Knotweed Among the Wisteria

Chapter 4

The sky sparkled like spring waters in the daylight. Everything felt warm and close. The grass beneath her hair was long and cozied against her exposed skin. The sun peered down at her, the warm light bringing her to consciousness.

She roused from her resting spot. The grass shimmying with the wind and her motions as her head swiveled to her surroundings. Only trees stood stretching before her, leaves chittering along with the breeze.

No houses.

No buildings.

No city.

She flinched as her hand brushed against something warm and stiff. From the corner of her eye she caught the aged planks of a familiar well. Blinking sleep from her eyes she turned to examine it. Her hands caressing the sun bathed wood.

"The well.. I'm back!" She croaked out.

Tears spilled from her eyes as she crawled from her seat from all fours to both feet. She stumbled as she attempted to sprint from the clearing. Her laughter came as whimpers, her breath escaping her as the flutters of joy weakened her joints.

"I'm back! I'm back!" She called out. She didn't know to just who she was calling to, maybe to herself more than anyone else. Relief filled her chest as worry fell with each footfall. As she came to another clearing she spotted the back of a familiar companion.

His silver locks ruffled in the wind. Their pointy canine inhabitants fluffy and white as usual. His hands sat resting in the sleeves of his fire rat robe that rustled with his movement. Long blades of grass licked at the legs of his robe where he stood.

"Inuyasha!" She cheered.

The boy's ears twirled before his eyes caught sight of her. His golden irises stealing sunlight as he turned. A look of unsurprise sat in his gaze, his lips move but the sudden force of the wind mutes his words. The forest shook with a harsh static that overcame his voice, a static that overcame even her thoughts. Birds flew from shaken branches, the trees fiercely battling the wind. She tried to move forward but its force pushed against her like a rolling boulder.

"Inuyasha? Inuyasha!" She called out. Her vision was barraged by strands of her hair flying wildly in the whistling wind. Her arms pushed against the onslaught of wind in front her as her legs anchored her in place. Through the open seams of her hair she watched his lips move again, yet no sound reached her. His arm came from his opposite sleeve, fingers covered in red substance and gleaming. They spread from his palm to reveal a full and shining sphere. There, the Shikon jewel, in its entirety, bathed in blood sat in his grasp.

Kagome shot up from her pillow, alarm clock rattling, with Buyo springing from on top of her chest as she fought for air. Her eyes snapped shut as the glare of the sun splintered her eyes through the blinds. Catching the few bits of her breath remaining, she turned to scowl at the cat as it scrambled out the door. Sweat bathed her forehead as she recalled her dream.

"Inuyasha," she recalled.

A feeling of dread and confusion filled her. She picked the pocket of the bag beside her. Hung on it's beaded lace, the jewels were still in place. The feeling of unease only brewed in the silence. She tried to shake the thoughts from her head. What was the meaning of that dream? She turned to her uniform as she placed the fallen clock back on its nightstand. Her hand reaching to fiddle with the ends of her uniform skirt.