"..."
"..."
"...Kikyo?"
For once, the white-haired dog demon didn't have his usual arrogant, head-held-high look. He stared at the girl in the sailor uniform beneath the tree with a complex expression, murmuring unconsciously.
The former junior high student had grown into a high schooler, but more surprising than her age was that Higurashi Kagome was still here when all ordinary citizens had evacuated.
She had initially applied to stay just to try and do her part. To her surprise, her grandfather had agreed after a long look, and even helped convince her worried mother.
During the years as the overlap worsened, Kagome lived at her family shrine. She was familiar with the white-haired yōkai pinned to the Sacred Tree, but he never responded to her calls. Even when she used a ladder to touch him, her hand would pass through his image and touch the bark.
Based on the arrow pinning him to the tree, he was "sealed," as books described it—hence his sleeping state.
Then the passage between eras truly opened. The front of the shrine was no longer safe. Kagome ran to the back mountain with the pink pearl, knowing the other yōkai had set up protective spells there.
But to her surprise, once the eras truly met and everything was no longer just untouchable phantoms, the white-haired demon reacted to her presence.
He opened his eyes, and the jewel in her arms emitted a white light again.
The shouts of yōkai chasing her up the mountain drew closer. They could smell it; they could feel its presence. Just touching it could elevate them to the status of a Great Yōkai.
Nervous, Kagome considered jumping into the well to pass through the barrier. That was when she heard the dog demon's voice.
It made her angry.
"What 'Kikyo'? My name is Kagome! Higurashi Kagome!" she shouted reflexively, then realized he was a yōkai she could communicate with. "Oh, you're awake?"
"...Kikyo… Kagome… Kikyo… Kagome..." Repeating the names like a mantra, the dog demon's ears twitched. He looked toward where Kagome had run from. "Looks like you aren't very safe right now, Kikyo… can you pull this arrow out? I can take care of those blind fools for you."
Except for the very beginning, his gaze was locked onto the pink jewel in Kagome's arms.
"I said my name is Kagome!" Stomping her foot in frustration as the voices behind her grew louder, Kagome gritted her teeth. She stuffed the jewel into her pocket and picked up the ladder she'd used earlier.
Sū ěr didn't get rid of him, so he should be okay, right?! Probably?!
"Hey! Hey! It's the smell of a human! A soft, fragrant human! Faster, faster!"
"No! You idiot! Look at her! That glowing thing!"
"Oh!!!"
"That's it, right?! It must be!"
"The Shikon Jewel!!!"
Climbing the ladder, Kagome looked down in panic. The Shikon Jewel in her pocket was emitting a brilliant light that was visible even through the fabric. She climbed faster; just a little more and she could touch the dog demon.
She could already smell the stench from behind her. The foul odor was enough to make anyone gag, and a primal sense of danger made the skin on her back prickle.
Without hesitation or words, no longer a phantom, Kagome pressed her hand against the dog demon's shoulder and gripped the arrow shaft with the other.
With a sound like metal tearing silk, followed by a scattered pitter-patter like rain, something heavy hit the ground.
Her vision went black for a second. When Kagome recovered, she found the red-robed, white-haired yōkai had brought her to the ground. His raised hand had five sharp claws glinting silver in the sun.
Wait—why is there a pink jewel in his hand?
Her face darkened as she felt her pocket. Empty.
"Thief!!!" The girl reached out to take her property back, but he easily dodged.
"Hey, hey, I saved your life. Consider this payment~" The yōkai continued to examine the jewel before finally looking toward the forest beyond her shoulder.
"Besides, it looks like it's not over yet… seriously, what exactly happened?"
Turning stiffly, Kagome saw pairs of eyes glinting in the forest, even in the daylight.
Yōkai.