Title: Convergence

Summary: For two years, Kagome has carefully balanced her lives in both the present and the Sengoku Jidai. She thought she had down fairly well. She thought that, after all this time, no one could suspect a thing. She never guessed that both lives were about to crash headlong into each other… Strange pairings ensue. Definitely an AU ending.

Pairings: I'm not entirely sure at this point, but almost definitely not canon. Especially not for Sango. Or Kagome. Both of them have two non-canon choices, but it's up to the characters to tell me who. You may, however, offer opinions… Reviews are almost as good as chocolate.

Rating: PG-13. Subject to change, as I cannot be held accountable for Inuyasha's language. And an over-active imagination that is probably a distant cousin of Miroku's.

Disclaimer: I thought that the term fanfiction was self-explanatory, but nooooo. Pesky lawyers. Here goes—I do not own Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi (and associated corporations/companies?) owns him and the imaginary world he and the other characters (also created by Rumiko Takahashi) come from. What a shock. All I can claim is the fanfic idea—and someone's probably had this one before me, too. Darn it.

A/N: Well, today this idea came up and smacked me in the face. I could not ignore such effrontery, so I chained it to the page with my keyboard. All mistakes are my own, and I apologize for them. Please, please tell me what they are, (hopefully not non-existent) readers.

Chapter One: All Fall Down

Ayumi was normally a very careful person. She was a firm believer in thinking before you spoke. She planned, she prepared, and she was never impulsive. Sure, she was shallow. But she was deliberate about it. So Yuka and Eri's shock on that fateful Wednesday in their third year of high school was understandable.

"You want to what?" Yuka looked at Ayumi like she had proposed they danced naked on the rooftop at noon. Ayumi restrained the urge to snarl at her. She was also of the opinion that patience was not a virtue.

Ayumi reiterated. Eri and Yuka did their best impressions of fish drowning on air.

"B-but we can't," Eri protested feebly. Ayumi heaved a sigh.

"We can. And we will."

Yuka shook her head stubbornly. "We'll get into trouble! And anyway, there's no reason to—we'd only disturb her."

Ayumi hauled her two very dense friends around the corner into an alley, out of sight of their school and their classmates heading towards it, by their elbows. She peeked her head out briefly, checking for anyone within earshot, and then retreated back into the dim, quiet space between the buildings. She planted her hands on her hips and fixed them with her sternest look. The other two girls shrank back almost imperceptibly.

"We won't disturb her, because she probably will not be there!" She ignored their confused, disbelieving stares and forged on. "Last month it was dysentery; last week, neuralgia, and this week it's West Nile. Not only is it impossible for one person to be sick so much with so many strange diseases, there are no mosquitoes in winter!"

Eri chewed on her lip and Yuka just blinked. Ayumi, to her credit, did not scream in frustration. Maybe, along with their tongues, all those boys had sucked their brains down their throats. She could have sworn they weren't this stupid at fifteen.

Complain less; explain more, she told her self resolutely. If she was going to skip school and a History exam, she wasn't going to do it alone. Never mind that missing the exam wouldn't actually bother her—chemistry and math were much more important than boring dead feudal lords.

"She's lying, or her grandfather is, so she can go sneak off with her boyfriend. It's the only explanation that makes any sort of sense." The other two girls looked troubled, reluctant. Ayumi did not knock their heads together—violence would not accomplish anything in this situation. "We have to stop her. We wouldn't be her friends if we didn't. What will she do if she flunks out of school?" Ayumi hurried on at the sight of Eri's expression, fearing comments about rich young men. Or old men, for that matter. "Her boyfriend obviously doesn't care about her at all."

"Well…" Eri said.

Ayumi went in for the kill. "And think of what she's doing to poor, devoted Hojou-kun!"

It worked, as she'd been almost certain it would—whatever else they were, her friends weren't predictable. Their faces cleared, and Ayumi almost sagged with relief. Finally, she was going to get answers!

"We'll do it." Yuka's voice dared anyone to argue with her, as if it had been her idea all along. Ayumi hid a grin. "We have to help Kagome-chan."

Eri nodded firmly. Ayumi linked her arms through theirs.

"Well then, let's get going before it gets any colder!" She smiled brightly, defying the weather. She loved when things went her way.

The three Japanese girls hurried off, huddled together against the bite of winter, towards Higurashi Shrine—and an answer that was decidedly different from anything Ayumi could possibly have anticipated.

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Kagome rushed about her room distractedly, effortlessly avoiding crumpled socks and precarious stacks of books that were arranged haphazardly around the room. She stuffed her yellow backpack resting on her bed almost full to bursting, adding the pile of instant ramen packages on her desk last. She struggled with the clasps, and nearly collapsed in relief when they finally, grudgingly, fastened. The seams threatened to split, but Kagome was happy.

She was ready to go! Maybe once, just this once, she'd be back before Inuyasha came to fetch her. There would be no yelling, no accusations, and no sitting this time. She heaved the bulging monstrosity onto her shoulders and staggered down the stairs, out of the house, to the back of the shrine. She focused on the ground and not falling over. One… foot… in… front… of… another…

She was so concentrated on walking that she did not notice one figure dart in front of her to stand directly in front of the well, where her path and the wide open doors obviously indicated she was heading. Nor did she notice the two figures "sneaking" not very quietly behind her. Kagome could be extremely single-minded.

She only noticed the figure in front of the well a step away from smacking into her.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Ayumi demanded. Only her two years hiding silently from deadly demons in the Sengoku Jidai prevented Kagome from screeching like Eri when she'd spotted a spider. That is, very, very, very loudly.

"Er—I'm going to… I mean—that is, I…" she trailed off helplessly. A sudden, fervent wish for Miroku to be here, now, assailed her. Why did the only credible liar of the group have to be five hundred years to early to help her? Kagome sagged. She was most definitely doomed.

" Where are you going? Why are you in here with that backpack?" Ayumi's glare pinned her to the spot. Her voice was accusing, and slightly shrill. "We know you're not sick! How long have you been lying? Were you ever sick? Is your boyfriend going to meet you here? How—" Kagome stopped listening. She was beginning to get a headache. What was she going to do? Inuyasha would be here any minute!

She tuned back in as Ayumi's voice grew softer, almost consoling. And almost laughed out loud.

"Is he hurting you—making you do things? You can trust us. We can help!" She knew Ayumi meant it, she really did. But she just couldn't do this now.

Kagome tried to dodge around her. "Ayumi-chan, move. You need to go now."

Ayumi stepped in front of her, but when a reply came, it was from behind her.

"We aren't going anywhere. This has got to stop, Kagome." She felt like beating her head against the wall in frustration. Why did they have to—to stage an intervention now? Three concerned friends were going to be much harder to convince than one. Of course Ayumi would bring back up. She wouldn't try to trap Kagome on her own.

Suddenly, guilt hit Kagome with the force of a speeding train. She wasn't being fair. These girls had been her friends since she could barely speak, and they were only trying to help. A little late, admittedly, but it was the thought that counted. And it wasn't as if she had been anything remotely resembling honest with them since her fifteenth birthday. She didn't deserve their loyalty, really.

Kagome met Ayumi's gaze solidly, her eyes pleading. "Look, I'll explain everything when I get back, I promise. But I have to go, now."

Slowly, Ayumi shook her head. "I can't let you do that."

Just as Kagome opened her mouth to protest, disaster struck. The well flared with holy energy and Ayumi tensed.

"Oy, wench, what's—hey, who're they?" Ayumi shrieked and whirled around…or tried to. Her foot caught on something and she lost her balance. She fell—directly into the well. Eri and Yuka screamed.

Kagome fairly threw herself after her, desperate to keep her friend out of the well. She misjudged the weight of her evil backpack, and overbalanced, falling practically on top of Ayumi and grabbing hold of her waist. Inuyasha, who had been perched on the far rim of the well, grabbed for them, but he was too surprised to properly anchor himself and tumbled after them. His hand was still fisted around the material of both girls' uniforms.

The holy well flared pink again, and the three were hurtled centuries into the past to the sound of hysterical shrieking.

A/N 2: Review, please. Tell me what you hated, as well as what you liked. Or just type gibberish to tell me that you read it..?