"Hello" -Normal speech.

'Hello' -Thoughts.

"Hello" Beast/Inner Yokai speech.

The Past, The Present, And The Crazy

"Shi-ka! Wake up!"

I groan, pulling my covers over my shoulders and wrapping it tighter around myself as I roll away from the annoying pest. The pest continues to poke, shake and whine in that irritating pitch which is much too high for the morning.

"Go away," I mumble.

"Not until you get up! Honestly, Shika, you've already missed breakfast!" This time, the pest tries to yank my blanket from me, but I hold on tight. "Don't make me get Mama!"

I warily peek out from under my eyelash, lips pursed and squinting through the morning sunlight. I consider letting go of my blanket, just so that she'll fall flat on her bum, but ultimately decide that the resulting blast of cold air isn't worth it. Kagome, my younger sister by four minutes exactly, stares straight back, unmoving and unflinching in her threat as she tugs on my blanket.

"Fine," I concede in a grumble. I rise on my elbow to glare at her properly, and the cheekily girl smirks back.

"Great! Get dressed and I'll meet you at the front! Oh, and happy birthday!" Kagome chirps before flouncing out of my room.

'Tch.' What did I do in a past life to be sentenced with a family of morning people, again?

Sluggishly, I slip off my bed and grab my uniform with a yawn. After that and brushing my raven, chin-length hair, teeth, and putting on deodorant, I go downstairs.

"Morning, Gramps," I wave lazily at him as I pass him in the hallway.

"Ah, Shika! Finally up, I see!"

"Not by choice," I assure him.

"Hey, Mama," I say when I enter the kitchen.

Mama smiles at me, turning her attention away from the dirty dishes in the sink that she's washing. "Good morning and happy birthday, Shika. Your lunch is in the fridge."

"Thanks." I open the fridge to grab the blue wrapped bento box, and an apple to eat later for breakfast.

"Shika, were you up late playing video games again?" Mama eyes me, and the slight bags that are most likely under my eyes.

"No," I lie, completely straight faced. "Just had a hard time settling is all." I had been, in fact, playing my new sim dating game all last night. I managed to finish Natsu's Route at three-forty in the morning, so despite how tired I feel I don't regret it.

Not that I'm going to admit that to Mama. Last lime I stayed up so late on a school day she took away my games for a week.

'Maybe I can fake a terrible cramp at lunch,' I muse. 'Get excused and be able to sleep the rest of the school day away...'

Mama hums, not completely believing me as she rinses off a plate. I make a mental note to call my Grandpa instead of her. He'll be too awkward and embarrassed about my 'period' to question me closely, and all too happy to avoid me for the rest of the day after I arrive back home.

"Bye," I tell Mama before exiting.

"Have a good day, Shika!" she calls after.

"Are you ready?" Kagome asks me, shoes on and waiting next to the front door.

"Yeah," I respond, grabbing my bag from the hook on the wall. "Just let me put my shoes on." Once I have them on and my school bag slung over my right shoulder, Kagome hooks our free arms together as we leave the house.

'Should've brought my sunglasses,' I think to myself, squinting and turning my head away from the bright sun.

"So, which game were you playing last night?" Kagome eyes me slyly, a grin on her lips. "Heard you cursing through the shared wall. What, did you get a bad ending?"

"I was playing Fortune Lover, and no, I got the happy ending, thank you very much. I just couldn't get the sexy scene that I wanted, is all."

Kagome hums. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

'What? I -oh.' I roll my eyes at her. "Happy birthday, Imouto."

"Shut up," she pouts and shoves me. "Only by four minutes!"

I laugh. "And those were the best four minutes of my life!"

"Shika-neechan! Kagome-neechan!"

Kagome and I pause and turn, catching our little brother Sota by the old Hiden Well, Buya's food dish in his hands. He waves us over, a pinched, nervous look on his face.

"What is it, Sota?" Kagome asks him once we're in front of him.

He bites his lip, eyes flickering inside the tiny, shed-sized building. "Buyo went inside..."

"So?" I quirk a brow at him. "Go get him then." I've seen Sota lug him around the house, so it isn't as if the fat cat is too heavy for him.

"But the place gives me the creeps," he whines. "Can't one of you go get him for me?" he widens his eyes, but I remain unimpressed by his 'puppy dog eyes.' "I keep calling him, but he won't come! What if he's trapped?" he adds.

"You're such a scaredy cat," Kagome sighs. Nonetheless, she trudge inside and I follow. "Buyo! Buyo!" she calls out loudly.

I lean against the creaky, dusty old railing, seeing if I can spot him down below. I admit, the bones in the dirt aren't the most welcoming sight.

Something makes a scratching noise down there, and Sota jumps and latches onto my arm. "Ah! Something is down there!" he cries fearfully.

"Yeah, Buyo," Kagome replies dryly.

My gut suddenly sinks, and my mouth becomes awfully dry as Kagome starts going down the stairs. "Wait!" I grab her arm, and she eyes me curiously. "D-Don't go down there. I have a bad feeling about this."

The scratching noise comes back, and I tense. I swear it's coming from inside the sealed Well.

"Not you too, Shika!" Kagome rolls her eyes, sighing. "Seriously! It's just the old Well. We've been down here plenty of times!"

I bristle. "Oi, I'm just saying that something isn't right. I'm sure Buyo can come eat whenever he wants if we leave his food outside."

Kagome pats my hand 'consolingly.' "You two chickens can stay here. I'm just going to be a second," she waves me off and resumes going down.

Grrr! With horrible, heavy rocks of dread in my stomach, and my heart hammering, I watch Kagome go downstairs and glance around.

"Ah!" she suddenly cries out, and I lunge forward -almost tripping and falling- down the stairs to snatch her arm.

"Aaah!" Sota falls backwards in fright, before glancing down at Kagome's feet.
"Oh, Buyo..."

Irritation spikes within me, and I barely retain the sudden urge to kick the fat cat across the room. 'Stupid cat!' I glare at the purring demon, smug as can be in Kagome's arms.

I let her go and step back, crossing my arms with a scowl.

"You scared me!" Sota accuses Kagome. "Don't scream so loud, Nee-chan!"

"Watch it!" she snaps back. "I'm only down here 'cause you and Shika were too scared!"

"I was not!" I retort, despite the sound of my own heart in my ears. 'This is so stupid.' "Let's just go-"

"A-Ah, Nee-chan-!" Sota scrambles back on his feet, alarmed.

And that's when a bright light appeared, and the previously sealed Well burst open.

"AAAHH!"

My body moves before my brain, as my heart stutters and I latch onto Kagome's foot. But instead of holding her back, I'm sucked in along with her.

"Nee-chan!"

'What the fuck.'

A naked woman with many arms is holding onto Kagome's face and-and what the fuck?

We're falling -falling like fucking Alice in Wonderland, that western fairy tale- everything is so dark, cold-

"Such joy!" the naked woman moans. "I can feel my strength returning! My body is coming back to life again!"

Oh, oh okay, now the woman is part bug! What-

"You have it, don't you?" the freaky woman continues, oblivious of my mental freak out and how my vocal cords have frozen. "Don't you?" She-she-

'Am I going to pass out?'

"Let me go! You're disgusting!" Kagome struggles against her, and her giant, freakishly long tongue-

And then the next thing I know, the woman is pushed away, gone, and Kagome and I are touching dirt. I blink, chest heaving, and simply stare at nothing as my brain tries rebooting.

"Sh-Shika...?" Kagome shifts, stares at me with wide eyes. "Ow, ow, ow..." she hisses, dragging her legs closer and that's when I realize that I'm still clutching her leg.

I let go, distantly noting the crescent marks on her pale skin. "Kagome, what the fuck was that?" I can barely recognize my own voice, as shaky and as broken as it is.

"I don't know," she whispers. "But did you hear her say something about a Scared Jewel? And-And are we inside the Well?" she whips her head around, and I eye the tall, four brick walls around ourselves myself. "W-We gotta get out!"

She stands, and I follow suit with my shaking legs and trembling hands. I latch onto her shoulders without thinking about it, and she wraps an arm around my waist.

"Sota! Are you there?" she calls out. "Get Gramps!"

"A-And a ladder!" I add, running a hand through my soft hair. 'You're fine, you're fine. Pull yourself together!'

Sota doesn't answer.

"Sota! Sota, where are you?"

Still no answer.

"That kid!" Kagome growls, stomping her foot. "He ran away, didn't he?" She glances at me.

I press my lips into a grim line. "How are we going to get out now?" I ask her.

Kagome looks around, hesitating on the vines.

"Can it even hold our weight?" I question cynically, guessing her thoughts.

"Well, what other choice do we have?" she huffs.

'Point.'

And so we climb. Well, she does anyways -I don't want to get squashed under and break something if she slips or a vine snaps. "What is it?" I question her, when she stopped right at the top.

"Um, you might want to see it for yourself..."

With that tone of voice? I highly doubt that. Still...'I'm going to kill the brat next time I see him,' I think to myself darkly, feeling the strain on my fingertips and toes as I struggle up and out of the dirty, musty Well.

Once over, with the wood biting into my back thighs as I sit on the top of the Well, my mind blanks for a second time this day. And within less than a half hour, too.

We're outside. The slight heat on my skin, the blue sky clear, and the birds chirping as the grass and many, many trees surrounding us sway in the wind.

'What. The. Fuck.'

"Shika, we fell into the Well at the Shrine, right?"

"I thought so," I swallow thickly.

"Right. A-And so how-?"

"I don't know."

We stare at each other, neither of us knowing what to do, or what the hell is happening.

Eventually, I break eye contact, glancing around the strange forest, and wiping my clammy palms on my skirt. "Well, I, I guess we should start looking? Or something?" I offer nervously.

"Yeah..." Kagome agrees quietly.

Sticking close together, we start down a trail obviously used by others, calling Mama, Gramps, and Sota in case they're near. About ten minutes in, Kagome suddenly grabs my arm and points ahead.

"Shika! Look! The Scared Tree!" Instantly overcome with excitement, Kagome starts pulling and we run over to it.

'Oh, thank Kami-'

"A boy?"

We come to an abrupt halt, a few feet away from the giant tree.

'I take that back. Fuck you, Kami!'

"Are you seeing this?" Kagome turns to me, wide eyed.

"Unfortunately," I purse my lips together.

There, against the Scared Tree, is a long, white haired boy dressed in red and tied up with thick roots and vines, an arrow in his chest. And cosplay cat ears, of all things.

Honestly, I don't think my heart can take much more of this! I just want to go home! Is that too much to ask for?

"H-Hey! Kagome!" I try to grab her, but she dodges and just-just goes straight up to the dead boy! What the hell! "Kagome, get back here," I hiss, arms crossed and close to my chest, eyes flickering around in fear of someone catching us. 'This is the Well and Buyo all over again!'

Forget Sota -when Kagome comes back, and away from the weirdly peaceful looking corpse, I'm going to kill her!

'Wait. Is, is she touching him!? Oh, Kami, she really is!'

"They feel so real!" Kagome gasps, awed as she continues to ignore me and play with the tiny, flexible cat ears.

"Ka-Go-Me!" I grit out, shifting anxiously. "Let's-"

"You two! What're you up to?!"

Not for the first time, I get a near heart attack when I jump in surprise, spinning on my heel only to have numerous arrows pointed straight at my face, held back by very angry and gruff men.

'Shit.'

Dead. They are so dead when I get my hands on them! 'Every. Last. One!' Seething, I glare furiously at any of the crazies -because they are absolutely crazy, every single one of them- who dare to glance my way.

Tied up as I am, with my back against an equally trapped Kagome, one of the younger men flinches when he meets my eye. My lips pull back into a mocking smile -more of a sneer, honestly- as I remember with immense, dark satisfaction exactly how hard I had flipped him when he first tried to grab me.

An older, meaner man with bold boulders and the beginnings of a delightful black eye -curtsy of yours truly- glares right back.

(Unfortunately, six years or not, Judo practise isn't the best when there's more than one opponent working against you. Still, I made it hell for the crazies. And Kagome said she didn't want to sign up with me!)

"Hey! Why are we tied up?" Kagome demands, struggling against her bindings.

"Just you wait until we call the cops," I growl.

The crowd around us, people of all various degrees of dirty, and all dressed like peasants, mutter amongst themselves.

"Two strangely dressed girls!" one comments.

"From a foreign land?" another guesses.

"Will there be another war?"

"Just before rice-planting season? We're so short-handed as it is!"

"Perhaps they are foxes in disguise?" A mom, holding a newborn to her chest, wonders to the heavy women standing next to her.

"Better a shape-shifter than another war."

"Make way for the High Priestess Kaede!" Someone one announces, and immediately the crowd parts for an old, wrinkly and short lady with an eye patch and dressed in a priestess get-up to wobble through.

She passes a bow to a man next to her, and then reaches into her small bag to sprinkle something on us.

It instantly itches my nose, and I sneeze. "Oi!"

"Hey, what are you doing!" Kagome demands, moving her head to avoid the stuff while coughing.

"You crazy old bat!" I add, spiting, the fire to my anger blazing to new heights.

Ignoring my words, she says; "I was told that a couple of yokai were found in Inuyasha's Forest. I thought a purification was in order."

I repeat: they are all off their rockers!

"Do we look like yokai to you!?" I demand hotly. "Maybe you and your friends should get your eyes checked! Now, let us go already!" 'So that I kick your asses and lock them behind bars for assault and kidnapping!'

"Yeah!" Kagome agrees loudly. "Let us go! We didn't do anything!"

"Could they be foreign spies?" The guy holding the old crone's bow asks soberly.

"Yes, but to spy on what?" she counters. "We can barely feed ourselves in this village."

'Thank you!'

The old woman -Kaede, wasn't that her name?- pauses when she turns back to us, staring intently at Kagome's face. "You there, let me take a good look at your face." Kaede grabs Kagome's jaw and hangs on when Kagome jerks back.

"Oi, let my sister go!" I try to shove my way forward, but the man next to Kaede drops the bow to hold me back. "Don't touch me!" I snap at him, attempting to bite his sweaty, grimy hands, but he positions his hands and I in a way I can't.

'I am so taking a class on how to escape binding when we're home! And signing Kagome up too, whether she finds it boring or not!'

"Such a likeness...To my sister Kikyo..." Kaede murmurs to herself, before straightening and letting Kagome go.

The guy holding me also backs off, but not before I manage a kick to his shin.

"Here," Kaede offers a wooden bowl of stew to both Kagome and myself.

"This looks delicious!" Kagome comments, smiling. "Thank you!"

I remain silent, the hot bowl warming my cold hands and lap, as I watch Kaede closely and suspiciously.

"Don't be rude, Shika!" Kagome hisses in my ear quietly, jabbing me in the ribs with her elbow.

I frown, shifting an inch away from her and her bony elbows, but stay tight-lipped. Because the way I see it, after being assaulted and kidnapped out of nowhere, we have absolutely no reason to trust anyone in this village. Nor owe them our gratitude. Never mind the old woman who claims that Kagome is a mirror image of her own dead sister, fifty years ago.

Honestly, feeding us dinner is the least they can do for all of the trouble they caused us. (And I wouldn't even let Kagome enjoy the stew, much less eat it myself, if I hadn't watch Kaede make it from scratch myself. Wouldn't put poisoning pass these lunatics...)

"You say you are...'Fraternal' twins, yes?" Kaede muses, looking between Kagome and I.

"Yes," I respond tightly, clutching my bowl closer. "Two eggs, two sperm."

While Kagome and I share our dark hair, the shape of our eyes, our turn-up nose, and the colour of our skin, that's where our similarities end. I take after our European father more than Sota and Kagome do, so unlike their hazel eyes I have bright green, have more defined cheekbones, and stand three inches taller than Kagome. Also, I'm a cup size bigger. (A fact that Kagome whines and bemoans about often.)

Kaede nods, stirring the pot before. "Please forgive us," she says, "With so many wars these days...Our young men have become rash. Even if I tell them we've no business with wars, they refuse to listen and only give me more grief."

'Rash? Rash!? That's what you call it?!' I bite my cheek, taking a sip of my dinner and swallowing the scathing words on the tip of my tongue. But only because Kagome and I need to find our way back home, and as much as I loathe it, Kaede and the rest of the villagers might be our best bet yet. Better let kind, forgiving Kagome keep the civil relationship for now.

'They should all go see a therapist, with how trigger happy I've experienced them to be and how you say they are...'

"This, uh, isn't Tokyo, is it?" Kagome says sheepishly.

Bewildered, Kaede turns and blinks at Kagome owlishly. "'Tokyo'?" she repeats. "I've never heard of such a place. Is that your homeland?"

With a sinking, dreadful feeling, I wonder where in hell we ended up at.

'Definitely kicking the cat when I'm home. Fat bastard.'

"Yes, well..." Kagome trails off awkwardly. "We'd like to go home soon, right, Shika?"

"Right," I force a smile. "You wouldn't have any idea where-"

I'm suddenly interrupted by a loud crash, and several ear-piecing screams. Faster than I thought her capable of, Kaede bolts out of the small hut, like a bat straight out of hell. Kagome and I share a frightened, wide-eyed look before following her.

'Dear Kami...' I gape at the utter destruction before me, the fallen huts, the dust clouds, the unmoving bodies on the ground, the slithering centipede monster-

What happens next, I'm not completely sure. Everything happens so fast, and with my heart hammering so loudly, my blood rushing through my ears, and the adrenaline coursing through my veins -well, it's all blur, more or less.

The centipede monster, the same one from in the Well, spots us, and dives straight for Kagome and I. Naturally, we run for our fucking lives -pass the green yard, across the dirt bridge, and over the small hill where the Scared Tree is, where the centipede monster almost catches us and the aftershocks send Kagome and I flying.

I feel only a slight pain on my shoulder, hip, and head before I'm coughing and scrambling to my feet again. 'Wooh...' I blink, head swimming and with black dots dancing in my vision as I stumble a step or two back.

Where-Kagome '-Is the white haired boy alive?!'

"Kikyo? Kikyo? Who's this Kikyo?!" Kagome narrows her eyes at the very much alive and breathing, although no less pinned white haired boy, hands on hips as she stands before him, and about thirty feet away from me.

I must have missed something. Like, a lot of somethings. Because since when could dead bodies not-not be dead, and he's glaring at her like-

Oh, Kami, where is the centipede monster!? Is this really the right time to be arguing with anyone right now?!

"You listen here, my name is-"

"She's coming," the boy announces, sounding almost bored.

What- "KAGOME!" I scream, horrified to my core, and stricken in place as the centipede monster bursts out of the treetop and makes a swipe for her.

"AAHH!"

Flying arrows zoom past, stabbing and taking hold of the centipede monster.

"All right! Heave!" The arriving villagers shout, grabbing their rope taut and dragging the monster away from my fallen twin.

My knees buckle from under me from the sheer amount of relief, and I mentally take back every negative thing I've said about the villagers.

The white haired boy says something to Kagome, which pisses her off, but it's all useless buzzing in my ears-

My eyes widen, catching the fraying rope-

"KAGOME!" I shriek, my body moving before my mind can pick up speed and I rush forwards, pushing her down as someone -something- grabs me, before hauling me high, high off the ground.

"Get out of my way!" the centipede monster speeches in my face, before I'm air-born again when I'm thrown.

The last thing I hear before I black out from the pain, besides the loud ringing in my ears, is someone screaming my name.

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