Reversed Roles

Chapter One – Life At The Shrine

September 25/2006

By Crow Skywalker

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Disclaimer – I don't own Inuyasha or the characters in this fanfic, nor do I claim to. I am in no way making money off of this, just bowing the characters and the plot to entertain myself for a while.

Author's Notes – It's been a couple of um..years..since I last updated this fic. I thought I'd start with a re-write to the first chapter, and there will hopefully be more to follow afterwards. Not much has been changed, but you might as well re-read it just the same. Sorry about being so crappy with the whole updating this…but I do work 40+ hours a week, and I don't spend as much time on the computer as I used to.

Other Things – This will be Inuyasha/Kagome in the future. There will be Kagome/Sesshomaru references as well. Also, probably some Sango/Miroku thrown in there in future chapters.

Summary - Roles are switched, and Inuyasha releases the hanyou Kagome, who's been sealed to a tree for 50 years. When the Shikon no Tama is broken, they're forced to work together to find the shards before evil does.

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It was night, and a full moon hung low in the star filled sky. The summer's warmth was almost unbearable, even in the late hour, and the smell of burning buildings could be smelt for miles in the air.

She ran, her ears tuned into her surroundings and her eyes darting everywhere as she let her senses guide her. Trees whipped at her face as she dodged through the forest, making scratches across her face. The smell of blood was almost as strong as the smell of the fire she'd just left behind.

Her heart thudding heavily in her chest, she was started as a lone crow cawed in the night, taking off somewhere to her right and flying off into the darkness of the night. In her fright, she stopped, one hand raised in front of her, her claws ready and her eyes narrowed. Realizing that the crow was no threat to her, she took off once more, one thought running through her mind: he's coming!

She took a sharp left, hoping to lose him in the dense forest, but knowing deep down that he would still be able to track her. Taking in a deep breath through her highly sensitive nose, she deciphered each scent around her until she could smell him, and only him.

Damn it! She growled to herself, He's still following me!

"I'm not giving up!" She called into the darkness, jumping over a fallen log that was in her path. She didn't stop for a not one second, continuing to run, her right hand clenching the object in her hand tightly.

I have what I've always wanted. She rolled the object between her fingers, keeping it secure at all times. She could hardly believe she finally had it, after all this time. She stopped rolling it, clenching her fist around it tightly once more. If only he hadn't gotten in my way in the first place!

In the darkness, her eyes glowed red with rage as she thought about him; though they also showed something else that nobody could see: hurt and betrayal.

Stupid, stupid me for ever trusting that filthy human! She dodged another log, landing hard on her feet on the other side of it. Using the Shikon no Tama to turn human? She screwed up her nose and made a disgusted face. Ha! Like I'd ever go through with it and do such a thing!

Bursting through the foliage, she hesitated as she found herself in a clearing. A large tree stood in the middle of it, its roots gnarled so that it looked like a monster in the night. Her hesitation was only for a moment and she started to run once again, but someone shouting her name caught her off guard. She turned.

He was standing behind her, his white hair blowing in the warm breeze and his clothes drenched in blood. He held his sword in one hand, and his eyes were narrowed at her, his face emotionless, as always.

"Kagome," he said quietly, and if it weren't for her superior hearing she was sure she would have never heard it. She watched as he shifted his sword and in one swift motion, it was flying at her. She had no time to move and she watched in horror as it went through her chest, causing her to fly backwards. It embedded itself into the big tree, pinning her to it. With wide eyes she stared down at the sword, which was glowing in the darkness. Slowly, blood began to drip to the ground below her.

"Die." The man stated in that same quiet voice, and Kagome looked up at him in time to see him fall to his knees, his hand clenching his injured shoulder. Suddenly, the sword within her glowed brighter, and pain laced through her body.

"Sesshomaru.." She gritted her teeth, the object in her hand falling to the ground beneath her as she tried to reach for the hilt of the sword. However, it burned her flesh as she tried to touch it, and in her frustration she yelled, "You bastard!"

From where he kneeled on the ground, the man named Sesshomaru watched as the woman that he had once thought he had loved slowly died, sealed to the tree for eternity.

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"And it's a beautiful day out today!" A voice announced, "The air's warm, the flowers are in full bloom, the birds are singing, and it's going to be a high of-" The voice was suddenly cut off when a boy angrily reached for the television remote on the table next to him and switched it off. With an angry scowl he slumped back down on the couch, staring at the now black screen of the television.

"Why don't you go outside for a while, Inuyasha?" His mother asked from the kitchen where she was busy washing dishes left over from dinner. She'd been cleaning the house all day, and was beginning to get annoyed at her son for being in the way of her cleaning. "You've been sitting on that couch since you got up this morning!"

"There's nothing to do," was his answer as he looked at her over the back of the couch. He watched as his mother wiped the sweat from her forehead before she turned to him, giving him a look.

"Why don't you take your sister to the park?" She suggested. "I'm sure Rin would really like that."

Inuyasha frowned, slumping down further on the couch as he crossed his arms. "Keh! I have much better things to do."

His mother frowned at the top of his head. "But you were just saying that you had nothing to do.."

Getting up from the couch with a sigh, Inuyasha brushed his messy black hair over his shoulder as he replied, "I'll find something."

He made his way to the fridge and, bending low, opened the door to check to see if anything new had magically appeared there since the last time he checked. No luck. With a scowl, he closed the door and went to get himself a glass of water.

Izayoi watched him, a frown suddenly appearing across her young face as she realized something. "Where is Rin, anyway? I haven't seen her in quite a few hours. I hope she isn't out getting into trouble."

Inuyasha shook his head, setting the empty glass in the dish filled sink. "Probably out listening to Myoga tell stupid stories again," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"Inuyasha," Izayoi said with a scolding tone. "Why must you call your grandfather by name? Why can't you be more like Rin and call him grandpa?" She picked up Inuyasha's glass, quickly giving it a wash and a rinse down before setting it with the other clean dishes to dry. "I know he hasn't always been around much…"

Inuyasha interrupted her before she could say anymore. "Because I'm seventeen, mom, and Rin doesn't realize how embarrassing the guy is. He's always telling stories that aren't true, and Rin believes every word. And then, when it comes time to do chores, he runs off with Rin so I'm left to do them all." He sighed. "Rin can sit there for hours listening to his stories, so he gets out of doing anything you ask him to do. Meanwhile, I get stuck with all the work. He's lazy, and he's a coward."

Inuyasha's mother looked thoughtful for a second. "That reminds me, I asked him to sweep the steps this morning. They've been starting to get quite a bit dusty, and there are weeds growing in between the stones." She looked out the window as she pulled the sink plug. "Looks like he didn't do as I asked. Inuyasha-" She turned to face him only to find him already standing in the doorway, broom in hand and a scowl on his face. With an apologetic smile she asked, "Sweep the steps for me, please?"

"See what I mean?" He growled under his breath as he left the kitchen to find his shoes. He found his shoes by the front door and, while he put them on, he mentally cursed on his old grandfather. Stupid Myoga…always running off when there's work to be done!

The news had been right – it was a beautiful and sunny day outside. The air was fresh and warm, and a slight breeze rustled the leaves on the nearby trees. However, Inuyasha noticed none of this as he stepped outside, his teeth clenched tightly as he made his way across the yard and down the Shrine's steps, broom still in hand. Starting at the bottom, he swept each and every step, making his way up with his anger growing with each dirty step.

This was how his family worked, with him always doing all of the hard work. His grandfather was the one who owned the old Shrine, and when Inuyasha's father had passed away a few years earlier, Inuyasha and his mother and his little sister had been forced to move in with the old man. His mother was a frail woman who couldn't support two children on her own, and with the death of her husband, she couldn't stand to be alone. She had moved in with Myoga despite Inuyasha's protests. Life had been nothing but an annoyance since then.

Having finished the steps, he walked back towards the house, glad to be finally done. He almost groaned out loud as his mother poked her head out the window upon seeing him and, with a cherry voice, called, "And don't forget to sweep that dirty well house!"

With a sigh he lowered his head and turned towards the side of the house where a shed-like building stood. He didn't quite understand why the old building was there, because there was nothing in it but an old dried up well. Myoga had once tried to warn him about demons and ogres and the like, but Inuyasha never listened to anything the old man had to say. It was only an old dusty well that was probably starting to fall apart – so why the hell did he have to sweep it? It wasn't like anyone had gone in there in years, anyway.

Opening the old door to the well house - which creaked loudly and Inuyasha thought it might fall off its hinges – he was suddenly proved wrong as he saw a familiar figure standing in the darkness, leaning over the edge of the well and trying to see into its dark depths.

"Rin," he growled, and the young girl was started enough to almost fall in. He watched as she scrambled backwards, her hands going behind her back as she looked at him almost innocently. "What did mom say about coming in here? This place is off limits!"

Ignoring everything he'd just said, Rin looked at the well from the corner of her eye and asked, "Is the well really haunted, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha almost laughed in reply. The old fool has been telling her ghost stories again, I see, he mused. Setting the broom against the doorframe, he moved into the darkness of the well house to stand next to his little sister. With an amused snort he said, "There's no such thing as ghosts, Rin."

"Vampires?" She asked next, and he shook his head. "How about werewolves?"

"It's all myths and legends. None of that stuff is real," Inuyasha answered, crossing his arms in front of him.

"What about demons?" She asked.

Inuyasha frowned at her. "Didn't I just say-"

"Not real, I know," she finished for him with a roll of her eyes.

Inuyasha couldn't help it. He reached down and ruffled her dark hair and she giggled, squirming to get away from him.

When he finally stopped, she pouted, "Inuyasha! You messed up my hair!"

"Hey," he smiled down at her, "I'm your big brother…it's my job to annoy you and mess up your hair!"

Rin stuck out her tongue in reply.

"So that's why you're here, huh?" He moved away from her to peer down the well, seeing nothing but the darkness. "Looking for fairytale creatures in the old well house?"

"Inuyasha!" Rin suddenly gasped. She was instantly at his side and pulling at his sleeve. "Don't get too close!"

"And why not?" He asked her, turning towards his younger sister and grabbing hold of her and tickling her. She laughed, pulling at his hair in defense as she tried to get away from him. He didn't let go, and she was almost in tears from laughing so much.

"Stop!" She managed to gasp out in between breaths. "You can't get too close because Grandpa told me that if you get too close, a demon will come up and eat you!"

Inuyasha stopped tickling her, frowning down at her before looking back at the well. He's been feeding her more of those stories again, and now she's afraid of that damn old well!

"There's nothing down in the well, Rin," he told her softly, taking one of her small hands in his and leading her closer to the well. "Just watch and I'll prove it to you!" He let go of her hands and swung one leg over the side of the well before swinging his other leg over so that he was fully sitting on the old wood of the well, his legs dangling into the darkness.

"Inuyasha!" Rin gasped, stepping forward, her eyes wide. "What're you doing?"

He turned his head to give her an arrogant smile. "Proving to you once and for all that there are no monsters, and Myoga's dumb stories are fake." That said, he let go of the edge and fell into the darkness of the well.

He landed with a 'thump', his knees bent so that he could manage to land on both feet without hurting himself too much. Above him, Rin was screaming his name in worry, trying to see him through the darkness.

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha? Are you okay?" She called down to him.

"I'm fine!" He yelled in reply, looking up with her with a proud smirk that he knew she couldn't see, "And there's nothing down here but dirt!"

She was silent for a moment before she asked in a small voice, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," He sighed in irritation, "Now go get me a ladder…I don't think I can get out of here by myself!" He yelled back, suddenly realizing how stupid it had been of him to jump down an old well that he should have known he couldn't get out of. But that was just the way he was – act first, think about it later. With a sigh he sat down, his legs crossed, and waited for Rin to return with a ladder. Well, at least she has that crazy idea of monsters being down here out of her head!

The sound of something heavy being dragged across old floorboard and dirt alerted to him that Rin had returned with the ladder. By the sounds of it she was having difficulties, which wasn't surprising.

"Oi! Hurry up!" He yelled as he crossed his arms. "It's cold down here!"

"Hold on!" Her voice came from somewhere up above. "This thing is heavy!"

Inuyasha sighed with impatience, closing his eyes as he waited for Rin to rescue him. Unnoticed to him, the floor beneath him started to light up and glow, and long boney fingers reached up out of the floor. As an eerie feeling settled in the pit of his stomach, Inuyasha frowned, his eyes still closed.

"Rin?" He called, wondering why there were no more sounds coming from above him.

"I-Inuyasha?" A voice answered after a moment of silence. She sounded frightened, and Inuyasha's eyes snapped open to look up at her. She was staring back at him, a horrified expression upon her face. He was about to ask her what her problem was when she screamed, "Behind you!"

He turned his head, finally noticing that the floor below him was glowing bright with color, and a now fully emerged demon-like creature was standing behind him, her huge body curling around her as she reached towards him with a slow hiss.

"What the fuck-" Was all he could manage before cold boney fingers wrapped around his body and pulled him down through the glowing floor.

From above, Rin watched in terror, and she didn't snap out of it until the glowing floor faded and left nothing but the darkness. Suddenly panic hit her as she realized Inuyasha was gone, and he had been wrong the whole time – there were monsters in the well house!

"Grandpa!" She suddenly screamed, running from the well house and almost tripping over the ladder she had long since abandoned on the floor. "Grandpa! You were right! There really are demons in the well!"

To Be Continued…