Legal Stuff: I do not own Inuyasha or its characters, nor Touhou Project or its characters. Those belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Junya Oota, respectively.
***
Kagome couldn't wait. After all, she'd been planning this trip for a really long time. Even so, Kaede had said she wasn't going to be finished for a few hours, so she sat under a nearby tree and decided to take a nap. Sleep wasn't forthcoming, though, so her mind drifted into thoughts about the events of the past few months.
"A lot's happened since then," she thought.
Indeed, much had transpired for her and her companions since they had defeated Naraku. For one, Miroku and Sango had set a date for their wedding. In fact, that day was fast approaching, but that's not why Kagome was excited today. Kaede, with the help of some acquaintances, had discovered the secrets of the Bone-Eater's Well, and told her that they could fix it so that it allowed everyone, not just her and Inuyasha, to pass through to her family's shrine in modern Tokyo. She had wanted to give her friends a tour of her world almost since she had met them, and now she finally had that opportunity. She knew they'd be impressed-she had told stories of towers that stood a hundred times as high as the houses in the village and of rockets that could fly people to the moon. That, as well as the fantastic conveniences she had brought with her: food that was ready to eat straight out of a bag or that could be prepared simply with the addition of hot water, or the curious "game boy" that had entertained them for hours on end.
"My whole world is like that," she thought with a smile, and imagined the awed look on Shippou's face. She had also invited Kikyou, Kouga, and Sesshoumaru (as well as his "loyal retainer" Rin) as thanks for their help in defeating Naraku, although she was sure that each one would make her trip a little less pleasant. Inuyasha had seemed cold and distant for a while now, and she couldn't help but suspect Kikyou was the cause. Kouga, on the other hand, was sure to cause fights, which she particularly didn't want in a world where such supernatural strength was bound to raise more than a few eyebrows. Sesshoumaru was just a damn jerk, although at least Rin's energetic mood would be pleasant to have around. It was sure to be an interesting trip, if nothing else.
"Hey, Kagome!"
The shout tore her from her reverie, and she turned around to see Shippou running towards her with a huge smile on his face, with Inuyasha and Miroku following behind.
"You're ready to go, right? Kaede's almost done!" said Shippou, a little winded from sprinting through half the village.
"That was a lot faster than I expected," Kagome replied as she stood up and brushed the dirt off her jeans. "Where's everyone else?"
"They're all at the well already, except Sango," answered Miroku. "She's not finished packing for the trip."
Kagome sighed. "I told her she didn't need to worry about that. I'm going to get you guys clothes from my world, since you wouldn't look normal with what you've got on now."
"Well, too late now. Let's head over to the well and wait for her," said Miroku.
-------------
When they got to the well, Kagome saw Kouga, Kikyou, and Sesshoumaru already there, waiting for them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Inuyasha glance at Kikyou. When she returned his gaze, he just stared at the ground blushing.
"Goddammit," she thought, "They're already getting mushy. I'm gonna have to pry them apart with a crowbar."
Sango wasn't long in arriving. She was carrying an overstuffed bag, and was breathing heavily, as if she had run the whole way. "Sorry," she panted, "Just had to make sure I had all my stuff together."
"I told you, you didn't need to bring all that stuff," said an exasperated Kagome. "My family's made preparations for all of us. Besides, people will think you're a freak if you wear clothes from this era."
"Never hurts to be prepared. Well, are we all ready to go?"
The other eight travelers indicated that they were. Kaede, who had been there to see everyone off on their trip, spoke up. "The well has been prepared, so all of you may jump in when you're ready."
Immediately, Shippou broke into a run, shouted, "Last one in's a rotten egg!" and cannonballed into the well.
Inuyasha looked over at Kouga. "I guess that means you, wolf-tard!" he said, then sprinted towards the well.
Kouga flashed a grin and retorted, "Not on my life, dog-breath!" before running at blinding speed. Neither had time to stop, however, before they crashed into each other and tumbled in.
"They're so immature." Kagome muttered as she heard unintelligible shouting coming from within the well.
Rin giggled at them and looked down into the well. "That looks fun!" she said, and before Sesshoumaru could do anything about it, she jumped in.
Kagome barely heard him whisper, "Foolish girl" as he walked over to the well and hopped in himself. Miroku let out a chuckle, then looked at Sango.
"Shall we?"
"Let's."
Holding hands, they jumped in together.
Kagome and Kikyou were the last two to enter. Clearly not enjoying each other's presence, they maintained an awkward silence and a healthy distance as Kikyou, then Kagome lowered themselves in.
Kagome was instantly immersed in the familiar space between times. Her companions floated around her, some of them looking a bit disoriented by the weightlessness and the odd shimmering colors around them. She knew that it wouldn't take very long at all to pass through to the other side of the well, but...something was wrong. Her hair began to stand on end, and arcs of electricity crackled around her. The light of the portal grew until it was blindingly bright, and as Kagome squinted around to see what was happening to the others, she became concerned. This hadn't happened before, and it didn't bode well. As she pondered what it might mean, the light dimmed with a loud bang and she found herself and the others several feet above the ground. They landed in a pile with a dull thud.
Still in a bit of pain from the fall, Kagome sat up and looked around. Immediately she saw a young girl standing in front of her. She was wearing a red dress, and a little frilly green cap topped her short brown hair; but most notably, she was petrified with fear. They stared at each other for a few seconds before the girl, who looked no more than eight years old, ran off towards a nearby house screaming, "Raaaaaaan! Heeeeeelp!"
Kagome took a moment to get her bearings. It seemed that Inuyasha had had the misfortune of landing directly on top of Kouga, and the ensuing fistfight had captured everyone else's attention, distracting them from Kagome's encounter. Something had clearly gone very wrong, since Kagome didn't recognize their surroundings, and they hadn't even come out of a well. But before she got a chance to think about it, the girl from before came back. This time, however, she was joined by two other people.
The first was a tall woman with long, flowing blonde hair. She wore a white dress with a yin-yang symbol embroidered on the front and carried a parasol. Unlike the still-distraught young girl from earlier, she wore a bright, cheerful smile on her face. On the other hand, a single glance at the other person made it crystal clear to Kagome that she had failed to make it to Tokyo; she had nine bushy golden tails, and two points protruded from her hat, which was clearly hiding a pair of fox ears. Last time Kagome had checked, there weren't any kitsune youkai in modern Tokyo. Her dress bore elaborate markings on the front. Her face bore little emotion except perhaps a hint of curiosity at the heap of travelers in front of her.
"Ah, it seems we have some guests." said the tall woman.
This finally got the attention of the others, and even Inuyasha and Kouga stopped wrestling in order to find out exactly what was going on.
"Um, excuse me..." Kagome responded, "Where and when are we?"
"Well, that's an odd question. You're in the land of Gensokyo in the one hundred twenty-sixth year of the seal, if that helps any."
"I'm going to take that as meaning 'not Tokyo.'"
The tall woman looked confused at this.
"You're from Tokyo?"
"Yeah, do you know how to get there from here?"
"Oh my. You'd better come inside. It seems we have a lot to talk about, and it looks like it's about to rain."
The tall woman turned to the kitsune standing next to her.
"Ran, could you please prepare some tea for our guests?"
The kitsune nodded, and led everyone inside the house.
--------
Everyone was seated in a large room of the house, which itself seemed quite big for just three people. Kagome had been too preoccupied by her predicament to notice the gathering clouds, but indeed it had begun to rain outside, and she was glad to have found such a hospitable host. The tall woman finally sat down, still smiling.
"Well, I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Yukari Yakumo, and these two are my shikigami, Ran and Chen," she began, indicating first the kitsune, and then the young girl in the red dress, who at second glance Kagome noticed had catlike ears and a pair of tails.
"And you said you were from Tokyo?"
"Well, I am. I'm Kagome Higurashi, and these are my traveling companions, Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Kouga, Inuyasha, Kikyou, Rin, and Sesshoumaru" answered Kagome.
"We're from centuries before her time," explained Miroku, "She found a well that let her travel through time. We were trying to use it to go to Tokyo in the future, but we wound up here instead."
Yukari raised an eyebrow. "That's really weird. People shouldn't be able to get here from the outside world. But then again, even I don't know much about time travel. Perhaps you overloaded the well by trying to send nine people through at once?"
"Argh, we don't have time for this crap! What the hell is this place, anyway?" Inuyasha blurted out.
"There's no need to be rude, Inuyasha," Sango chided, "They were nice enough to offer us shelter from the rain, so show some manners for once." She turned to Yukari. "Sorry."
"Oh, that's okay. I understand your concerns about being in such an unfamiliar place. To answer your question, Gensokyo is a land of youkai and magic. I'm sure you're familiar with these things, since you came from so long ago. In fact, there seem to be a few youkai among you. You see, there's a reason that stuff isn't in the modern world Kagome is from. About a hundred fifty years ago, humans started relying on their tools and technologies rather than magic. The youkai and humans that embraced magic started to feel unwelcome in the changing world. It actually got to the point where a war was about to break out."
Kagome interrupted her. "A war? That's terrible! What did they do?"
"There was only one thing they could do: leave. In the year your world calls the Seventeenth year of Meiji, they separated a part of the world and protected it with a magical barrier. That isolated part of the world became Gensokyo."
"So that's why there were youkai in our world hundreds of years ago, but aren't anymore?"
"Exactly."
"So how the hell do we get out of here?" asked Inuyasha.
"Well, if you wanted to leave Gensokyo, I suppose you came to the right place. I'm actually the youkai responsible for maintaining the barrier that hides our world from the world outside, so I can enter and exit at will. But...I'm afraid I'm not going to help you."
At this, Sesshoumaru, who had been sitting silently the whole time, stood up. "Excuse me?" he asked as he drew Tokijin from his side, "I will not remain trapped in this place. You will assist us."
The smile that had continued to grace Yukari's face vanished. "You don't mean to threaten me, do you? No means no."
"Then you shall die," came the answer as Tokijin was raised in the air. Everyone gasped in horror, except Ran, who calmly sipped at her tea.
"I see. Well, if that's how it is..."
Yukari reached into a pocket and pulled out a card covered with odd scribbles.
"Boundary of Human and Youkai!"
A golden light engulfed Sesshoumaru, and when it dimmed, his hair had turned black, his claws and fangs had disappeared, and he looked exactly like Inuyasha during the night of the new moon. He dropped his sword and fell to his knees, his face frozen with shock.
Yukari's smile returned as quickly as it had disappeared.
"Sorry about all that. It's not that I don't want to help you get back home. But my superiors don't allow me to let people in and out of Gensokyo."
"Huh? You mean you have a boss?" asked a confused Sango.
"I'm afraid so. When Gensokyo was made, a group of humans and youkai was assembled to maintain peace between Gensokyo and the outside world, and they left me in charge of the barrier. They want to keep it a secret from the general public, so I'm not allowed to let anyone enter or leave. If I do, I'll be punished."
"Well, that's too bad," said Kagome. "In that case, what are we supposed to do to get out of here? Can't you get special permission from them or something?"
"I'm sure they wouldn't allow it. But if you managed to get through my barrier without me noticing, I'm sure there are other ways to sneak out of here. I can even help you try to find them, as long as you promise to keep it a secret."
"Sure. But what do we do until we can find a way out?"
"You can stay here tonight. Tomorrow I'll help you guys find a home and some way to make a living."
Kagome sighed. "Oh, man, Mom is gonna be worried sick."
A barely audible voice came from a humiliated Sesshoumaru.
"Change me back."
Yukari looked at him for a second. "Oh, I suppose you've learned your lesson."
She took out the card again. Once again the light engulfed Sesshoumaru, restoring him to his original form. He glared angrily at Yukari, but said nothing as he replaced Tokijin at his side.
"Hey, what is that thing?" Kagome asked.
"Oh, this? This is a spell card. It's how most people use magic in Gensokyo. My magic allows me to control boundaries, so even the differences that separate humans from youkai are nothing to me."
"Wow, that's pretty cool. Do you think I could learn to use them?"
"I don't see why not. But definitely not now, I'm famished. Ran, go make us dinner!"
"Yay! Dinnertime!" exclaimed Chen, who had spent most of the long, boring discussion playing with Rin and Shippou.
Ran broke her silence in irritation. "Hey, it's your turn to make dinner today!"
"Oh goodness, I'm too tired to move. I guess you'll have to do it for me," said Yukari, prompting laughter from everyone but the indignant kitsune.
-----
Kagome couldn't sleep; there was simply too much on her mind after the day's disastrous events. Fortunately, the sky had cleared up late that evening, so she decided to take a walk outside. As she tiptoed quietly out of the house, trying not to wake anyone, she was surprised to see Sesshoumaru still awake, sitting on the porch and looking at the crescent moon. She silently wondered if the people of Gensokyo saw the same moon as the people of Tokyo, but it was just as beautiful all the same. Needing something to get her mind off of the day's troubles, she gathered up her courage and sat next to the fearsome youkai.
"Must you disturb me even this late in the night, miko?" he asked without averting his gaze.
Kagome frowned. "I know you don't like to talk to us 'filthy humans,' but I can't sleep and don't have anything else to do, so humor me."
"Fine. I may as well do something to clear my mind."
"Huh? Are you worried about getting home too?"
"Worried? Not at all. It is just that I cannot think clearly when I am...angered."
"What, about being turned into a human? It can't have been that bad."
Sesshoumaru turned to look at her. "You simply do not understand. You do not know the pride of my clan, or understand what it is like to be youkai."
"Well, maybe not. But I know I certainly don't mind being human."
Both of them returned their eyes to the moon. Kagome pondered how odd was to sit directly next to him. Back when she first met him, it would have gotten her killed. He was still a major asshole, of course, but no longer one that jeopardized her life. She figured Rin had something to do with this, but she had still never found out why he protected and cared for her despite his general disdain for humans. She wanted to ask him, but knew that the answer would, at best, be 'none of your business'. Instead, her mind returned to thoughts about the situation she had found herself in, and she hoped Sesshoumaru could offer some reassurance that everything would somehow work out.
"Sesshoumaru, do you think we'll be able to find a way out of here?"
There was a moment of silence, then Sesshoumaru stood up.
"Like I said; I will not be trapped in this place," he offered, before returning to the house.