Chapter 2

Opening Ceremony

          “What are you doing here?” Kagome demanded.

          “I’m the one who should be yelling!” InuYasha responded angrily. “You’re the one who’s been away for an extra day!”

          “I have a life of my own, you know?” Kagome replied.

          “Oh, okay then,” InuYasha said, crossing his arms. “Fine with me. Just go on with your own life… while we’re supposed to be finding Naraku!”

          Kagome sighed. “I take one day to do something for myself, and you throw a fit!” she complained. “You should think about others for a change!”

          “I was thinking about you… that’s why I came here!” InuYasha snapped.

          This comment had the unintentional result of causing Kagome to blush. She smiled at InuYasha and said, “So, you have been thinking of me?”

          “No… it’s not like that!” a flustered InuYasha responded. “I’m not desperate for you or anything!”

          “InuYasha, you’re so thoughtful after all!” Kagome exclaimed.

          “No, no!” InuYasha shouted.

          Kagome’s family, in the meantime, watched the argument silently, until now. Just as Kagome was ready to go back with InuYasha to the feudal era, Sota thought it would be a good time to bring up her archery success.

          “Hey, InuYasha!” Sota said. “Kagome’s going to the Olympics! She’s great at archery!”

          “Olym- what?” InuYasha asked. “And Kagome? Great at archery? I remember her first tries with the bow…”

          “I have gotten better, you know!” Kagome protested.

          “Where is this thing you’re going to?” InuYasha asked.

          “Oh, it’s just a little contest…” Kagome started to say, trying to change the subject, but it was too late.

          “It’s a worldwide competition!” Kagome’s grandfather broke in. “Kagome is going to represent the nation of Japan! She is going to prove herself to be the greatest archer in the world!”

          “Greatest archer in the world?” InuYasha asked. “Aren’t you becoming a little arrogant by saying that?”

          “No, no, I don’t think that,” an embarrassed Kagome said, trying to pull InuYasha out the door with her.

          “Kagome, remember, the Olympics start in two weeks! You have to make sure you’re back here by then!” Kagome’s mother shouted.

          “I will!” Kagome replied, pulling InuYasha out the door.

          As the two walked towards the Bone-Eater’s Well, InuYasha looked rather discontent, but he refused to say anything. Kagome broke the silence.

          “Why are you upset?” she asked him. “Is it because I’m finally really good at something?”

          “Why would I be upset about that?” InuYasha replied. “I don’t care!”

          They walked a little further along, then Kagome said, “Yes, you do! You’re mad that I have a talent that you don’t have!”

          InuYasha bristled at her comment. “Well, so what if I am?” he responded. “I use all my talents just to save your life, and when you get a chance to use your talent, you use it for personal glory!”

          “Excuse me!” Kagome snapped. “I’m pretty sure my archery skills have helped us in quite a few battles!”

          “Maybe they have,” InuYasha responded. “But I bet you’re still not as good as Kikyo.”

          That was the magic word. That name - Kikyo – was exactly the button that, when pushed, would send Kagome into a fury. Ever since she came out through the Bone-Eater’s Well, she had been compared to this Kikyo, and in every way, she always came out on the inferior end of the comparison. Really, Kikyo was exactly who Kagome wanted to be, but at the same time, the person in the world she hated the most- even more than Naraku.

          “Sit!” Kagome screamed, causing InuYasha to drop to the ground. “I’m going ahead, you can catch up!”

          When Kagome explained her situation to Miroku, Sango and Shippo, they were more than understanding, much to InuYasha’s dismay. The group agreed to postpone their search for Naraku, in order not to risk injury to Kagome before the Olympics. During those two weeks, Kagome spent her time practicing shooting arrows at makeshift targets marked on the side of trees.

          “Wow, you’re really good!” Sango exclaimed.

          “That hit the very center of the target,” Miroku commented.

          “Kagome’s gonna win for sure!” Shippo shouted.

          InuYasha just sat there, pouting. Not only was Kagome delaying their search for Naraku, she was becoming the main focus of the group. Most of the time, everything centered around him, whether he was strong enough to defeat an enemy, whether his health was all right, whether it was a new moon or not. Now, Kagome was the center of attention, and he did not like it one bit. Yet he remained silent, not voicing his complaints, as the two weeks passed by.

          When the two-week period was over, Kagome headed off to the Bone-Eater’s Well to go back to her time, and the others joined her- save for InuYasha, who followed behind the others until a certain point, when he abruptly stopped. No one else noticed, however, until Kagome reached the well.

          “Good-bye, everyone,” Kagome said. “I’ll see you in a week or so.”

          “Good luck,” Sango told Kagome.

          “Yes, bring back that gold medal you were talking about… it could be worth a lot,” Miroku said, only half-joking.

          “Hey, where’s InuYasha?” Kagome asked.

          “He was trailing behind us… I don’t know where he went,” Shippo answered.

          “Just like him to bail out on me at a time like this,” Kagome muttered. “Oh, well, I’ll yell at him when I get back. See you!”

          And with that, Kagome hopped into the well, going back into her own time- at August 6, 2008, only two days before the start of the Olympic Games.

          Kagome got a good night’s sleep. The next morning, her family joined her as they took a train to the airport. From there, they took a plane to Beijing, China, site of the 2008 Olympic Games. Upon their arrival in Beijing, Kagome’s family checked into a hotel which was located only a mile from the Olympic Green Archery Field, the venue for the archery event.

          They spent the rest of the day viewing sights around Beijing, enjoying this vacation from their ordinary lives. Kagome tried to put her nervous feelings aside, although it was difficult for her to do. Still, she managed to get a good sleep in her first night in Beijing.

          The following day, it was 8/8/08, or August 8, 2008, the day of the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games. After some preparation, Kagome’s family headed to the “Bird’s Nest”, the Olympic Stadium. Sota, Kagome’s mother and grandfather took their seats in the stands, while Kagome prepared to march in the opening ceremony with the rest of the Japanese team. She looked around for the other members of her archery team, but she could not find them, leading her to ask of their location.

          “Where are the other archers for our team?” Kagome asked a Japanese Olympic Committee official. “I thought there were three of us.”

          “There were three,” the official told Kagome. “However, the other two pulled out due to sickness. I’m afraid we won’t be competing in the team competition because of that, but you’ll still get to compete in the individual contest.”

          “Oh,” a disappointed Kagome replied. “I’m sorry to hear that.” She had not even realized that there was a team competition, which would have been another chance for her to win a medal. She was more upset about the fact that she would not have any teammates to march with her in the Opening Ceremony.

          “The International Olympic Committee has given us permission to seek out alternates, since we qualified three archers, but it is highly unlikely we will be able to get another archer by tomorrow’s qualifying round,” the official said. “Our hopes all rest on you.”

          Just what I needed, more pressure, Kagome thought. “I’ll do my best,” she told the official.

          Now the pressure was squarely on Kagome’s shoulders. She figured that she would have her teammates to give her support, but now she realized that she was on her own in that category. At least her family was with her, but she wished someone else could visit her…

          InuYasha, Kagome thought sadly.

          After a couple of hours of the ceremony taking place, it was finally time for the Japanese Olympic team to march in the parade of nations. Kagome took her place in the middle of the team, waving a miniature Japanese flag as she marched. She had a lot of fun during the ceremony, even though she did not know anyone else on the team. Once the whole ceremony was over, she returned to her hotel with her family, hoping to get a good sleep. After all, the qualification round of the archery competition was to take place tomorrow.

          Meanwhile, InuYasha had stayed away from Miroku, Sango and Shippo, who chose not to look for him. They figured he was trying to blow off some steam over Kagome leaving again. And he was, but instead of doing so in a violent way, he sought out someone who he thought could help him- Kikyo.

          He searched for a couple of days before eventually seeing a couple of Kikyo’s soul collectors while traveling in a forest. He followed them to the priestess, who did not look happy to see him.

          “What do you want, InuYasha?” Kikyo asked in her cold voice.

          “I really don’t know,” InuYasha answered.

          “Don’t bother me,” Kikyo said, about to walk away.

          “Wait a minute,” InuYasha said. “Kikyo, do you know about the Bone-Eater’s Well?”

          “Yes,” Kikyo replied. “But it has nothing to do with me, only that girl whom you cling to.”

          “Kagome,” InuYasha muttered. “She’s caused me a lot of trouble.”

          “Forget about her,” Kikyo said. “Come die with me, InuYasha.”

          “Kikyo, that well… can you enter it?” InuYasha asked.

          “Why would it matter?” Kikyo asked. “I have no desire to enter it.”

          “These days, it’s all about Kagome, and her archery skills,” InuYasha explained. “I’m sick of her getting all the attention over it… I wish someone could beat her at her competition.”

          Kikyo gave InuYasha a cold stare. “You’re saying you want me to go into that well, travel to her time and beat her at an archery competition?” she asked.

          “Yeah, I guess,” InuYasha responded.

          Kikyo laughed. “You’re such a fool, InuYasha,” she said. “I have no time to waste on such a silly expedition.”

          “But, there’s something in it for you,” InuYasha said. “You could prove that you are a better archer than her.”

          “I don’t care about that girl of yours,” Kikyo said. “It makes no difference to me whether she thinks she’s better than me.”

          InuYasha thought about his words carefully, then gave his response. “Your sister, Kaede, says that my true love is the one who can aim her arrow perfectly, right at my heart,” he lied, hoping his fabrication would convince Kikyo to go to the well. “She says that if Kagome has surpassed the one who originally sealed me to the tree, then she has become the real Kikyo.”

          Kikyo paused to think about InuYasha’s story. At first, she figured it was nothing more than a desperate attempt by InuYasha to get her to do something for him. But after thinking about it more, she realized that there was some truth to the story after all. Kagome was her reincarnation, yet Kagome remained a different identity. But, perhaps if Kagome now had surpassed her in archery skills, it perhaps meant that Kagome was taking away her identity altogether. It bothered Kikyo greatly to think that while she still existed in this world, her identity could be stolen by another girl, which would render her existence meaningless.

          “Take me to the well,” Kikyo told InuYasha. “If it is possible to enter it, I will. And I will prove that I am still Kikyo, and that no one can take away my identity.”

          InuYasha almost smiled, but then silently led Kikyo toward the well. He was in a bit of disbelief that Kikyo agreed to come along, not realizing that his words had struck her in such a strong way. As the two traveled along their way to the well, they not only had no idea where to find Kagome for this competition, but they also did not even know if Kikyo could in fact enter the well. Nevertheless, they trudged on.

          One way or another, things were about to get dicey.