Unbroken

"Uggh!" I stretched as my alarm blared in my ear. "I hate Mondays!" I swiped the red 'x' on my phone to turn off the annoying buzzing.

"Angel, are you awake?" My mother called from the hallway. She knew getting me up on a Monday was as difficult as trying to coax a cat out of a tree.

"Yes mom. I’m awake." I got into a sitting position and groaned. "Unfortunately." I got out of bed, my body feeling stiff. Just one more year of this 6am crap and I’m out of school for a while. I planned on taking a year's break before going to collage.

I dug in my closet until I found my school uniform. It was green and white with a short skirt. I hated it. I was more of a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. My family and I are from the states and with my father being in the Special Ops, we had to move to Japan so he could be on base. Every time we thought we would be able to go home, his stay got extended. Don’t get me wrong, I love it here. It’s beautiful but crowded. 'Oh what I would give to be in the country again.'

I got dressed and combed my wavy blonde hair and applied mascara, the only makeup I could wear to school, to my light brown eyes. I slowly made my way downstairs and grabbed a piece of toast with peanut butter on it when a knock sounded at the front door.

"Bye mom! I’ll see you later." I chirped as I rushed to the door, grabbing my school bag on the way.

"Bye Angel. Be careful!" My mom blew me a kiss and I smiled.

I opened the front door to find my one and only true friend in all of Japan standing on my doorstep. "Hi Kagome. What's up?"

"Haven’t you heard? School has been canceled all week. Apparently we had a good sized earthquake last night and it caused some kind of structure damage."

"I must have slept right through it." I grinned. Mom always said I could sleep through the atomic apocalypse and not wake up. "Wanna come in for a minute?"

Kagome beamed "Sure. I'd love to!"

We went back in the house where Kagome explained to my mother what was going on. I put my bag in my room and changed into blue jeans. I was just putting my white shirt on when Kagome came into my room.

"Your mom said you could stay with me for a few days if you wanted." She grinned "I’ve got something I want to show you." She eyed the two swords I had on my wall. They were both black and one was a little shorter than the other. "Do you know how to use those?"

"Yeah." I laughed. "My father trained me. He took all kinds of martial arts training when he joined the military." I picked up the swords and the sheath that went with them. One was as long as my back and the other was about four inches shorter.

"Bring them with you. I want to show you my bow skills." Kagome laughed and I stuck the blades in their sheaths and put them on so they crisscrossed on my back in a way that the longer one would be in my right hand, for attacks, and the shorter in my left hand, for defense, if I pulled them out.

"Awesome! I didn't know you practiced archery. My father wanted me to learn that skill but I never had the patience." I laughed again. "Now let me get some clothes and stuff." I dumped out my school bag on my bed and gathered some clothes for the few days I'd be at Kagome's house. I didn’t live far from her so I could always swing by my house to pick something up If I needed it.

Kagome practically skipped down the steps into the hallway. "Bye Mrs. Baxter!"

"Be careful girls!" Mom followed us to the door. "Be careful Angel. I love you."

"I love you too mom." I kissed her on the cheek and she smiled. It was amazing how much we looked alike. We had the same face, hair, and body build. All I had of my dad's was his light brown eyes. "I’ll see you in a few days."

And with that, Kagome and I set off to her house. I wonder what Kagome wanted to show me.
We walked the three blocks to her house. It was warm out and blossoms from the cherry trees slowly drifted on the wind. Kagome was so excited she was skipping the whole way, urging me to go faster. I didn’t though. I was enjoying the feel of the wind in my hair.

"Come on!" Kagome grabbed my hand when we got to the steps leading up to the shrine.

We ascended to the top quickly as we ran up the steps. It wasn’t my first time here but it was still breathtaking. The shrine sat in a large piece of land for the middle of the city. There was the large house, of course, with its green roof, the well house, the storage building, and lastly, the magnificent sacred tree. I sighed at the beauty as its long branches waved gently in the breeze.

"Let me take your bag inside and get my bow and arrows." Kagome dashed off with my bag, leaving me outside.

I walked over to the tree and sat on the bench, enjoying the shade, the sun, and the breeze. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and smiled. Then I froze. A strange feeling crept over me, a feeling so ominous it brought goose bumps to my skin. 'I can’t open my eyes!'

"Angel, what's wrong?" Kagome's voice sounded far away.

I felt something pulling on me.

"Angel?!" I heard Kagome yell at me and touch my shoulder.

With the sound of a rubber band breaking, the pulling stopped and I could finally open my eyes. I was standing within inches from the edge of the steps leading out of the shrine with both my swords drawn. I quickly sheathed them and turned to Kagome. She had a quiver of arrows on her back and her bow in her hands. She looked scared.

"Angel?" Her voice was soft and frightened.

"I....I don’t know....what was that?" My voice was shaky. I raised my hands to rub my arms and my hands shook too. 'What was that?!'

"Are you ok?" Whispered Kagome.

A swift calm took over Kagome and she reached out and gently rubbed the hand that was on my left arm. Suddenly, I wasn’t shaking anymore, I wasn't freaking out anymore.

"I....yes." I hugged her, completely confused.

She pulled away and grinned. "Have I got something to show you!" She linked her arm in mine and gently tugged. Acting as if nothing strange had just happened.

I walked with her, feeling calm and tranquil again. "So what do you wanna show me?"

"You’ll see. It’s a surprise! We are going to be gone for a little bit though." She put her finger up to her chin as she thought. "No more than a day or two, I think." We walked to the well house and she opened the door.

It was dark and damp inside. "Um...Kagome, I trust you and all, but I don’t think we can go anywhere in this well house."

"Just hold my hand." Kagome smiled as she linked her fingers with mine and began walking down the stairs. I followed her, nervous and curious. "Now, we jump!"

"Have you ever heard the question 'If your friend jumps off of a bridge will you?'" I looked at her as she nodded. "This is the same thing. Nope. Nope. And nope."

I was terrified of heights. Granted, my feet were firmly planted on the ground, but there was a hole in front of me in which I could not see the bottom. Thus my fear kicked in.

"You said you trust me didn’t you? Just jump! My surprise is on the other side." Kagome looked hurt that I was doubting her. It showed in her tone.

The other side? I scrunched my eyes shut. Kagome began counting. "One.....two.....ready?" I nodded, keeping my eyes tightly shut. "Three!"

We jumped, well, more like she jumped and she pulled me in. I kept my eyes closed as we drifted gently, yes gently, down. My knees touched bottom lightly and I could hear birds chirping. I slowly opened my eyes and looked up. Kagome was already climbing out. I saw a brilliant blue sky with not a cloud in sight.

"Come one pokey." Kagome teased as she continued climbing.

I followed her out and gasped at the sight around me. The shrine was gone and in its place was a small clearing surrounded by forest. I could see the sacred tree above all the other trees. Its large limbs proving to be at landmark here as well. 'Where ever here is...'

"Where are we Kagome?" I slowly turned around, taking in the beautiful view.

She grinned, excitement pouring off of her. "We are in feudal Japan. All those days I miss school, I am here."

"You told me you went on trips but this is no little trip." I was in awe.

"It's about time you showed up! We have more jewel shards to find!" This voice was of a man who sounded sarcastic and annoyed.

I turned to look at him. He has long white hair, shaggy bangs, and dog ears. 'Dog ears?' He is wearing a red kimono, red pants, and completely barefoot. He had a sword on his hip and his arms were crossed.

Behind him came a small group of people from the woods. One was extremely short. He has auburn hair pulled back into a ponytail, and green eyes. 'Is that a fox tail?' He is wearing blue pants, a turquoise shirt with leaf patterns, a tan vest, and a thin black belt. His ears were pointed and he also didn’t wear shoes.

'What is this, No Shoes Era?'

A yellow and black cat with two tails walked beside the short kid. Behind them were two others, a man and a woman.

The second man wore a blue and purple kimono that reached his feet. He reminded me of a monk. He has short black hair, blue eyes, and carries a staff with gold rings on it.

Next to him was a woman. She has super long dark brown hair, bangs, red eye makeup, and a giant boomerang. She wore a long green skirt over a long light and dark pink kimono. She has black arm guards on too.

"Who is this lovely being you have brought to us Kagome?" This came from the monk fellow as he grabbed my hand. The woman smacked him on the back of the head and he dropped my hand.

"Yeah, Kagome, who’s this?" The little poufy tailed kid asked.

I looked at Kagome. She was arguing with dog ear boy but I was so wrapped up in the strange new comers that I didn’t hear a word of it. Kagome walked over to me and linked her arm with mine and smiled. She acted like an argument never took place.

"This is Angel. We go to school together in my time and we are best friends."

"So you thought it smart to bring her here?" This came from dog boy. He had a general attitude I didn’t like.

"Not like it’s your decision Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled.

Inuyasha huffed and sat down on the edge of the well, clearly pissed.

"Angel, this is Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kilala." She turned and glared at Inuyasha. "And this is Inuyasha. Arrogant idiot that he is." She started walking off with me in tow.

"Well this arrogant idiot is going to hut for the jewel shards!" Yelled Inuyasha as he ran off into the woods. The others followed us.

We walked a short distance and came to a field full of water on each side of the path. A village slowly came into view. As we neared, I saw Inuyasha sitting in a lone tree on the outskirts of the village.

"He needs to get laid." I whispered to Kagome. She blushed heavily and ignored me.