Disclaimer: I own only the kofun and its unknown ghostly occupant.

Author's note: A response to Priestess Skye's weekly challenge, "History." If you squint really hard, you can find history and a fair amount of rocks. I'm not sure if said rocks are used creatively in the narrative, but the ancients were innovative enough in utilising them in a kofun - ancient tombs or burial mounds found in parts of Japan. Originally posted in Dokuga on 16 June 2009, under the title 'Kofun'. Edited on 3 August 2009, re-posted on 4 August 2009. In 2013, the story expanded, because I felt it was not rounded up nicely the first time. It is still open-ended, only with a more definite tone.

Summary: It seemed that her fate was to tumble down dark holes and fall into history, in more ways than one, until he decided that it was time she stopped falling into the past.

-0-

And The Rest Is History

Of course she would end up in places like these. It was just so typical of her to wander off and get herself into a mess or three.

"Don't go too far," Inuyasha had warned her. "It might rain."

How lightly she had dismissed his warning. After all, the dark clouds had been so far away in the horizon. She was sure she would make it back to camp before the rain hit them, if the rain reached them at all. The sky was a tranquil blue in their immediate vicinity and the countryside was so pretty, so she could not resist wandering off on the pretext of foraging. She had unloaded some of her belongings from her backpack and left it behind at the camp. That way, she reasoned to herself, I would have space if I found some fruits and berries.

She made her way through the woodlands at the edge of camp without incident and she did find plum trees there. Then she found shrubs with plump, ripe fruits glistening in the sun. Every step took her further and further away from her friends, out of the wooded area and into a gently rolling meadow, lured by late summer berries and their taut, shiny roundness that promised a juicy mouthful with every bite. So intent with her foraging, she failed to notice that the clouds, which had seemed so distant, had scudded across the sky with unearthly speed, driven by winds blowing far, far above. When she realised that the sun had dimmed and the breeze seemed colder, it was too late. As she turned to retrace her steps, the clouds opened and emptied a deluge upon her; the rain came down with a frightening ferocity that had her drenched in no time.

Oh no, she thought grimly. Looks like I have to find some place to wait this one out before I can head back. Then I have to face Inuyasha… Ugh!

Seeking refuge beneath the trees would be pointless as the only ones immediately around were sparse and small. Whipping her head this way and that as she peered into the rain, she spied the opening between the rocks on the grassy slope not too far away and ran for it. The grass was slippery and the rain made it hard to see but she reached it quickly enough.

She ducked into the opening, took two steps forward and stepped onto nothing. Pitching forward in the darkness, Kagome screamed as she tumbled through the air and landed with a bone-jarring impact on compacted soil. The distance she fell was a little more than the depth of the Bone-Eater's Well, but here, there was no magic to catch her and carry her down gently. There was only the unkind pull of gravity. Fortunately, she had the presence of mind to twist in mid-fall and land on her back, letting her backpack cushion her landing. She winced at the pain and at the faint squelching sound made by the poor fruits in her bag.

It seems, she mused as she laid in the dark, waiting for the pain and disorientation to subside, that it is my fate to fall down holes. And on top of that, I have to clean out pulp and juice from my bag. Bother.

From where she was, she could see the lighter patch of grey sky through the crevice. Slowly, with a groan, she sat up. With uncertain fingers, she reached outward, hoping she would encounter nothing worse than rocks or soil. Her fingers met with a rough surface. Tracing the plane as she rose to her feet, she found the wall hard and sheer, without foothold. Taking a cautious step forward, with both hands pressed against the wall, she made a curious discovery.

Hold on, she thought with some amazement. This feels like rock, but this is definitely a joint.

Inching forward, her hands once more encountered the unmistakable groove of two rocks fitted together. Fear displaced by excitement, Kagome slipped off one of the backpack's shoulder strap and stuck her hand into her bag. The fruits didn't fare too badly in their encounter with the ground; there wasn't as much of a mess as she thought. She groped blindly around until her fingers closed around the cool, slim handle of her torch. She pulled it out, turned it on and pointed it at the wall closest to her. Her breath caught.

Made visible by the halo of illumination was a faded painting of a court scene from centuries ago. Kagome laughed softly. This is unbelievable, she thought giddily. I fell into a kofun.

As she trained the light around the chamber, she found more faded paintings. On the ceiling of the tomb, were stars. Turning, she shone the light into the centre of the chamber. A coffin made of stone sat there, and around it were artefacts – swords, earthenware and such. I wonder who was buried in here, she mused as she neared the coffin. There was no name, no inscription. He or she must have been someone important to warrant a burial mound. Moved by reverent impulse, Kagome set down her flashlight and fished out a pair of plums from her bag. Placing them on top of the sarcophagus as offerings, she bowed, clasped her hands and offered a short prayer to the unknown occupant.

"It's been a while since someone thought to bring me something to eat," came a soft voice which seemed to come from a great distance away.

Kagome started from her reverent pose, leaping to her feet in surprise.

A misty, transparent figure of a middle-aged man stood next to the stone coffin. Odd, she couldn't sense the presence of spirits or ghosts when she fell into the kofun earlier.

"Uh," Kagome stuttered, backing cautiously away from the wraith. "I'm sorry to have disturbed your rest, sir."

The figure scoffed, waving a ghostly hand elegantly as if fanning away flies. "It was no rest, just limbo. There is only so much of nothingness a soul can take." Then faster than she could blink, the spirit was right before her, peering down at the vial of shards dangling from the cord around her neck. "But those… those would put an end to that emptiness. I would be warm again, feel again - eat, drink, live again. Give them to me, ojou-san, and as a token of my gratitude, I will show what a man I was in my lifetime." Deceptively insubstantial hands, cold as cold can be, closed around her upper arms. For something ethereal, this particular ghost had a very solid grip. In her panic, her powers flared, driving the apparition away from her violently. Kagome ran to the wall directly beneath opening of the tomb, blindly scrabbling for nonexistent footholds with trembling hands. The rain had stopped and the darkness in the sepulchre had receded somewhat. A shaft of light fell through the gap in the ceiling, pooling on the floor, illuminating the chamber faintly. The bite of her spiritual energy made the ghost cautious, but that did not stop him from hovering around her, looking for an opening to seize the vial of shards.

I'm going to die. What would archaeologists make of a five-hundred year old skeleton wearing sera fuku, found in a kofun, I wonder? she speculated with a trace of hysteria. I'm sure I'll make sensational headlines!

Spurred by burgeoning panic, Kagome screamed for Inuyasha, her voice, now slightly shrill, resonated soundly in the tomb. A shadow fell across the breach through which she had fallen and the next scream died in her throat. She could not see who it was, but she sure could sense it. Youkai. And a terribly powerful one at that too.

Between defilement in the hands of a libidinous spectre or death at the hands of a youkai with possible ill-intentions, her not-so-distant future could not have been bleaker. Her hand closed around the vial of jewel shards protectively as she peered upwards.

"Inuyasha?" she called out anyway, oscillating between relief and fear. There was no answer to her enquiry, no gruff voice chiding her for her silliness, nothing. Above the hissing rant of the ghost, she heard the soft scrape of shod feet against the rock. She had no bows, no arrows, nothing she could use to defend herself – from two adversaries, no less. The ancient bronze swords were too far away –

The youkai landed softly before her, in the pool of light. Frozen, Kagome could only stare at the hard citrine eyes, the white hair that seemed to glow with its own light, the bold markings on his proud face –

In that split second, her mind tumbled backwards to a time not too long ago – the same youkai, another tomb, a sword neither son could retrieve and deadly claws spraying poison at her -

Sesshoumaru, she thought distantly. I am doomed.

Before she could step out of beheading reach, his blade was drawn and he was abruptly gone from her sight. She heard the snap of his voluminous sleeve, the swoosh of steel cutting through air and turned in time to see Sesshoumaru's sword – Tenseiga, was it? – cleaving through the apparition. With a thin scream of pain, the ghost vanished.

Sheathing his sword, he swooped at her and a band of steel curled around her waist. Kagome gasped as she was pressed against silk, leather and metal, inhaling a lungful of youkai lord – sharp as winter and perennial as pine – and suddenly she was airborne. Reflexively, she wrapped her arms around his armoured torso, cliniging for dear life. Her heart leaped into her throat and her stomach twisted, but her feet found purchase on a rocky ledge not two seconds later and she was being nudged, blinking, into the sunshine. The thick, humid air aboveground hit her full in the face. Hesitantly, she turned to the silent youkai lord and bowed deeply.

"Thank you," she murmured. That's twice now. Twice he came to my aid when someone else should have. First Mukotsu, now this..

He said nothing, only snorted softly as he began to leave.

"Wait, please," Kagome called out. She removed her bag and dropped to her knee. Tugging her neckerchief loose and placing it on the ground, she dug out some of the plums and berries from her pack and arranged them on the red fabric. Working swiftly, she tied those into a bundle and held it out to him. An eyebrow arched incredulously.

"For your little girl. Rin-chan, right?" she clarified.

Another eyebrow crawled to his hairline, but he accepted the bundle anyway. Then he turned and strolled away with languid grace. Kagome gazed at his back for a second more before she shook herself out of her trance and picked up her bag. She gave the mound a last lingering look, then she, too, spun on the ball of her foot and trudged in the opposite direction. Even as she felt Sesshoumaru's presence recede, she heard Inuyasha yelling, hurtling towards her with a speed only those with youkai lineage were capable of.

Here we go again, she groaned inwardly as she braced herself for a hanyou tempest.

"Oi, Kagome! Where have you been?"

- 0 -

When he returned to camp, Sesshoumaru found his ward and retainer feasting on a roasted wild bird. One of them must have been quick enough or lucky enough to catch the fowl. Rin had been delighted with the fruits and after she had polished them off, she folded the red fabric and returned it to him.

While his followers slept, Sesshoumaru examined Kagome's neckerchief in the firelight. It was closely woven, durable and evenly dyed, the edges hemmed with neat stitching. Faintly, the scent of that strange girl clung to it, just like it clung to his armour where her arms had clasped him earlier. At one corner of the cloth, her name was written in black dye in hiragana. The characters were rather small, as if the finest brush was used. Sesshoumaru stowed the fabric in the front of his hitatare. If their paths ever crossed again, he might deign to return it to her.

- 0 -

Present time, three years after Kagome's return…

Kagome took her time climbing the steps of the shrine. She had gone to submit her college applications and then spent an hour or two with her girlfriends at the mall. It had been fun and distracting, but as she climbed higher, the nagging emptiness began to encroach once more.

Under the bright red torii, she paused and eyed the well-house.

It wouldn't hurt to see if the well works again, whispered a stubborn, hopeful voice. Instead of giving in to that thought, Kagome turned her feet resolutely to her home. If it worked, I would know it, but it doesn't, so I will not set myself up for disappointment.

Entering the genkan, she found that Mama was serving tea to a guest in the living room and was surprised to see who it was.

"Hisato-san!" Kagome greeted with a bow. Fumitaka Hisato was the computer laboratory technician at her high school. The tall, plain and bespectacled man kept mostly to himself and seeing him here was truly unusual. "What brings you here?"

"Kagome, you're back," Mama said as she retreated to the kitchen. "Hisato-san said he had something to return to you."

"Oh? How kind of you. You really shouldn't trouble yourself," Kagome murmured as she seated herself across the man. "How did you know where I live?"

"I live a little further down the street, Miss Higurashi, and noticed that we are neighbours," Fumitaka replied. His voice was soft, deep and confident. Kagome thought he should speak more often.

"Ah," Kagome nodded politely. "What is it of mine that you found?"

Fumitaka pulled a piece of folded fabric from his shirt pocket and pushed it across the table.

"I didn't find it. It was given to me."

Frowning, Kagome picked up the cloth and shook it open. Is this mine?

The fabric was square and was once red, but had faded to a washed-out hue of it's former brilliance. There were several tears that had been mended with neat stitching. Nonplussed, Kagome folded the cloth again and flicked her gaze to Hisato-san's face. He seemed to be watching her with quiet expectancy. She shook her head and re-folded the cloth… and realised something. The size of the cloth was about the size of the neckerchief worn with her middle-school uniform. When folded, the mended holes lined up neatly, as if something had pierced through the cloth while it was in that state.

Heart pounding, Kagome reopened the cloth again and began examining the corners carefully. There… She could only just make out her name, badly faded with time.

It can't be.

"Where did you get this?" she hissed. "Who gave it to you?"

"You gave it to me, Kagome."

That voice.

"It can't be," she whispered.

Fumitaka slipped off the silver ring he wore on his left hand. That's not a wedding ring? Youki unfurled lazily and homely Hisato-san disappeared with a shimmer, leaving a youkai lord in his place.

Kagome clutched the neckerchief to her chest, eyes tearing. Of all people. But, of course, why not Sesshoumaru…

She ducked her head, and tried to find composure by tracing the stitching that held one of the mended tears closed.

"This is…" she began questioningly.

"Magatsuhi," was the succint reply. Kagome sniffed. She had been unconscious when it happened; but she heard afterwards that Sesshoumaru was speared through the chest by Magatsuhi. He had been carrying this with him all along? This is so absurd.

Out loud, she asked, "You carried this with you? Why didn't you return it to me back then?"

An enigmatic shrug was her answer. Kagome couldn't stop her watery laugh. Sesshoumaru watched as she swiped at her eyes and smiled up at him.

"Do not attempt to jump into the well again." Ah, there he was, not the quiet lab technician, but the fearsome warrior that was used to command.

She nodded her head. No, she will not attempt to jump back into the past again. History was history. Something told her that an interesting future was about to unfold.