the last visible page from its location a few feet from one of the innocent looking springs. As he turned and headed back to his hut with his prize in hand he did not notice a lone paper dissolving in the spring it had landed in.

Not taking any chances this time, he entered the hut with his letter. Looking them over he quickly arranged the pages into some semblance of order and began to read. "Oh, poor Nobuo-san. Neither of his grandchildren show any sign of wanting to follow their family's tradition. Something I can definitely sympathize with. And his granddaughter, involved with demons. Tsk, tsk. At least that is one thing I don't have to worry about with Plum." As he continued to read he turned to the next page of the letter and stopped, shocked. Quickly rereading the words to confirm he had read it right, he then quickly skimmed the rest of the letter, hoping he had simply gotten the order mixed up. 'Surely Nobuo-san couldn't have meant that!' he thought. But no, the letter did not make any sense if arranged any other way.

Scratching his head in confusion, the man tried to decide what to do. Nobuo-san was one of the few friends he had and his letters were one of the few things he had to look forward to. Shrugging, he decided to honor his friend's request and just remind him to make sure that this is what he wants before he goes through with it.

Standing, he went to a cupboard and collected a sturdy wooden cask. Next, he went to a chest and drew out an old, faded map. This map showed the locations of each of the known springs in the valley. With the items he needed in hand he left his hut and cautiously approached the springs.

Arriving at a spring a few minutes later, he consulted the map to make sure it was the correct one. Satisfied that he was at the right place, he put the map away and proceeded to carefully fill the cask with water from the spring. He was careful to avoid getting any of the water on himself. Once his task was finished, he tightly sealed the cask and carefully made his way back to his hut. Upon reaching his destination, he wrote a reply to his friend and carefully packed the cask and letter for mail delivery. Then he slowly made his way to the valley's mail drop and left the package for the next postal pickup. Then he again made his way back to his home, calling for his daughter as he did.

If anyone had been around to inspect the waiting package, they would have wondered why the man known as the Jusenkyo Guide was sending a package to Tokyo, Japan. They would have been especially curious to know who he could know at a Shinto shrine, as the label on the package was for Higurashi Nobuo, at the Higurashi Shrine in Tokyo, Japan.

"Kagome's Curse: A Blessing in Disguise?" is the working title for this fic. Any suggestions for a better title would be greatly appreciated.