Chapter 33

An unexpected trip





Since Kagome left for the feudal era, Mai and the members of Higurashi family were taking turns in sitting by the well, waiting for the girl's return. Kagome was always in danger during her trips to the other side, but this time it was different – the sword could destroy the world. Even Kagome's mother looked worried.

Mai flipped the page, waiting for Souta to take his turn. Somehow she couldn't concentrate on reading. Her thoughts were circling around the issue of Kagome's safety and Inuyasha's too – although she doubted, that anything could kill the stubborn guy. Then Mai remembered, that in that world was another person, she cared about – a girl called Rin. She really missed the kid – during the time in feudal era Mai got attached to the cheerful child and now she was in danger as well. Mai furrowed her eyebrows and clenched her fists. Better that bastard Sesshomaru be watching Rin properly. Mai won't forgive him, if anything bad happens to the kid. Or even Jaken. Or Ah-Un. Actually any reason would be good enough to hate that arrogant jerk. The girl was so busy thinking about certain dog demon, that she didn't notice neither that she was making funny sounds nor Souta standing in the doorway.

"Mai?" the boy looked at her awkwardly. Mai turned her head abruptly and smiled at him sheepishly.

"Ah… Hello, Souta." She said. The boy sighed, closed the door to the well house and sat beside her. For a longer while both of them were sitting in silence, staring at the old well.

"Mai…" Souta finally broke the silence. "What were you thinking just now?"

"Nothing really. I was just worried about my friend, a little girl." She answered. Souta looked at her with doubt, like he didn't buy, what she just said.

"Did you think about a boy?" he asked straightforwardly.

"Don't be stupid. Of course not." She answered quickly, maybe too quickly, because Souta didn't seem to drop the subject and decided to inquire further.

"Sis has the same face, when she is thinking about Inuyasha. Do you like the boy, you were thinking about?"

Mai looked at the him abruptly. The boy had an innocent face. The girl cursed, as she felt that she was blushing – against her will, of course. Who in their right mind would blush at the mention of Sesshomaru?!

"The man tried to kill me. Of course I don't like him." Mai exclaimed angrily. Souta's face expression changed to surprised, but then smiled at the girl and patted her shoulder.

"Inuyasha tried to kill sis when they first met too." The boy said in a comforting tone. Mai stared at him. Inuyasha tried to kill Kagome? So it is some kind of family trait or what? Deciding, that some things are too messed up to consider, she gave up. The girl was about to think of some witty reply, but Souta was faster.

"So you were thinking about a man." He said smugly. Mai sent him a furious glare and punched him with her fist, something she learned from Inuyasha. Souta yelped.

"Serves you right. And originally I was thinking about Rin." Mai stated. The boy sighed, gripping his sore head.

"So you worry for her?" he asked. The girl nodded.

"Just as much as you worry for Kagome." Mai said quietly. She looked at the well sadly. "I wish I could go through that damned well and see Rin. Just once."
Souta looked at her and both of them went silent again. Mai didn't know how long they were just sitting there, next to each other, keeping company. The girl closed her eyes and leaned herself against a handrail, emptying her mind of any thoughts. She felt a delicate cool breeze on her face.

"Souta, close the door. There is a draft." She complained.

"I did." The boy said.

"Obviously not". Mai told him. She heard Souta standing up, probably to close the damned door, so she didn't really pay attention.

"Mai!" the boy called, but the girl decided to ignore him, as she was finally about to take a nap. "Mai, you should see this!"

Irritated, Mai opened her eyes. She saw a very agitated Souta standing by the well and gawking inside. The girl yawned, stood up and went to see, what was so important to the kid, that he had to call her.

"What is it?" she asked, her voice showing the irritation. "Better it be something impo…"

Mai stopped in midsentence, as she saw, what Souta was gawking at. She was looking into the well, but saw not its dusty bottom, but the sky.

"Oh shit!" that was the only comment Mai could manage. Souta looked at her, the excitement all over the face.

"Mai, only sis and Inuyasha could travel through the well. Do you think…" he said. The girl kept staring at the sky on the other side of well. That was the sky, Rin slept under. Well, the trip will be only a short one, right? And Kagome will get them back in a day or two, so there was no real danger. Surely, it won't hurt if it's only a short one, will it? And she was bored out of her mind…

"Do you think, what I think?" She asked Souta. The boy vigorously nodded. Mai took a deep breath.

"All right. On the count of three."

"One."

"Two."

"Three!"

When Mai said the last word, she and Souta jumped into the well. As she hoped, she didn't land on the hard bottom, but kept floating, when the purple light engulfed her. She closed her eyes, scared by the eerie feeling, until she felt the solid ground.

"Souta!" she called, opening her eyes and looking around. She was sitting on the bottom of the well, but Kagome's little brother was nowhere to be seen. The girl looked up and saw the blue sky. Okay, so she was on the other side. But what about Souta? He didn't manage to get through?
Regretting, that the boy wasn't with her to keep company, Mai decided to look around. She grabbed the vines and started climbing up. Panting, she crawled eventually out of the well and scanned the surroundings for any sign of danger, but fortunately there was none. Frankly, it was beautiful here. Earlier she didn't have time to take a good look – with Sesshomaru trying to murder her and Inuyasha battling him, she didn't have an opportunity to do any sightseeing. Everything around was brilliantly green, just as she remembered. The birds were singing – in one word – a paradise. Glad to have some distraction from her dull existence, or non-existence, to be precise, Mai energetically marched forward towards the nearby buildings.

When she was passing by the rice paddies, the girl muttered a curse under her nose and glared at the villagers, who were rudely staring at her. Mai regretted putting on this idiotic and insanely short pink frilly dress, that Kagome gave her. Ignoring the stares, she stalked to the center of the village. She did her best not to be bothered by suspicious looks and the whispers of the villagers. She hoped to see a familiar face – Kagome, Inuyasha, perverted monk Miroku, anyone. Anyone but Sesshomaru, that is. She was sure, that she would enjoy a tea party with Naraku more than seeing the dog demon again.

"Are you Mai?" she heard a voice behind her. The girl whirled around to see, who just spoke to her. An elderly woman, slightly overweight, with an eye patch was scanning her up and down. She was dressed in characteristic miko attire. Weren't mikos supposed to be young and innocent? Well, obviously there must be a shortage of priestesses in the vicinity.

Another thing caught Mai's attention. The old woman knew her name. Damn, in her time her own classmates couldn't remember, that she was in the same class as them, not to mention what was her name. Here a bunch of strangers knew who she was, before she met them even once. Somehow, being popular here didn't bring her much luck so far. The girl eyed the old miko suspiciously.

"Umm… yes. And you are?" Mai said slowly.

"So you are that Kagome's friend." The woman said. "Come with me. I'm Kaede and I'm a miko in this village."



After Souunga, the sword of calamity was obliterated, both Inuyasha's and Sesshomaru's group were preparing to go their separate ways.

"Feh!" snorted Inuyasha, folding his arms. "He must be all smug".

"How trivial." Said Sesshomaru and started walking away, eager to free himself from his idiotic half-brother. Ah-Un and Jaken trotted after him immediately, but Rin hesitated. She fished a folded piece of paper from her kimono and, with a look of determination, she trailed after Kagome.

"Kagome-sama!" she called and ran after the miko. Sesshomaru stopped, waiting for his ward, watching the child with a corner of his eye. The girl approached Inuyasha's woman and held out the piece of paper.

"What is it, Rin-chan?" asked Kagome with a smile and knelt down to be face to face with the little girl. The miko took the paper from Rin and unfolded it. The child looked at her with seriousness.

"Kagome-sama, could you… could you give it to Mai?" Rin whispered, probably to avoid Sesshomaru hearing her. However, the demon, with his sharp sense of hearing, was able to make out each word and gritted his teeth at the mention of this name.

"Rin." He said harshly, gaining the child's attention.

"I'm coming Sesshomaru-sama!" Rin exclaimed and ran after him. The miko looked for a while at the piece of paper and folded it.

Sesshomaru waited, till the child joined their group and then set off, furious that his ward mentioned the cursed woman again. For the last two months both Rin and Jaken kept complaining about her absence, not letting him forget how she betrayed him. Not only she dared to escape from this Sesshomaru, but also stabbed him with a knife. Not that it was a serious injury for a demon like him, but she intended to kill him – what only proved, what Sesshomaru knew all along – that humans were pathetic treacherous creatures. He should be relieved, that he was free of the presence of the wretched woman, but, oddly, he was not. Earlier, the constant commotion, when she entertained Rin or socialized with Jaken, irritated him, but the silence after she left bothered him even more.

Sesshomaru wished, she was here again. It would be a pure pleasure to watch that sweet lips of hers tremble, when he would show her where her place was – as his property. If he met her, he would make her pay for her betrayal. And he would enjoy it.

Sesshomaru smirked evilly at the thought of punishing the woman. Jaken looked at his master and winced, scared by the sudden smile. The imp wondered, what dreadful things Sesshomaru had in mind.