InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Visiting Sibling ❯ The Past Says Hello ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1

After they’d had dinner, brushed their teeth and gotten ready for bed, Miyuki went to Sōta’s room for the planned “reveal”.

… Only, she was apparently faster than Sōta, since she could hear the bathroom tap as she made her way to his room.

She shrugged.

It wasn’t like she couldn’t just wait for him in his room.

Settling herself down, Miyuki sat on the end of Sōta’s bed, curled her legs under her and watched the door like a hawk.

After what seemed like an eternity, she heard Sōta’s footsteps in the hall…

What she hadn’t been counting on, was that he had just had a shower.

Sōta practically jumped out of his skin when he entered his room and looked up to see Miyuki looking anywhere BUT at him.

Not that she hadn’t looked her fill when he’d walked in.

He must have just run his hand through his hair, because the wet strands were slicked back in haphazard spikes, and Miyuki had to admit that the look REALLY worked for him.

Then there was the fact that he was only wearing his sleep shorts.

Granted, it wasn’t the first time she’d seen him shirtless, but it was the first time she realised that he actually had a rather nice upper body. Obviously with the type of training they did, but she wasn’t prepared for the shower after-glow effect.

This was her BEST FRIEND damnit!

‘and’, she vehemently reminded herself, ‘he has a long-term girlfriend’. 

“You ok there Mimi?”

Sōta asks, suddenly right in Miyuki’s face.

She didn’t mind though, having a one-track mind had its perks at times, and his use of their recently dubbed “teasing nickname” had her full attention.

“Sure I am, Mame.”

She says, pausing before using her nickname for him.

He called her Mimi, because she was a very good listener, despite only being able to concentrate on one thing at a time. 

She called him Mame as a tribute to the bean he once was, ever since she saw pictures of him in his elementary days, next to his older sister. 

Sōta grins at her answer, knowing that everything’s ok if she’s able to joke with him like this.

“Now, YOU have to tell me why you can’t visit Kagome.” Miyuki says decisively.

Sōta chuckles while shaking his head at his friend’s predictability.

Taking a seat on his bed next to her, her runs a hand through his damp hair a second time, still wondering where the hell he should even begin.

“Well… You know the well house, right?”

Miyuki nods, knowing that, no matter what Sōta said, she needed to wait until he finished telling his story before she said anything.

There was no question of doubting him.

Hell, he could probably tell her that frozen water was actually hot, and she would believe him. Why? Because he was honest. Plain and simple.

In all the time she’d known her best friend, he’d never once lied. Not even when his past record of getting into fights in junior high almost got him banned from attending high school.

Snapping herself out of her thoughts when she hears Sōta’s shaky sigh, Miyuki keeps listening to Sōta’s story.

“Six years ago, that well was a portal to the past that my sister used to travel back to the feudal era. She spent an entire year switching between the present and the past. She met demons and half demons. Learned to fight. Travelled the country. Kept up with her school work and caused some magic jewel to disappear, which is why she was flung back to the present, because she was only able to use the portal in connection with the jewel. Life returned to normal for a while, but after her high school graduation, the well responded to her love for a half-demon called Inuyasha, and it allowed her to go back… But there’s no way for us to visit her 500 years in the past.”

He finished.

Somehow feeling lighter now that he’d shared his story with someone.

“Why not?”

Miyuki asks, her head cocked to the side in a quizzical manner.

Sōta blinks, a warm feeling of appreciation settling over his heart.

He couldn’t remember why he’d been nervous to tell Miyuki about this.

She was his best friend, and she knew, better than most, that some things were fact, even if there was no way to prove them.

“Well, I’ve tried, multiple times, but the well doesn’t open for me.”

Sōta explains dejectedly, jerking a bit when Miyuki suddenly jumps off of his bed.

She leans forward then, peering into his eyes as she asks.

“When, exactly, was the well open the last time?”

Sōta does the maths, remembering Kagome’s graduation, the term dates and the moon cycle.

“6 years and 3 months ago.”

He answers, pausing when he sees Miyuki’s eyes start to shine.

She pushes herself off of his bed with a little flourish.

Maths was one of Sōta’s best subjects, and Miyuki had no doubt that he’d told her the exact time when she’d asked him. Moving to leave his room, Miyuki briefly stops at the door to turn back.

“I don’t know how much time we have, but pack whatever you think you’ll need over there over our summer holidays. I’ll meet you in Kagome’s old room in 10 minutes.” She says in a rush, and she’s out the door before he can get another syllable out.

Shrugging his shoulders and seeing how one more try can’t hurt, Sōta does what Miyuki suggests and packs a couple of things in his sister’s old yellow backpack. There were still some first aid supplies and a few cups of Ramen in there, which made Sōta smile as he added some clothes and the katana his grandfather had given him on his 15th birthday.

- - - - - 

10 minutes, on the dot, later, Sōta sneaks his way to his sister’s old room, finding Miyuki by the window, her own faded blue backpack slung over her shoulder.

He also noticed that he wasn’t the only one who had thought to get changed for this little escapade of theirs.

Miyuki had her hair in her trademark twin plaits, a loose t-shirt hung off of her one shoulder and a pair of black leggings were worn under a pair of blue jean shorts.

Sōta had decided to don a pair of comfortable light grey sweatpants a brown t-shirt and his favourite blue hoodie, which had the words “pretty cool” printed on the front in white letters.

Nodding to one another, Miyuki quietly opens Kagome’s window, judges the distance to the grass covered ground below and jumps down, immediately curling into a commando roll and getting up to show Sōta she’s alright.

Sōta chuckles lightly at Miyuki’s antics. She always loved a bit of action and role play.

Not one to spoil the mood, Sōta drops his and her backpacks into Miyuki’s waiting arms, before replicating her stunt jump out the window.

They’d been taking Jujutsu together long enough to know how to take care of themselves and each other.

Each hefting their own backpack over their shoulders, the two teens set off for the well house, side by side.

Part of Sōta wonders why he’s doing this again. He’s tried and failed to make the jump so many times now that he’s almost come to associate the well with disappointment.

Still, as he chances a glance at his partner in crime on this night of the full moon, Sōta can’t help but feel excited. Somehow, being with Miyuki made him feel like anything was possible.

She really was the best, best friend he could have ever wished for.

And, apparently, that was enough of a reason for Hitomi to break up with him last week.

- - - - - 

She’d waited until their exams had been over, at least, but, he couldn’t say that he hadn’t seen this coming.

Ever since Miyuki came into his life, Sōta had noticed a subtle shift in Hitomi. She became clinger, more demanding and she acted cold towards any of his female friends.

They had been together almost 6 years, a childhood crush that somehow stagnated.

Looking back, Sōta realised that he’d never actually come to love Hitomi.

In that sense, it was a relief to free one another… He just had to figure out a different way to turn down confessions when the summer holidays ended.

After all, he couldn’t very well keep using his girlfriend excuse when he no longer had a girlfriend.

- - - - - 

Feeling a tug on his hand, Sōta is pulled out of his thoughts and realises that Miyuki must have led him all the way to the well house. Her hand releasing his when she sees that he’s no longer caught up in the musings of his mind.

She turns a questioning gaze on him, her brown eyes catching the moonlight and glowing like freshly turned earth covered in a fine layer of frost. 

“You said she just jumped in and the well took her back in time?”

Sōta nods, wondering what idea Miyuki might have, that could get the well to work again.

The two of them walk into the well house to stand in front of the well and Miyuki takes a deep breath.

“Ok. I need you to, I don’t know, focus on wanting to see Kagome.” She says.

He quirks an eyebrow at her and she gives him an exasperated look.

His lips tilt into a small smile but he does as she asks.

As he does that, Miyuki feels a faint pulse of magic in the ancient well. She’d felt it a number of times when she’d come to visit Sōta at the shrine, but never so clearly.

It had been a strange occurrence the first time it had happened.

She’d excused herself to go to the bathroom and had practically been pulled into Kagome’s room by some strange force.

Looking back on it, Miyuki now realised that the well DID want to reunite the siblings, but it seemed to be missing something to be able to do so.

Mustering all of her concentration, Miyuki wills the well to grant Sōta’s wish, closing her eyes as she takes Sōta’s hand in her own. He automatically returns her grip, also closing his eyes. Because of that, neither one of them saw the little flare of power that left Miyuki’s hand and entered the rim of the well.

Feeling a breeze tickle his fringe, Sōta cracks open one of his eyes, and immediately feels his jaw slacken.

There were stars at the bottom of the well.

Like, a night sky!

Casting a quick glance at Miyuki, Sōta has to blink a few times to ascertain that, yes, his best friend is indeed GLOWING a faint silvery yellow.

‘Feel like an adventure?’

A voice suddenly whispers in Sōta’s mind and he doesn’t bother supressing his smirk when her recognises Miyuki’s voice.

‘Always. So long as it’s with you.’ He thinks, noting a flare of Miyuki’s silver power as he does so.

She opens her eyes then, and he realises that she’s trembling faintly.

“Let’s go then.” She finishes their little ritual verbally, and they jump into the well together.

- - - - - 

It was a little disorientating to be upright first and, at some point find yourself falling, feet first, towards the sky.

Using one another as anchor points, Sōta and Miyuki managed to perform a linked semi-handspring off the rim of the well and onto the grass covered hill around it.

The landing was a little shaky though, but Sōta quickly found that that was because Miyuki was surprisingly weak and tired at the moment.

“You ok?”

He asks, sitting back against the well and pulling Miyuki down next to him without much resistance.

She nods against him sleepily.

“Yeah. I’ve just, never done that before, so, I guess it’s rather taxing to just open a time portal like that.”

Sōta nodded, turning to fish a sleeping bag out of his backpack and using it to blanket Miyuki and himself.

“Understandable. I mean, I didn’t even know you COULD do that.”

He offers, doing his best to get comfortable against the well while acting as a human body pillow for Miyuki.

“Neither did I.”

Miyuki snorts snuggling closer to Sōta’s chest.

In any other situation, their position would have been considered highly inappropriate and compromising, but at that very moment, they were too comfortable to move and too tired to care.

“We should be able to find Kaede’s Village by daylight tomorrow.”

Sōta comments sleepily, receiving a hum and a soft nod in response, which pretty much meant that Miyuki was very close to being asleep.

“Good night.” Miyuki whispers, wrapping her arms around Sōta’s middle as she falls asleep.

Despite barely being able to believe that they’d really made it to the past, Sōta was also REALLY tired.

“Sleep well.” He replies, resting the side of his head on the top of Miyuki’s.

- - - - - 

The next morning dawns far too early for Sōta’s liking.

Being careful not to wake Miyuki, he gets up and stretches, taking in his surroundings for the first time… ever.

Noticing that Miyuki has started to shiver, Sōta pulls off his hoodie and drapes it over her upper body.

He knows that she’s not a very long sleeper either, but his curiousity soon wins out and he decides to take a look at the clearing in which the well is located.

A clearing that would later become the Higurashi Shrine and home.

Sōta is amazed at how many TREES there are here. It was every nature lover’s paradise, and Sōta suddenly remembered that he’d packed his camera and a few sets of spare batteries. Before he can go and get them though, he finds himself lifted into the air by some strange force. Clenching his teeth to keep from screaming, Sōta soon finds himself face to face with a green-eyed red head that he remembers Kagome describing many times whenever he came home from the past.

“You’re… Shippō, aren’t you?”

The young Kitsune blinks once, a look of confusion overtaking his features.

Sōta smiles when he realises that that means that he’s right.

“I’m Sōta, Kagome’s little brother.”

THAT gets a reaction out of the Kitsune, as his fangs widen in an excited grin.

“YOU’RE Kagome’s brother! Oh, she’s going to FLIP… wait here, I’ll go and get her.”

He says excitedly, vanishing in a puff of orange smoke.

This time it’s Sōta’s turn to blink.

Chancing a glance down he notes that, yes, he’s still suspended at about tree-peak level, so he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere, even if he wanted to.

- - - - - 

Miyuki wakes up to find Sōta’s jumper draped over her upper body and the sleeping bag folded up next to the well.

No doubt the two of them had kicked it off sometime during the night.

Summer was known to be rather warm, after all.

Chuckling to herself, Miyuki gets up and pulls Sōta’s jumper over her head, noting that the damn thing went all the way down to her mid-thigh and that she had to roll the sleeves up a few times over to be able to effectively see and use her hands.

With that done, she sets about re-rolling the sleeping bag into its case and then putting it back in Sōta’s bag.

Doing a quick scan of the clearing, and circling once around the well, Miyuki is quick to pout as she realises that Sōta must have gone on ahead of her.

Sighing as she sets her sights on the, slightly smaller, Goshinboku, she crouches to pick up hers and Sōta’s packs, only to find that some sort of force field seems to be blocking her from reaching them.

Slowing straightening her form, Miyuki notes that she’s being held in a sort of sparkling pink dome just large enough to let her stand at her full height.

“Who are you?”

The sudden call of an unfamiliar voice immediately has Miyuki’s head snapping up as her eyes lock onto two approaching forms.

A man wearing all red with long, white hair down to his hips and a woman who looks to be dressed in a traditional miko garb are making their way towards her.

Miyuki quickly realises that they may well just be wearing clothing that was normal for this time. She feels like slapping herself, knowing how weird she must look in her leggings and oversized jumper.

“Oi, wench. She asked you your name.”

Miyuki flinches when the man in red suddenly growls at her.

No, not man. As the two get closer, Miyuki notices that the man of the two wasn’t entirely human. He had dog ears for one thing, and noticeable claws as well.

Repressing her urge to gulp, Miyuki puts on a brave front, REALLY wishing that Sōta was still here.

Instead she speaks up for herself. 

“You know it’s only polite to introduce yourself first if you instigate the conversation.”

The half-demon, since his appearance matched Sōta’s description of half-demons and he didn’t look all human, was so close to Miyuki’s pink prison by now that she could see the irritated expression that overtook his face at her words.

“She’s right, you know.”

The woman says, coming to stand beside the half-demon.

Miyuki feels her eyes widen when she finally gets a good look at the miko who was holding her captive.

“Kagome?”

The name spills from her lips before she thinks to stop it. Though the reactions of both the young adults are enough to confirm her assumption.

“And how would you know?”

The half-demon asks, whom Miyuki can now easily identify as Inuyasha.

She sends the two of them an apologetic look.

“Sorry Inuyasha, I’m Tenrai Miyuki. I’ve heard so much about you guys so it’s great to finally meet you in person.”

She answers, bowing at the end of her introduction, as was the proper Japanese etiquette.

What happened next was a bit of a blur.

Kagome cried out a warning, but too late, and Miyuki’s head came in contact with her barrier.

However, rather than shock the girl, as it had been cast to do, the barrier was instantly dispersed in a sudden flash of that same silvery-yellow light that Miyuki had first used and seen the night before.

The forced dispersion, sends a shockwave of energy through the clearing, throwing both Kagome and Miyuki away from one another. Miyuki had a sneaking suspicion that her new headache wasn’t just from the whiplash of that shockwave though.

Inuyasha had immediately moved to catch his wife when she’d been flung back, gently setting her back on the ground, before making a bee-line for the threat that had dared attack his family.

His claws strike downward in an arc too fast for the human eye to follow, but he stops short of delivering the blow.

Now that the barrier was gone, Inuyasha’s nose was picking up on an incredibly familiar scent… coming from the strange garment that the girl was wearing.

With his instincts back under control, Inuyasha was able to think much more clearly.

The girl was swathed in the scent of the top she was wearing, but it wasn’t her own scent. Not to mention that the aura he saw her emanating strongly reminded him of Kagome when she’d first awakened her miko powers. She also looked just as perplexed and worried as Kagome did, now that the initial shock had passed.

Inuyasha sighed.

“You said your name was Miyuki?”

The girl nodded, holding a hand to one of her temples, but looking up to meet his gaze.

“How do you know us?”

He asks, gesturing to Kagome and himself.

Miyuki blinks once at his question, before pushing herself up off the ground and into a standing position. Her brow was furrowed, and her mind was racing.

Sōta hadn’t met up with his sister yet… but he also wasn’t in the clearing anymore. He had said that Inuyasha had once warned him that there were many dangers in this past world. Had something happened to him? Did he get lost? No, that wasn’t like him. He would have wanted to surprise Kagome.

How though?

Releasing a slow breath through her nose, Miyuki considers her answer.

“I heard about you guys from Kagome’s family, of course. I’ve been their neighbour for about four years now.”

Yes, that was a good answer. Honest, but still vague enough to give Sōta something to work with.

Of course, being vague, meant that she’d managed to spike Kagome’s curiousity.

The miko was on her feet and in front of Miyuki faster than the girl would have thought humanly possible.

“My family? So, you came through the well?”

Miyuki nods momentarily muted by Kagome’s sudden enthusiasm, not to mention that Inuyasha’s constant sniffing was starting to weird her out a bit.

“Yeah. We just had to calculate the next lunar possibility to reopen the well for a bit, which was pretty easy, considering how good Sōta is at maths, and it turned out last night was one such ideal time.”

Miyuki feels her expression soften as she sees Kagome’s reaction to her brother’s name. Her eyes became glazed with tears and her smile turned just slightly pained, which told Miyuki just how much she loved and missed Sōta.

For some reason, Inuyasha chose that moment to speak up.

“THAT’S who you smell like!”

He says suddenly, a smile gracing his features and making Miyuki’s eyes widen when she sees the fangs he has, though her expression quickly turns confused.

“I’m sorry, who do I smell like?”

She asks, not quite sure if she’d heard him right.

Before Inuyasha can answer, a round shadow suddenly hovers over the trio.

Looking up, Miyuki sees a huge pink balloon-like thing floating in the air above them, and then a figure jumps down to land next to her.

“Probably like me.” Sōta whispers, grinning when an expression of understanding dawns on Miyuki’s face.

“Is that why you gave me your jumper this morning?” She asks, automatically adjusting her voice to match his softer tone, and Sōta adopts a thoughtful expression before shaking his head.

“Nah, you were shivering when I woke up, so I just draped it over you before headed off to have a look around the clearing.”

He sweat drops when Miyuki’s eyes suddenly narrow accusingly.

“Speaking of… where the hell were you?” She whisper-yells, making Sōta wince slightly.

He’d learned long ago that the fastest way to make Miyuki angry was to get her to worry about you… and you REALLY didn’t want to make Miyuki angry.

“Sorry. I got caught in a fox trap.”

For some reason, he pointed up when he said that, and Miyuki realised that the floating pink ball was no longer hovering above them, but that Inuyasha and Kagome had their backs turned to them and were talking to someone who was obscured from her sight.

She connects the dots fairly quickly.

The fox must know Kagome and Sōta, which was why he decided to help Sōta surprise his sister, but things had gotten complicated when the fox had come upon an empty hut and Inuyasha and Kagome were currently confronting Miyuki. So, the fox had jumped down at the same time as Sōta, effectively masking his arrive to Inuyasha and Kagome.

Sighing, Miyuki flashes Sōta a small grin.

“It’s day one and our adventure is already totally action-packed.”

Sōta mirrors her grin when she says that.

“What do you expect from the two of us?” He asks, laughing when she replies with “nothing less”.

His laughter gives them away though, and they freeze like children caught raiding the cookie jar, when Inuyasha casts a quick look over his shoulder.

Knowing that she doesn’t have long to act when she sees Inuyasha’s eyes widen in recognition, Miyuki does the first thing that comes to mind.

“So, what does Sōta smell like Inuyasha?”

The half-demon blinks caught completely off guard by the question and Miyuki has to clench her teeth when Sōta sends her a what-the-hell look.

For a second, Miyuki worries that Inuyasha won’t play along. Though, for the moment, she was glad that Kagome seemed occupied by the fox demon she had yet to meet.

“Hinoki wood and rain.”

Miyuki feels her eyes widen when she realises what Inuyasha had just said.

The she smiles and nods, giving Sōta a none-too-subtle nudge in the ribs and using her head to gesture to Kagome.

“Thanks.”

She says to Inuyasha, when she’s sure that Sōta’s attention isn’t directed at her.

He merely replies with what Miyuki had been told was his trademark answer to everything.

“Keh.”

She giggles at the sound, watching as Sōta finally works up the nerve to tap his sister on the shoulder.

She turns around with a curious expression, though that soon melts into a look of joy and disbelief.

“Hey sis.” Sōta says, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably as Kagome starts to cry silently.

- - - - - 

Author's Note 

Well, what did you guys think? 

I've decided to try and write a chapter a day and upload the results for a week. 

Let me know if you like this story or have any other comments. 

Tora