InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Only Time... ❯ Last Seconds... ( Chapter 2 )

I do not own any of the InuYasha characters mentioned in this fanfic. The only ones you can't use are the OC's.

 

Hey everyone, it's time for another chapter.

 

Chapter 2: Last Seconds…

 

Kane read over her pamphlet again as the bus bumped on the road and against her bladder. `Oh man, I've gotta pee again.' She cringed as bump after bump seemed to make it worse. Whining, she did the only thing she could: cross her legs and pray.

 

“Something the matter?” Mika had heard that pitiful whine and looked over at her friend in the seat beside her.

 

Kane shook her head. “It's not a big deal, really.” She closed her eyes as another bump made her bladder bounce with the bus.

 

The history teacher walked by in her grey suit and high heels. “Hideik, are you feeling all right?”

 

“I'm fine, Ms. Takashina.” Kane looked up and gave a half-hearted smile to her teacher.

 

Ms. Takashina wasn't convinced. “You're awfully pale in complexion; you're not having contractions, are you?”

 

“No, I'm not in labor. It's a personal matter that doesn't require any special attention.” Kane pleaded. “Really, I'm okay.”

 

Mika nudged her. “Kane, you shouldn't lie about this if…”

 

“God-damnit, don't you people listen?! I'm fine, I just need to pee!” Kane yelled out in frustration.

 

The bus filled with giggles and whispers from the other students. Ms. Takashina walked away, knowing now that her student was fine. Mika, Michi, and Yuki giggled along with the other students. “Sorry Kane, but you should've just said so.” Mika stated while suppressing her laughter.

 

Kane blushed. “I feel like our dog Yuri when she has to go outside after being stuck indoors all day. How much further until we reach the shrine? I'm gonna have an accident if it's any further than fifteen minutes.”

 

“Only one more kilometer.” Yuki put a comforting smile on her face. “Just hold on.”

 

The hanyou cringed even though the bus hadn't gone over a bump. “It seems the twins want me to pee too. My full bladder must be getting in their way so one of them just kicked it.”

 

“They're cruel little five-eighths aren't they?” Mika noted, placing a hand on Kane's belly. “But isn't it amazing knowing that those kicks are from two babies you're going to have in a couple months?”

 

“Yeah, I'm shocked. But the fact that they do this all night sometimes makes me want them born now, not later.” Kane sighed. “Last night for instance; I didn't sleep well last night because of these two trouble makers.”

 

“That's odd. Babies only tend to do that when stimulated by outside interactions.” Yuki stated. “For example, when a couple has intercourse. The movement…”

 

Kane blushed and looked out the window. “Is…is that so?” The bus pulled to the side of the road and announced, “Yasukuni Shrine.”

 

All four girls' faces were red from what they'd either confessed or found out as they got off the bus with the rest of their class. The teacher signaled her students to pay attention to her as she gave some final instructions. “Now remember students, you have freedom to roam about the shrine grounds, but this is also a learning experience outside of school. Take notes and be respectful to the other customers and the shrine itself. Defacing this historical monument will result in an immediate detention.” Ms. Takashina glanced over at some mischief makers from her class to make her point clear to them. The boys just shrugged their shoulders in mock innocence. “You are also not permitted to leave the grounds until the rest of the class does, except for an emergency.” She looked over at Kane, who smiled and shook her head. “Now have fun; I'll expect everybody here at noon so we can go back to school.”

 

After a pit stop for Kane, the girls started their tour of Yasukuni Shrine. Michi, being the smart-alecky Buddhist monk that she was, showed off her knowledge by making remarks about the statue of Buddha in the main shrine and how old it was, saying it was made of pure gold and was an exact replica of another statue in Feudal Japan. Mika got frustrated with the monk and told her to beg.

 

Some boys walked past her body and asked Mika, “Did you say something to her that made her fall? It looked like some invisible force pulled her to the ground.”

 

“Nah, she's just clumsy.” Mika stated. “Can't walk and talk at the same time.”

 

Once the boys had walked away, Michi used her whistle on Mika, who tensed up and fell to the floor with a loud thud.

 

“Hey, that's enough you two!” Kane whispered angrily. “Putting craters in the floor is considered defacing property!”

 

“She started it!” Mika said on the ground, pointing at Michi with a scornful stare. “If she hadn't been such a show off, maybe I would've shown some mercy!”

 

“I was only trying to help you guys learn some things about the shrine.” Michi complained, standing again.

 

Both Yuki and Kane rolled their eyes. “We've got only an hour left before we have to go. I'm gonna look around here and then go to the gift shop.” Yuki stated.

 

“And I'll come with you. I wouldn't want to bore Mika again.” Michi stated, following Yuki.

 

“So, I guess it's just you and me.” Kane-Sakura leaned back on her heels and then swayed forward. “Where do you want to go?”

 

Mika brushed off her school uniform. “How about that well shrine I mentioned yesterday?”

 

Kane shrugged her shoulders. “I guess. Just don't get any ideas on pushing…” She paused and grimaced. Resting a hand on her belly, she breathed deeply through her nose like she'd been taught in her Lamaze classes.

 

The wolf demon watched as Kane put her other hand out to support herself with the column. “Kane, what's wrong?” She whispered to her.

 

Voice shaking, Kane replied, “I don't know. I got this pain in my stomach, like a giant muscle cramp.”

 

Mika really didn't like the sounds of this. “But you can't be in labor, you're two months pre-term.”

 

“I don't think its labor.” Kane's breathing evened out and she let go of the stone column.

 

“Are you sure you're okay? Maybe we should get the teacher and…” Kane suddenly hunched over and groaned.

 

“No, not now! This can't be happening now; it's too early!” She bent her knees and sat on the floor, wrapping her arms around her belly.

 

Another student saw what was going on and yelled out, “Someone go get Ms. Takashina; Hideik's in labor!”

 

“Damn!” Mika picked Kane up and carried her away from the shouts and the stares. `She doesn't need this kind of attention; it's not time yet!' Sprinting out of the main shrine, she rushed to a desolate shrine that was blocked off to the public. Once she'd knocked down the boards and opened the door, she ran in and set Kane on the floor. Then she closed it behind her.

 

“What are you doing Mika? What if I'm…?” Kane stated from the floor, but she got cut off by a weird sensation from behind her. Her skin crawled with fear and she could feel her heart beat pick up slightly. She turned a little to look. “Huh?”

 

“You're not in labor! Believe me, I'd know if you were because your body would be releasing stress hormones. So, we're gonna stay here until those Braxton Hicks stop.” Mika peeked through a knot hole in the wood, keeping an eye out for anybody who saw them go in the building. “Don't worry, you'll be fine. But I don't wanna see how you handle real contractions if you think Braxton Hicks hurt.”

 

“Mika,” Kane stood up slowly. “Where are we?”

 

“In a warehouse, I guess.”

 

“This can't be a warehouse. Don't you feel that…that weird…” Kane gasped when another Braxton Hicks struck. “Jeez, what is wrong with me?”

 

“It's nothing Kane. You'll be fine.” Mika came up behind her and urged her back down, but to no avail. “Sit down and take it easy.”

 

“I can't. There's this weird feeling coming from behind us.” She stepped forward, but almost tripped down the stairs. “Whoa!” She caught herself at the last second and landed on the bottom of the staircase.

 

“Baka! Do you want to send yourself into pre-term labor?” Mika marched down the stairs to scold Kane.

 

“I'm all right. But there's something down here.”

 

“Like what?”

 

Kane stepped forward and put her hands on the hard wooden surface. “There's a…a well in here. And I think it's dry.”

 

“But wasn't that the main feature of the shrine? Why would the shrine hide their tourist attraction from the public like that?”

 

Kane's hand moved forward until her fingers clasped the lip of the well. “It isn't sealed.”

 

***

 

“Over here Ori! I'm open!” Setsuna yelled out, holding his hockey stick out to intercept the little puck.

 

Ori's long braid swished as he looked over at Setsuna. He slap-shot the puck over to him, and he in turn shot the ball towards the goal. The puck slid with grace towards the goalie, who cringed knowing that Setsuna's deadly accuracy and hard hits always got past the best of goalies. He waited for the impact.

 

But Akira, as swift as ever, stole the ball and shot forward to the other side of the court. “Ha! I'm gonna score this next goal and there's nothing you pretty boys can do to stop me!” He mocked the two demons as he ran, looking over his shoulder. But while he wasn't paying attention, another sweaty player stole the ball from his hockey stick.

 

“Heh! Serves you right for not concentrating on your game!” Setsuna called out to Akira as he intercepted the pass. He rushed on towards the goal, and then slap-shot it right past the goalie. He hollered in victory as his teammates surrounded him to give congratulations.

 

Akira sighed. “Hockey's not really my thing anyway.” He got into another position when the teacher blew the whistle. Everyone else did the same and the puck was brought to the center. Nakura and Setsuna were now facing off in the center while Ori and Akira stayed back on defense. The two youkai stared each other down and waited for the second whistle to be blown.

 

At the sound of the high-pitched whistle, both boys' sticks slapped at the ball, but Nakura was just a little faster this time than Setsuna. He swatted the ball to a teammate and ran towards him to get a pass.

 

The clumsy player tried to get the puck under control and when he saw the boys rushing for him, he panicked. Setsuna smirked, knowing the puck would be his again. But then a shiver ran down his spine that was so violent it could've been felt in the floorboards. He stood there, smile gone and eyes wide but unseeing, while the puck came flying towards him from the clumsy player.

 

Ori saw how strangely the Neko was acting and yelled, “Setsuna you idiot, get down!” But he just stood there as the puck sailed towards him. He was motionless until the puck hit his forehead; then he fell back, unconscious. Ori was running over to his fellow teammate in an instant.

 

The shrill whistle blew again for the play to stop. “Hiretsukan, get over to Hideik!” The gym teacher yelled as he rushed towards the cluster of boys. “Try to give him some breathing room.”

 

Nakura separated the boys who had gathered around the knocked out Neko demon. Ori and Akira were already trying to wake him by shaking his shoulders gently, but their efforts were unsuccessful. “Nakura, he isn't waking up.” Ori stated.

 

The boys were all talking at once, saying things like: “Hideik's down for the count. I wonder if he'll be able to play in the next hockey game this Saturday.” “What an idiot; Shinji shot the ball right at him.” “The hockey team's doomed!” The gym teacher hushed them as he parted the crowd further. He instructed the boys to carry him out, so they each picked him up; Ori and Akira by his head and Nakura taking the legs.

 

“Boys, resume the game; I'll be right back.” The gym teacher instructed as he followed the boys out.

 

They carried him to the hall and set him down gently on the floor. Setsuna groaned as he slowly came to, blinking his eyes to clear his vision. “Ow…my head.”

 

“Hideik, you okay?” Asked the gym teacher. “That puck hit you pretty hard and that fall looked painful.”

 

Setsuna nodded. “It feels like I cracked my skull and my head's pounding. Still, I've had worse.”

 

“Get him to the nurse and have him looked at. There might be a chance that he got a concussion from that fall.”

 

“Hai.” All three boys answered as the teacher walked away. Nakura was the first to turn to the Neko and ask, “So, what happened?”

 

“Yeah,” Ori started. “I yelled at you to duck and you just stood there like an idiot!”

 

“I…I don't really know. I was ready to intercept the ball that Shinji was going to pass, but then…” He paused, remembering the shiver's violent path up his spine. “Oh Kami, Kane!” He stood, running to the school exit on rubbery legs. But he was slow because of the hit his head had taken and Akira managed to catch up and pin him down.

 

“What about your wife?” Akira asked, holding down his friend's arms.

 

“Let me go you bastard!” Setsuna started to struggle. “Kane needs me, I can feel it!” Setsuna got his hands free and toppled the bird youkai to the ground. He started running again, but Akira pinned him down once again with the aid of Ori. His green eyes turned to color of a blazing inferno as his anger soared out of control. “If you don't let me go, I'll kill you! I swear upon it!”

 

“Kane's fine you baka!” Akira stated, struggling to hold him down. “She's with Mika, Michi, and Yuki at Yasukuni Shrine. Nothing will happen to her or your whelps.”

 

Setsuna stopped thrashing his body, but he didn't calm down; his eyes were still red and orange. “Let me go, right now. That shiver that went up my spine, it happened because something is wrong with my wife. And it doesn't matter if all of her friends are there with her, they can't protect her.”

 

“Does this mean only you can?” Nakura asked. “Put some common sense into your brain Hideik. She's fine.”

 

“And what makes you think that they can't protect her with their combined forces and you can by yourself?” Ori loosened his grip a little when Setsuna seemed to be calming down.

 

“This isn't something I can stop either!” His voice cracked, fear clutching his heart with icy fingers. “It's time; she's going into labor. That has to be why I felt that shiver.”

 

Nakura shook his head and knelt to face his friend. “But it's too early. Her pregnancy has been for the most part healthy so there should be no reason for it happen two months pre-term.” He reassured the soon-to-be father. “You're just concerned for her well being.”

 

“Just calm down, Hideik.” Akira warned. “She's fine.”

 

The flames receded and the green returned as he listened to them. “Y-you're right. I guess I'm just overly concerned for her and our pups.”

 

Ori and Akira got off of him and helped him stand. “Let's get you to the nurse so she can check you out. I think coach's right about that concussion.”

 

The Neko nodded, still feeling awkward and unsure. “Yeah, I guess it's all in my head.”

 

***

 

“Not sealed? No wonder it's closed off.” Mika slowly made her way down the steps in the blinding darkness. “But it's still weird. Why not seal it?”

 

Kane's hands went around the edge, feeling for any sign of restraint. She found a flimsy piece of a broken sutra paper. “It was sealed at one time, but now it's open because someone lifted spell.” She made her way around the well and found more broken sutras. “And it was done messily. There are broken sutras all around the lip.”

 

“Maybe it was accidentally broken?” Mika asked. “Or perhaps the shrine keepers thought having it open to the public was a hazard.”

 

Kane shivered. “I don't like the looks of this. We should get out of here before we're caught.”

 

“No more Braxton Hicks?”

 

She shook her head. “None. Let's get going.” Carefully walking away from the well, she followed Mika as she started up the stairs. But Kane felt her footing slip on the dirt floor and she started to fall back. She didn't realize how close the well's opening was from her and she began to fall directly into it. “MIKAAA!!” She screamed as she started careening down into the depths of the empty well.

 

“Kane!” Mika's reaction was instant and she lunged into the shrine's darkness and bent over the well. She caught a hand at the last second and hung on to her friend for dear life. “Whatever you do, don't let go of me! I'll pull you out, okay?!”

 

But Kane's hand was slippery and she started to feel herself fall further. “Hurry up, my hand's slipping!” Kane cried out.

 

Mika reached down with her other hand and strained up hard to try and pull her out. But she was too heavy with child to be brought up with only back strength. “You're too heavy!” But she felt Kane's had slip further and now Kane's palm was half-way out of her grasp.

 

“Mika, please; don't let me go!” Kane pleaded, but retaliated with, “And I am not heavy!”

 

Ignoring her comment, Mika decided to tighten her grip with her retractable claws. They came out of her sockets and her claws dug into her friend's hands. “I'm not going to let you go, I promise.” She cringed when she smelled blood seep from the wounds she inflicted on the girl's hands. “I'm going to try and pull you out again in a minute. First I need to get a proper grip on your hand or you'll go straight down.”

 

“Itai! Your claws…!”

 

“Which would you rather have, a few scratches or the death of you or your children?!” But even her talons couldn't stop Kane's decent. And as the seconds went by, Mika's grip loosened and she fell even father down. `Damn it, there's nothing I can do to stop her from falling…what can I do?'

 

“Mika,” Her eyes welled with tears. “I-I can't hang on much longer…”

 

The wolf demon's claws dug deeper, but her back was giving out. “Don't you dare let go of my hand!”

 

Suddenly, Kane had slipped too far out of her hands and lost contact with the wolf demon. She fell down into the deep, dark depths of the empty well, arm stretched upward, yelling, “MIKAA!!”

 

“KANE!” Mika cried out; reaching into the darkness blindingly, trying her hardest to lean in as far as she could. When Kane's voice could no longer be heard, silence filled the shrine. Mika breathed hard, waiting to hear that awful, sickening thud; but it never came. Instead a bright flash of red light erupted from the well, engulfing Mika in an instant. And when it had subsided…she was gone.

 

***

 

“Should I get this or this?” Michi held up two souvenirs; a tiny statue of Buddha and prayer beads. “I like them both, but I don't have enough money for both.”

 

Yuki had picked up a keychain and was absent-mindedly studying it. “Shouldn't you get some new sutras?” And as she said that, her body started to glow red. “What the…?!” Then she heard Michi scream and drop her trinkets.

 

“Yuki, I'm glowing and disappearing!” She yelled as she the light enveloped them both.

 

“What's going on?!” Yuki looked over at the other students and saw that they didn't seem to notice what was going on with them, as if they were invisible. Then she looked over at a secluded shrine, where the same color light was coming from. “The Lost Memories Well!” Were the last words she uttered as she and Michi vanished, leaving only echoes of their final protests.

 

***

 

As the boys continued on to the nurse's office, they too started to glow bright red. Slowly the light made its way up their arms, their bodies disintegrating little by little.

 

“What the hell?!” Akira had first noticed the light on Setsuna, who was the first to disappear. He was gone and hadn't even noticed he was leaving. “Guys, what's going on?!”

 

Ori watched his hand, then his wrist and finally his elbow disappear before speaking. “Good god, we're all glowing and vanishing!” He looked over at Nakura, who was almost gone from sight. “Where'd Hideik go?!”

 

“He disappeared, just like we are.” Nakura stated, remaining calm on the outside. “Something must've happened to Kane-Sakura, just like he said earlier.” Then he was gone too.

 

“Ori, do something!” Akira complained.

 

“Like wh…” He wasn't able to finish as he vanished from sight.

 

“Damn it!” Akira cursed as he finally disappeared from sight. With his departure, the people who once knew them, their teachers and classmates; those who had adored their music; even InuYasha and Kagome, didn't even know of their existence in modern Tokyo.

 

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