The Boy Who Overcame Time

And the Girl Who Was Just Overcome

"Kagome!"

Kagome turned her head, but had no time to respond before the arrow pierced her shoulder and pinned her to the tree. Uncomprehending, she stared up at the face of the woman she had thought of as a best friend and almost sister. The woman's face was twisted with a loathing and hatred that Kagome had never expected to see on her.

"Kikyo?" Kagome whispered. "But I don't—understand."

Her consciousness slipped away from her, and Kagome's world faded into black.

Inuyasha Higurashi stepped out of his house and stretched in the fresh morning air. It was a perfect day, bright and sunny, the kind he liked best. Days like this got him itching to do something, anything, that would get his blood racing and his heart pounding. Inuyasha grinned as a breeze teased his shoulder length black hair. Days like this were made for adventures.

And I have to waste it going to school. His grin dropped and his shoulders sagged at the thought. It just didn't seem fair, especially since it was his birthday too.

"Later, Mom, later Gramps," he called over his shoulder. "I'm off!"

He'd only taken a few steps when the sight of Souta hanging out at the well house's doorway caught his eye. "Oi, brat!" Inuyasha called. "What are you doing over there? You know you're not allowed in the well house."

Souta sent him a pleading look. "But Inuyasha! I think Buyo is down there!"

Inuyasha sighed heavily and walked over to join his brother. "Then go get him. He shouldn't be down there either."

Souta gulped and eyed the dark staircase that lead into the shadowy recesses of the well house. "Why do I have to be the one to go get him?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and affectionately rapped the back of Souta's head with his knuckles. "'Cause you're the one looking for him, brat. But if you're too much of a scaredy cat, then I'll go instead."

Inuyasha tromped down the stairs, eyes roaming the shadows for a hint of Buyo. As much as Inuyasha liked the old cat, he could be a real pain sometimes.

Skriiitch, skriiitch.

Inuyasha paused at the unexpected sound, like rats scampering around on wood. His scowl deepened and he crossed his arms over his chest. Weird. That sounded like it came from inside the well.

But the well was sealed up, so there was no way that Buyo should be down there. The sound came again, raising the hair on the back of Inuyasha's neck. Something pressed against his leg and Inuyasha jerked away with a strangled gasp. Souta up at the top of the stairs fell back with a high pitched yelp.

"Meow."

Inuyasha felt his eyebrow twitch as he glared down at Buyo's serene expression. "Stupid cat," he grumbled picking him up off the floor.

"What was with freaking out like that, Mr. I'm-So-Brave?" Souta demanded pointing down at him.

Inuyasha glared up at him. "Says the brat who wouldn't even come down the stairs! And I wasn't freaking out!"

Before he could start back up the stairs there was a sharp crack of splintering wood, and a malevolent presence wrapped around Inuyasha, freezing him in place. What is this?

Souta's eyes widened in fear and Inuyasha felt a rush of wind at his back as the cover of the well burst open. Hands like vices grasped Inuyasha's arms as Buyo slid from his grip and dragged him back into the well.

The hands flipped Inuyasha around so he could see his attacker, and he found himself staring at a pair of large, bare breasts. This would have been the best moment in all his fifteen years of life if those breasts hadn't been attached to a body that also had six arms and the bottom half of a centipede.

"The jewel," the woman hissed with a strange, breathy voice. "You have it. Give it to me!" Her tongue, longer than humanly possible, snaked out of her mouth and licked his cheek. This contact finally snapped Inuyasha out of his shocked stupor.

"Get off me, you freak!" Inuyasha shouted. He lashed out with his fist, a solid punch that connected squarely with the bug woman's jaw. A brilliant pink light flashed and the woman shrieked with pain. When the light faded she was gone, and suddenly Inuyasha's feet were settling on the ground at the bottom of the well.

"The heck was that?" he asked out loud. Inuyasha rubbed his eyes. He could not have seen what he thought he just saw. Freakish bug women didn't exist! It was impossible. "Maybe I hit my head really hard when I landed." He glanced around and saw a pale woman's arm that was badly burned at the stump lying near him. Inuyasha gaped at the appendage for a moment. "Okay, maybe not."

But either way, the bug woman was gone now, and Inuyasha didn't feel like sticking around at the bottom of the well waiting for her to come back. Inuyasha tilted his head back and called, "Hey, Souta! Get Gramps for me!"

There was no reply, and Inuyasha blinked in surprise when he realized that where he should be seeing the wooden ceiling of the well house, he was staring up at blue sky. "But that doesn't make any sense!"

He shook his head. He'd figure out what was going on after he got out of the well, and apparently Souta wasn't going to be any help on that end. "Little brat. He probably ran away in fear or something."

There were vines growing down the inside of the well that Inuyasha could use to help pull himself up. As he was climbing, it occurred to him that there were no plants growing in the well house, so these vines really shouldn't be there.

"Worry about it after you get out," he muttered to himself.

Inuyasha made it to the top of the well and what he saw stunned him into silence. It wasn't just the roof of the well house that was missing; it was the well house itself, the shrine's courtyard, his house, everything. It was all gone. In its place was a vast forest.

"This is not happening," Inuyasha said, frantically searching for any familiar landmark. He caught sight of the Sacred Tree in the distance, and relief shot through him. "I'll be able to find my way home from there," he said shoving his way through the undergrowth of the forest to get to the tree.

When he finally made it to the miniature clearing that held the Sacred Tree, Inuyasha froze. Pinned to the tree by an arrow was a girl who looked to be about his age. She wore strange, old fashioned looking red clothes, and her long hair was a shimmering silver color. Matching silver dog ears sat on top of her head. Her expression was so peaceful that, if it weren't for the arrow, he would have thought she was only sleeping.

But she had a freaking arrow sticking out of her!

Inuyasha rushed over, hopping up on some of the raised tree roots so he was level with the girl. He pressed his fingers to her neck searching for a pulse and felt panic rising when he couldn't find one. "Please don't be dead," he muttered. Even without a pulse, she didn't really feel dead. Her skin was still warm and soft. Inuyasha held his ears over her mouth, listening for her breath, but he couldn't hear that either.

Inuyasha swore. Warm body or not, he didn't see how she could still be alive since she didn't have a pulse and didn't seem to be breathing. "I need to get her down from here," he said and he reached out for the arrow that held her in place.

Arrows thudded into the tree beside him and Inuyasha flinched away. "Get away from there!" a man's voice yelled.

Inuyasha whirled around and saw six men with bows and arrows glaring at him. His fists clenched and his lips pulled back in a snarl as he stared at the bows. "Are you the scum that murdered this girl?" he snapped.

They didn't answer, but their glares intensified. "Get away from her, or we will shoot," said one man that was apparently the group's leader.

Inuyasha wanted nothing more than to pound the man's face into the dirt. How could they do that? Just murder this girl and then leave her hanging like some sort of twisted trophy? If they hadn't had arrows pointed at him he'd have done it too. He'd been taking martial arts classes since the time he could walk it seemed, and even at six on one odds Inuyasha was fairly confident that he could take them if they had been unarmed. But since they had bows, one of them was bound to shoot him before he could do any real damage. With no real alternative, Inuyasha stepped away from the tree.

One of the men rushed forward and tied Inuyasha's hands securely behind his back. The ropes weren't tied so tight as to be painful, but he definitely wasn't getting out of them on his own. The men shoved him forward, and the group walked in silence away from the tree.

After only a few minutes of walking they were out of the forest and approaching a small village. The sight was so unexpected that Inuyasha forgot his anger for a moment. The village was composed of a small grouping of thatched huts surrounded by rice paddies. All in all, it looked like a picture from a history textbook.

What it this supposed to be? The Feudal Era?

The thought made him glance around at his captors, and Inuyasha finally noticed how they all wore old fashioned clothes, and each had a topknot on their head.

Oh. Oh crap.

This couldn't be what he was thinking. It just couldn't. Time travel wasn't possible.

Neither was that freaky bug woman, and she was definitely real.

And time travel would explain why his home and the entire city of Tokyo had disappeared. Matter of fact, if he really had gone back in time this tiny village was probably the start of Tokyo.

But if I've really gone back in time, how do I get home?

Kaede walked sedately through the crowd that had gathered around the stranger some of the villagers had captured in Kagome's Forest. Her good eye narrowed when she caught sight of the stranger for the first time. He was taller than her, with black hair that curled around the collar of his shirt. His clothes were strange, dyed black and made of a material she didn't recognize. They were far more fitted than anything Kaede was used to seeing. But the young man's most striking feature was his eyes. Dark purple, they flashed with an inner fire and defiance.

Kaede dipped the branch she carried in a mixture of purified water and salt and splashed it on him. "Demon, be gone!"

The boy flinched at the contact, but there was no sizzling like there should have been, nor did he drop his human guise as a fox demon playing a trick would have.

"Stop it, you old hag!" the boy snapped. "I'm not a demon!"

"So I see," Kaede said, lowering her branch. If the boy was a demon he should have been purified by the water.

"Is he a spy then?" one of the villagers asked.

"If so he's a foolish one," Kaede said. "There is nothing here worth conquering."

But there was something about the boy that seemed familiar. Not his looks; she'd never seen anyone that looked quite like him before. It was something about his expression and his spirit that tugged at old memories in her mind.

Who is this boy?

Kaede caught his chin in her hand so she could study him better. "Look clever boy, or be a halfwit," she said.

Anger flashed in his eyes and he tried to jerk away from her hand, only to be held in place by two of the village men. "Who are you calling a halfwit, hag?"

There.

She could feel it in him, raw power, unused and untested. Kaede hadn't felt power like that in fifty years.

Could this possibly be?

"It's there, though I don't know what it means," Kaede said letting go of his chin. "What is your name, boy?"

"Inuyasha," he said.

"I am Kaede, the priestess of this village," she said.

His eyes narrowed. "Then are you the one who ordered that girl in the forest murdered?" he asked.

Kaede frowned. "In all my life, there has never been a murder committed in this village."

"Lady Kaede," said one of the villagers who had captured Inuyasha, "I think he is speaking of Kagome. He was by her tree when we found him."

Ah, that. To someone who didn't know the story, it probably would look like a murder. "That was no murder, and she is not truly dead," Kaede said. "If you will come with me, I will explain it to you."

Inuyasha eyed her suspiciously for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay."

"Untie him please," Kaede said. Swiftly one of the villagers undid the ropes binding his hands. Kaede turned and started walking towards her hut. She didn't bother to see if Inuyasha was following. Already, her mind was fifty years in the past.

Inuyasha followed the old priestess back to her hut where she motioned for him to have a seat on the wooden floor. Inuyasha sat and watched as she started pulling out vegetables to chop for what looked like some sort of stew.

"Well?" Inuyasha asked as she remained silent. "What happened with that girl?"

"Kagome," Kaede said, "is a half-breed. She is half human, half demon. Fifty years ago, she attacked my village in search of the Shikon Jewel, which my elder sister was supposed to protect. In the battle that followed, my sister sealed Kagome to the tree with a sacred arrow, but she suffered her own mortal wound and died after doing so."

Inuyasha frowned. He vaguely remembered Gramps mentioning the Shikon Jewel in some of his ramblings, but he couldn't remember what was supposed to be so special about it. All in all, the priestess's story seemed outlandish to the point of ridiculousness.

Then again, I'm the one who traveled through time. Guess I can't call anything impossible.

"She's seriously been stuck to that tree for fifty years?" Inuyasha questioned as Kaede poured the vegetables into her pot of stew.

"Indeed," Kaede said. "And should remain there for all time thanks to my sister's spell."

Inuyasha frowned thoughtfully. She's not there in the future, so apparently she gets free at some point.

Well, he supposed it wasn't any of his business. Still. The girl's expression had been so peaceful, it was hard for Inuyasha to picture her attacking a village like Kaede said.

"Where do you come from, Inuyasha?" Kaede asked.

"Huh? Oh, Tokyo," Inuyasha said.

"Tokyo," Kaede said, carefully pronouncing the word. "I've never heard of it. Is it far?"

Inuyasha rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, you could say that. I really need to be getting back."

Although I've no idea how.

"The sun is already setting," Kaede said dishing him out a bowl of stew. "Stay here for the night and you may leave in the morning if you wish."

Inuyasha accepted the bowl gratefully as his stomach rumbled in hunger. He hadn't eaten since that morning. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

He took a bite and was surprised to find the old woman was actually a good cook. He dug into the food with gusto. Before he was even half finished with his bowl, there was a crash from outside, quickly followed by screams. Inuyasha started, dropping his bowl. "What was that?"

Kaede didn't answer as she was already rushing for the door. Inuyasha scrambled to follow her. When they got outside, his eyes widened.

It's the bug woman!

"Mistress Centipede!" one of the villagers yelled.

"Lady Kaede," another villager called running up to them, "we've tried arrows and spears, but nothing is working!"

Inuyasha watching in horror as her body twisted and lashed out, destroying another house. This is my fault. I led her here.

Mistress Centipede's eyes landed on Inuyasha. "The jewel!" she hissed. "Give it to me!"

Kaede's one good eye bored into him. "The jewel? You have it still?"

"I don't know what she's talking about!" Inuyasha protested. But even so, it was his fault she was here. He had to do something. Too bad his martial arts classes had never covered fighting giant centipede women.

"I'll lead her away from the village!" Inuyasha called to Kaede and took off running back towards the forest. Just as he'd hoped, Mistress Centipede followed him.

Great. I've got her attention, so now what? I could really use some help now!

In Kagome's Forest, at the Sacred Tree, there was a pulse of power like a heartbeat.

Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

For the first time in fifty years, golden eyes blinked open. Slowly, Kagome lifted her head.

"Kikyo?" she whispered.

Inuyasha wasn't able to keep as much distance between himself and Mistress Centipede as he would have liked, but he'd made it out to the forest without her catching him. She lunged for him, hitting the ground just behind his feet. The impact caused a shower of earth that flung Inuyasha farther into the forest and landed him hard on the ground.

"You're not Kikyo! Who are you?"

Blinking, Inuyasha looked up and saw Kagome frowning down at him from where she was pinned on the Sacred Tree. "You're awake?" Was that supposed to happen? He didn't think so from what Kaede had said.

"Who are you?" Kagome repeated. "And why do you smell so much like Kikyo?"

"Inuyasha," he said getting to his feet. "And who the heck is Kikyo?"

Mistress Centipede burst through the trees, and Inuyasha whirled around, cursing himself for letting his guard down. His sensei would trounce him if he knew about the slip up.

"The jewel! Give it to me!" she screeched.

"You're starting to sound like a broken record, lady," Inuyasha said, backing away from her a few steps.

Moving with a speed that belied her size, Mistress Centipede lunged forward and snatched Inuyasha up off the ground. Bearing wicked looking teeth, she leaned down towards his struggling form.

"Get off of me!" he shouted, trying to twist out of her grasp. That pink light flared again like in the well, and the next thing Inuyasha knew he had fallen back to the ground, and Mistress Centipede was screeching over the loss of her remaining five arms.

Did I do that?

Kaede and some of the villagers rode up on horses and paused staring wide eyed at the scene. The villagers cried out in alarm.

"Kagome's awake!"

"Mistress Centipede's arms!"

"Look out, she's attacking again!"

Undeterred by the loss of her arms, Mistress Centipede shot down and her teeth sank into Inuyasha's side and threw him into the air.

Numbly, Inuyasha stared at a perfectly round pink jewel that flew in the air beside him. That's the jewel? It was inside me?

Then he hit the ground and pain lanced through his whole body radiating from the gash in his side. Before he could struggle to his feet, Mistress Centipede used her tail to trap him against the Sacred Tree, his face pressed into Kagome's stomach.

Mistress Centipede leaned down towards the jewel, and Kagome yelled, "Don't you dare touch that!"

Mistress Centipede paused and glanced over at them scornfully. "I had heard of a half-breed that was seeking the Shikon Jewel. What do you think you can do?"

Kagome's lips pulled back in a snarl revealing too sharp canine teeth, and her dog ears flattened back on her head. "Inuyasha," she said, "you think you can pull this arrow out of me?"

Inuyasha blinked, the pain in his side making it harder than usual to think. "What?"

"Pull the arrow out!" she snapped.

"No, Inuyasha!" Kaede shouted. "You must not free Kagome!"

"She's going to kill you!" Kagome yelled. "Let me help!"

Torn by indecision, Inuyasha watched as Mistress Centipede scooped up the jewel with her tongue and swallowed it. His eyes widened when her severed arms flew back to her body and reattached themselves. Her jaws opened wide, and her skin peeled away to reveal a hideous red and black under layer.

Inuyasha made a decision, and reaching up he grasped the arrow that held Kagome pinned. At his first tug, the arrow disintegrated into nothingness.

Without quite knowing how it happened, Inuyasha found himself sprawled on the ground again, Kagome facing off against Mistress Centipede a few feet away. "Insolent wretch," Mistress Centipede hissed.

Kagome flexed her fingers, bringing Inuyasha's attention to the wicked looking claws that tipped them. "Return the jewel!"

"Who will make me? You?" Mistress Centipede asked, and lunged for her.

"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!"

Kagome's movements were a red blur. Inuyasha didn't see exactly what Kagome did, but suddenly bloody chunks of centipede were falling to the ground. Inuyasha stared at Kagome in awe. Yes, she was a half demon, but Inuyasha still hadn't expected her to be so strong.

"Inuyasha, quickly," Kaede said. "Find the glowing flesh before she regenerates! That's where the jewel will be."

Inuyasha heeded her words. The last thing he wanted was to face Mistress Centipede again. "There!" he said pointing when he saw a faint pink glow coming from a hunk of flesh. "The jewel is there!"

Kaede moved quickly for someone her age, reaching into the flesh and feeling around for the jewel. Inuyasha almost gagged at the sight. He didn't consider himself a squeamish person, but that was just gross.

Kaede pulled the jewel out of the flesh, and Inuyasha blinked as Mistress Centipede's body disintegrated, leaving only the bones. She walked over to Inuyasha and dropped the jewel into his hands. "Here. This belongs to you now."

"Me?" Inuyasha said. "What am I supposed to do with it?"

"Nothing," Kagome said, stepping closer. "Humans can't use it. It's no good to you." She held out one of her dangerously clawed hands. "Why don't you just hand it over?"

Inuyasha stared at her and her determined golden glare. "Are you freaking kidding me?"

AN: So this is my new, outrageous fanfic writing goal. I intend to rewrite the entire Inuyasha series using this plot thread. Just for clarification, I will be following the anime rather than the manga. But don't worry, this isn't going to be a carbon copy of the show. There will be changes, and they will snowball.

But since this is such a big thing to try and rewrite, I intend to post each season as it's own separate story. Also because this is such a big rewrite, none of the stories will be posted until they are complete. This means that season one is completely rewritten, however updates will still be every two weeks in order to give me some time to get to work on season two.

Last but certainly not least, it should be mentioned that the idea for this story was inspired by Sophie19114 and her story, A Twist in Reality. My story has been written and posted with her permission.

I hope you all enjoy, and that you'll stick around for the whole ride!