Chapter 32

The most troublesome heirloom





"You're dead." Inuyasha said bluntly. Mai stared at him for a longer while.

"I'm alive." She answered, feeling awkward. She was sitting here, sound and safe, and very much alive, right? So what was he talking about? Kagome tried to silence the hanyou, but she shrugged her efforts off.

"I mean the you here." He explained. Mai tilted her head, confused. She here? Then the wheels of her mind turned and she paled as she realized, what he could mean.

"Kagome, where's the princess?" she asked her friend. Kagome looked at Mai and bit her lower lip, hesitating to answer.

"You see, Mai, she's dead." She uttered finally.

"Dead?" Mai repeated. The information didn't soak in. Kagome took a deep breath.
"She got hit by a truck. We all were on your funeral a month ago."

Mai sat still for a while, processing what Kagome just said. She managed to stay alive in a hostile world – the demons attacked her, she was even kidnapped by one – and that idiot princess managed to get herself hit by a truck? Seriously?

"Okay." Mai replied slowly. "So I can't go back to school now?"
Kagome shook her head and looked at Mai with pity.

"Sorry, but no. You're officially dead – they did the DNA-test, you got death certificate, funeral and all, so if you walk into the school, you'll be like a zombie."

Mai stared at Kagome, trying to comprehend, what it meant. Dead. She suffered so much to go back here only to discover, that she is officially dead in this world. And to think, that she was worrying about grades right now.

"What am I going to do now?" Mai sighed heavily, resting her head on her hands. She felt a terrible headache approaching. Mrs. Higurashi gently patted her shoulder and offered an encouraging smile.

"Mai, you are welcome to stay with us. We'll be happy to have you around." She said. Souta and grandpa Higurashi nodded vigorously.

"Going back to the feudal era is a no." Kagome decided.

"Sesshomaru would kill her." Inuyasha agreed. Mai thought, that returning to the feudal era wouldn't be so bad, given the circumstances, but the hanyou was right. If she went back there, she would be literally dead – and she didn't like the idea.

"So, I am to sit here and hide like the Jews from Nazis during World War II?" Mai asked. Kagome nodded.

"Pretty much." The black-haired girl told her. Mai moaned with despair. She was totally miserable now. Goodbye Tokyo University, goodbye normal life. Being officially dead she won't be able to do anything here – go to school, work, marry, nothing. Apparently she wasn't the one who realized it – the Higurashi family was looking at her with pity, what made Mai only feel worse. Fortunately, Kagome's mother broke the awkward silence.

"Mai, I've prepared a room for you. It's small, but I hope you'll like it. Kagome, why don't you show it to Mai?" she said with a smile. Kagome nodded quickly and grabbed Mai's hand, ushering her upstairs. Inuyasha was about to follow them, but Kagome sent him a scary look and hanyou gave up, scared of another "osuwari".

Kagome led Mai upstairs and showed her a little room. It was a storage room previously, but Mrs. Higurashi decorated it in very girlish style. Everything was cute, much like in Kagome's room. Mai noticed, that there was a lot of books on the shelves.

"Grandpa and I thought, that you'll like them." Said Kagome sitting on the bed, as Mai was going through the tomes. "And about the situation, I know it sucks, but we'll think of something."
Mai looked at her.

"Like what?" she asked.

"I think, that it would be best for you to go back to the feudal era." Kagome stated, looking for any signs of protest. Mai rolled her eyes.

"Sesshomaru is there. And he was quite angry at me when I left." She reminded the friend.

"I know." Kagome replied. "You have to stay here till we figure out how to prevent him from tracking you down. Meanwhile, you just have to tell me everything!"
Kagome coaxed into telling her the whole story with every little details. Mai sat down and both girl started giggling, as they exchanged their stories. Suddenly, everything seemed normal, as if nothing had happened.



Two months later

Mai slowly got used to the new lifestyle. She was basically a prisoner in the Higurashi Shrine – she went out rarely, always like undercover, avoiding people's looks, as she was hiding from her classmates, the teachers and everyone, she knew. However, there were also good points – she could go to the cinema, was bathing in the tub filled with hot water every day and sleep in a comfortable bed. She had an opportunity to read so many books, that she didn't remember reading so much ever in her entire life.

Mai regretted seeing Kagome so rarely. Her friend was always in a hurry, running between school and the well. When they had a chance to talk, Kagome kept her informed about Naraku and basically everything, what happened, when she was away. Inuyasha also came by from time to time. Mai managed to keep friendly relations with the hanyou. They still kept arguing a lot, but not in a hostile way. She guessed, that it couldn't be helped, considering, that both she and Inuyasha had a fiery temper. Between Kagome's visits Mai couldn't help, but feel lonely. She didn't even realize how quickly two months passed since she came back from the feudal era.

The girl sighed and closed, the book she was reading. She rolled of the bed and went downstairs looking for someone from Kagome's family. Her friend was today on this side of well and was still in school. Mai looked around, but no one could be seen in the house. She decided to check the shrine. The girl went out and heard voices in the storage house. She peeked inside.

"Hey, what's going on?" she asked, as she saw Kagome's mother, Souta and grandpa Higurashi.

"We are airing the sword." Answered Kagome's mother with a smile. Mai looked inside and, indeed, saw the very same sword, she and grandpa were arguing a few months ago.

"Oh, Souunga?" she said, coming closer. Grandpa Higurashi narrowed his eyes at her.
"It is called Murakumo no Tsurugi!" the old man insisted.

"No, I say it's Souunga." Mai didn't give up.

"Murakumo no Tsurugi!"

"Souunga!"

The Souta shouted.

"The sword bit me!" the boy stepped away from the sword. Mai folded her arms and eyed the boy with suspicion. Mrs. Higurashi didn't believe the boy either.

And then the sword spoke. Mai jumped back from surprise. Damn, why the old man kept those kind of things at all? The mysterious voice said, that it was sealing the blade and announced, that a seven hundred years old seal is finally about to break. It spoke something about youkai and trouble, before the sword levitated from its original place and simply flew away.

"It's gone." Souta commented.

"Our family heirloom!" grandpa Higurashi started wailing. Kagome's mother only smiled.

"This is going to be a trouble." Said Mai, wondering where did the sword go. The girl glared at the old man, who kept wailing. "By the way, grandpa, where do you get all those dangerous things from?"

Souta tugged her shirt.

"Did you hear about the Noh-mask?" he asked. Mai shook her head. Kagome's little brother ushered the girl back into the house, telling her about yet another grandpa's artifact, that caused havoc – although Mai wasn't really surprised. The old man and Mrs. Higurashi followed them. They started chatting in living room, when Souta suddenly remembered, that he left his schoolbag outside.

"I'm going with you. I must stretch my legs." Mai offered and went after the boy. They crossed the yard, when the girl noticed a familiar figure. The red-clad hanyou was rushing towards the well house, so right in their direction. Mai smiled and lifted her hand to wave to him, but the smile fell from her face. Something was not right. As Inuyasha approached them, she saw the sword from the shrine! The half-demon held it… no, it seemed rather that it was attached to his arm by some vines. Mai instinctively grabbed Souta's shoulder and shoved the boy behind herself. She moved from the hanyou's way and ushered Souta to do the same.

"Inuyasha?" she called unsurely. The half demon stopped and turned to them. Mai gasped and made a step back, when she saw his face. The fangs were twice as long as usual, his eyes were blazing red and on his cheeks appeared jagged purple demon markings. Inuyasha emitted the furious growl. The hand with the sword moved on its own, but he held it in place.

"Run." He hissed through the clenched teeth. He didn't have to say it twice. Mai grabbed Souta's hand and darted to the house. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw Inuyasha running to the well house. She stormed into the house and locked the door.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Souta, panting. Mai shook her head.

"No idea." She responded. In fact, she suspected that it was the influence of the sword. Maybe he got possessed or something like that. She looked out from the window and saw Kagome running to the well house. Not good! If she runs into Inuyasha now, she may get hurt.

"Stay here." Mai told Souta and ran after Kagome. She managed to catch up with her friend by the well house. Kagome was about to jump in, when Mai grabbed firmly back of her blouse. Startled Kagome turned her head.

"Mai, let me go. I have to go after him!" she insisted, but Mai was still gripping her.

"You're not going anywhere. He can kill you now!" Mai tried to talk some sense into her friend, as she pulled her away from the well, just to make sure Kagome won't do anything stupid. "Cool your head and go after him later."

The black-haired girl sighed heavily and stepped toward the entrance to the building. Mai let go of her blouse.

"I guess you're right. I'll go tomorrow." She said finally and, sending the last worried look at the well, went with Mai to the house.

Later Mai managed to get Kagome spill the beans about what happened and so the girl learned about the destructive power of Souunga. The next day, everyone stood up before dawn and went to the well house to say goodbye to Kagome.

"Be careful." Mai said, as Kagome's mother helped her daughter with the yellow backpack. Kagome nodded and jumped into the feudal era. Mai looked at the empty bottom of the well for a while and followed the Higurashi family to the house.