Chapter 1

Olympic Trials

 

          For Kagome Higurashi, it was an ordinary day, just like the way it used to be. Here she was, sitting in class, taking in all the usual sights of school life. This was comforting to her, a relief from all the violence and peril that goes on in the feudal world. She promised InuYasha to be back in feudal Japan by the weekend, but for now she could forget about whether InuYasha was more interested in Kikyo than her, and if he preferred that dead girl to her...

          …So perhaps Kagome could not completely put InuYasha out of her mind. But at least this was her way of taking a vacation, even if it meant having to take tests.

          The bell rang, and Kagome grabbed her backpack, leaving the classroom, where she met up with her friends, Yuka, Eri and Ayumi.

          “It’s club time!” Yuka chirped.

          “We’re off to the photography club, Kagome!” Eri added.

          “What club are you in again, Kagome?” Ayumi asked.

          “The archery club,” Kagome responded, with a bit of disappointment in her voice.

          “Well, we’ll be seeing you!” Eri said.

          “Bye!” Yuka said.

          Kagome sighed. She knew she could have chosen to be with her friends, which would have perhaps been more fun for her, but she felt a strong urge to be part of the archery club. After all, she had become much better of an archer during her time in the feudal era. Why waste that talent? It was one of the few times, if any, Kagome could truly be considered the best at what she did in the human world.

---

          “Another perfect end!” an archery instructor exclaimed. “Miss Higurashi, you’re amazing!”

          Kagome just shrugged and brushed her hand through her hair. To her, hitting the bullseye was to be expected; anything less was a disappointment. She walked over to a bench and sat down, taking a rest, when she noticed two men in suits talking to the archery instructors. It seemed unusual to her, but she chose not to worry about it, instead staring at the other archers in her club.

          “Miss Higurashi!” the first archery instructor shouted.

          “Yes?” Kagome said, startled.

          “I want you to meet some people,” the archery instructor told her.

          The instructor then introduced Kagome to the men wearing suits, who he told her were members of the Japanese Olympic Committee. Kagome nodded her head, but looked confused. What did they have to do with her?

          “Miss Higurashi,” the first Olympic committee member said, “we would like to extend an invitation to you to join us this weekend at the Japanese Olympic Trials.”

          “Our nation has never won a gold medal in archery, but from what we have just seen, you could very well become the first,” the other committee member added.

          The Olympics… Kagome thought. That never crossed my mind before now… but I’m surely not that good, am I? Anyway, I can’t make InuYasha mad by leaving him even longer than five days...

          “Thank you,” Kagome replied, “but I really have an important place to be this weekend, and I’m not sure I’m good enough to be an Olympic archer, anyway…”

          “Miss Higurashi!” the first committee member exclaimed. “This is about your country! Think of the honor you could bring to all the people of Japan!”

          “We have watched you practice today, and from seeing your scores, we are sure that you have the talent to compete with the best in the world,” the other committee member added.

          Kagome thought it over. Okay, maybe InuYasha can wait… just a little longer…

          “Okay, I will,” Kagome told the committee members. “I hope to make our nation proud.”

---

          “The Olympic trials?” Kagome’s brother, Sota, asked. “Are you really that good?”

          “Well, that’s what those men told me,” Kagome replied. “I don’t really think so, but I guess it’s worth a try.”

          “The Olympics?” Kagome’s grandfather said. “Well, it seems we have another athlete in the family! Let me tell you about my time in the Olympics. Back in 1964, when the Olympics were in Tokyo…”

          Kagome began to eat the food that her mother served her, while tuning out yet another one of her grandfather’s stories. She was more concerned about how InuYasha would feel…

---

          InuYasha stared at the setting sun while sitting on the edge of the Bone-Eater’s Well. He knew he had counted the days correctly since Kagome left, and this was indeed the evening she promised to come back- a day which Kagome dubbed “Friday.” But there was no Kagome to be seen. He at first just figured she was a little late, but as the moon replaced the sun in the sky, he became very anxious.

          “Aw, is InuYasha waiting at the well for his girlfriend?” Shippo taunted InuYasha.

          “Shut up, Shippo!” InuYasha yelled, grabbing Shippo by the tail.

          “InuYasha’s being mean to me!” Shippo cried to Miroku and Sango.

          “Let him go, InuYasha,” Sango said, which InuYasha did.

          “Don’t worry about Kagome,” Miroku added. “She is known to be late from time to time. Maybe she fell asleep early. She will surely be here in the morning.”

          “I hope you’re right,” InuYasha responded. “It always makes me mad when she does this.”

          “Come on now, it’s not like she’s been away for three years,” Miroku said.

          The group then all went to sleep, with only InuYasha being restless.

---

       It was Saturday morning, the day of the Olympic archery trials, and Kagome headed to the train station. She boarded a bullet train headed to the site of the trials. Along the way she thought about how InuYasha was probably missing her… but she quickly put that out of her mind, because she knew she had to be totally focused today.

          Upon arriving at the site of the Olympic trials, she noticed how serious everyone seemed to be, particularly the other competitors. This was totally out-of-place for the energetic Kagome, but more than that, she had a hard time understanding how people could be worried about something like this. She knew what true serious situations were like, life-and-death ones. This at least served as a way of taking the pressure off her.

          She looked at a paper which explained the format of the competition. All of the archers would shoot 72 arrows. The top three archers in the final points standings would be invited to the Olympic team. It seemed like a pretty daunting task, but she was ready for it.

          The competition began, but it was not for quite a while until Kagome finally got her chance to shoot her first twelve arrows. Once it was her turn, she nervously stepped up to her spot and prepared to shoot. There was a light breeze, but not much to worry about. And then she fired the first arrow.

          Bullseye.

          The first twelve shots for Kagome went by so quickly she could hardly remember what happened. All she knew is that when she was finished, she looked at a scoreboard, which showed her score of 111, and she was thrilled.

          “Miss Higurashi, that’s a new Japanese women’s record!” an official told her.

          “Really?” the always bubbly Kagome responded. “Wow!”

          The competition continued on, and no other player came close to matching Kagome’s score, even on the men’s side. Kagome added several more ends in the 100s, before finishing with a final score of 659, another Japanese women’s record.

          As the final competitors went through their last ends, people were already coming up to Kagome, congratulating her.

          “Miss Higurashi, you’re going to the Olympics!” one told her.

          “You’re going to bring home the gold!” another added.

          Kagome was speechless. She simply smiled, not allowing any of her newfound fame to go to her head.

          When the competition finally came to a close, Kagome was announced as the winner of the women’s competition, and that she had earned one of three berths to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The announcer added that Kagome had won by such a significant margin that she could have forfeited her final six arrows and still come out on top. Everyone gathered at the trials cheered. Kagome gave an embarrassed smile; she was not used to such glory.

---

          It was now Saturday evening. InuYasha had waited, somewhat patiently, somewhat impatiently, for Kagome to return. He had not budged from the edge of the Bone-Eater’s Well for hours, yet he refused to jump in. He figured Kagome would be angry if he came looking for her early on, and besides, he was stubborn. He made his decision not to go after her, and he was sticking to it. But by this time, he was just about out of patience.

“Where is she!” an angry InuYasha yelled.

“Calm down, InuYasha,” Miroku replied. “I’m sure she’s not doing this on purpose.”

“Well, I’ve had it with waiting!” InuYasha shouted. “I’m going to find her, whether she likes it or not!”

He jumped into the Bone-Eater’s Well, feeling kind of embarrassed for going after Kagome, but determined to find out what was going on.

---

          “Wow, congratulations, sister!” Sota exclaimed, after hearing all about Kagome’s success at the Olympic trials.

          “We are so proud of you!” Kagome’s mother told her.

          “Just what I expected from my granddaughter!” Kagome’s grandfather said. “But you should hear what it took to make the Olympics back in my day…”

          As Kagome’s grandfather started in on another story, the others noticed a pounding on the back door. Kagome came rushing over to the door, wondering if it had something to do with the Olympics. When she saw InuYasha’s face, she was both embarrassed and angry at the same time. She had only one thing to say to him:

          “Sit!”

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.

Chapter 3

Qualification Round

          InuYasha and Kikyo stood over the Bone-Eater’s Well, looking down into it. Neither of them wanted to take a step, however; Kikyo feared stepping in and not being able to get out, while InuYasha thought that if he went in first, Kikyo may just abandon him.

          “Let’s go in,” InuYasha said to Kikyo.

          “Why do you think I will be able to go through that well?” Kikyo asked.

          “Kagome is your reincarnation,” InuYasha replied. “If she can go through, I would think you could, too.”

          Kikyo did not budge, so InuYasha thought of something else.

          “Do you have a shard of the Shikon Jewel?” he asked her.

          “I have several,” Kikyo responded.

          “Maybe if you use the jewel shard, it can give you the power to go through the well, just like Kagome,” InuYasha suggested.

          “I’m not wasting the jewel shards over this,” Kikyo replied sternly.

          “No, just as long as you have one, you may be able to go through the well,” InuYasha said.

          He then held out his hand, which Kikyo took, while holding her bow with her other hand. The two then stepped into the well together. And as they did, they both traveled through time, ending up in modern-day Tokyo, in the morning of August 9th. They climbed out of the well, finding themselves at the Higurashi shrine.

          “See, I told you it would work,” a surprised and relieved InuYasha said. “This is Kagome’s world here.”

          Kikyo was not interested in sightseeing. “Where are Kagome and this competition you speak of?” she asked.

          “I’m not sure, but I’ll find it, don’t worry,” InuYasha answered Kikyo, who was growing angrier by the minute.

          He led Kikyo into Kagome’s house. Remembering that Kagome always forced him to wear a hat when he was in her time, he took a Hanshin Tigers baseball cap off a desk and put it on, covering his ears. He then sat down and thought of a plan. Everyone thought Kagome looked like Kikyo, so perhaps people would think Kikyo looked like Kagome. And considering Kikyo was still holding her bow…

          “We have to go out to where there are more people,” InuYasha told Kikyo.

          Kikyo continued to feel strange about this situation, but she followed InuYasha anyway as he led her out into the streets. As they walked along, several people saw Kikyo holding her bow and mistook her for Kagome. One man who thought she was Kagome became concerned, as he had watched the archery trials as a spectator, and he figured that Kagome should be in China by now.

          “Excuse me, but are you Kagome?” the man asked Kikyo.

          Seeing InuYasha give her a slight nod, Kikyo answered yes.

          “Why aren’t you at the Olympics?” the man questioned. “I thought the archery competition started today!”

          Kikyo took the improvisation from here. “I am not able to get there,” she responded. “I do not have the money.”

          “I can’t believe this!” the man shouted. “Our government wouldn’t even offer to help a young girl follow her Olympic dream! This is an outrage!”

          Things began to snowball from there, as InuYasha hoped they would. The man took InuYasha and Kikyo to a government building, where the local officials got on the phone with the Japanese Olympic Committee. When the Japanese Olympic Committee heard about this, they were skeptical, but they also realized that their archery team had lost two members to illness. Because of this, they offered to pay any expenses and sent out a committee member to help escort the archer on her way to China.

          In the matter of a couple hours, InuYasha and Kikyo were led by an anxious committee member to the airport, where he had them board a plane. Both of them were extremely nervous about getting on the jet, not knowing what this giant machine possibly was, but they did so anyway. The plane took them to Beijing.

          Once they arrived in Beijing, the committee member hastily led them to the Olympic Village, where they met up with the archery officials. The officials looked confused when they heard the story and then saw Kikyo; they remembered seeing Kagome the night before at the Opening Ceremony. However, since they had two free spots open on their team, they were willing to accept any archer at this point.

          “You resemble Kagome, our star archer,” one of the archery officials told Kikyo. “However, we know that Kagome is already here, so please tell us, what is your name?”

          “I am Kikyo,” Kikyo responded.

          “Kikyo,” a second official said. “Are you related to Kagome?”

          Kikyo wrinkled her nose at that comment. “In a way, yes,” she answered.

          “Okay,” the first official said. “We are going to fill out the paperwork to get you officially part of our team, and then you will be able to compete in a few hours.”

          As the officials went to work, InuYasha smiled at Kikyo, who kept her stern expression. “What have you gotten me into?” she muttered to him.

---

          All of this occurred unbeknownst to Kagome. She had awakened that morning feeling very nervous about the day’s upcoming qualification round, but her family tried everything they could in order to keep her calm. After eating lunch, they visited the sites at the Olympic Green for a while, trying to keep Kagome’s mind off the competition. But eventually, the hour for the qualification round came around, and Kagome was off to the Olympic Green Archery Field to compete, while her family took seats in the stands – on the opposite side of the stadium as InuYasha.

          Kagome tried to mentally prepare herself for the competition, as the archers all gathered together. She walked over to a board which showed her position in the shooting order. After finding out that she would be shooting near the end, she sat down on a bench and waited for the competition to begin.

          In the meantime, the Japanese archery officials had brought Kikyo to the archery venue. After discussing whether or not to tell Kagome about her new teammate, they decided it would be better to not tell her so shortly before the competition, in order not to distract her.

          The qualification round began, which was in the exact same format as the Olympic Trials- 72 arrows per archer, split up into 6 ends of 12 arrows each. (As 10 is the maximum score per arrow, a 120 is the best score for an end.) However, not a single archer would be eliminated from medal contention today. Instead, the competition merely served as a form of seeding the archers for the single-elimination tournament that would begin the following day. There were to be 64 archers in the tournament originally, but the number had dropped to 62 with the dropout of the other two Japanese archers. That number now increased to 63 with Kikyo’s entry, meaning that the top archer in the qualification round would earn a bye through the first round of the tournament.

          Kagome did not pay much attention to the other archers, feeling that watching them could possibly throw her off and make her more nervous. She looked to find her family in the stands, and she did so. She waved to them, and they waved back. She did not happen to look over to the other side of the stands, where InuYasha watched with great interest. Nor did she even look at the other archers, merely choosing to either look to her family or stare at the ground and focus.

          After 59 archers shot their arrows, it was time for Kagome to shoot her first end. She felt the butterflies in her stomach, but tried to ignore them. It was finally time for her first arrow in Olympic competition. She aimed her bow, stared down the target, then fired.

          Bullseye.

          And so it went for Kagome in her first end, who shot a new Japanese women’s record of 113 in her first end, immediately propelling her to the lead. She could hardly believe it as she looked up to see her score on the scoreboard, while hearing the crowd roar. She waved to the cheering fans, including her family. Since the fans were such good sports, all of them cheered for her brilliant round, no matter what nation or archer they were rooting for. All, that is, except for one- a jealous InuYasha.

          Kagome was so caught up in the excitement of her first end that she failed to notice when, four archers later, a competitor’s name was mispronounced “Kick-yo,” drawing a groan from InuYasha but no response from anyone else. That archer shot a score of 112 - good enough for second place, but not good enough to draw the roar that Kagome had, and thus not enough to cause Kagome to look up.

          The second end immediately followed, and several archers put up good scores, but still none close to Kagome’s or Kikyo’s score. A couple of South Korean archers were doing pretty well, as well as a Chinese archer. But once Kagome came up again, feeling much less nervous than before, she blew everyone away again with a score of 113, padding her lead and tying her Japanese record. And just like before, she paid no attention when Kikyo stepped up and shot a 112.

          So on came the third end, which proved to be an exciting one. An American archer completely missed the target, not even coming anywhere near it, and she wound up shooting a terrible end. A French archer shot 3 arrows in a row into the “1” ring, causing her to fall back in the standings immensely. Other archers also seemed to have ends that were uncharacteristically poor for them. But Kagome ignored all them. And when she stepped up to aim her first arrow, she brimmed with confidence. She ended up putting up an even better score – 114. With that, she broke her own Japanese record for the second time in the same round. As the crowd cheered even louder, InuYasha sulked in his seat. When Kikyo then shot a 113 to fall 3 points behind Kagome, he was beside himself. He brought Kikyo here to show Kagome up, and Kagome was showing him up!

          The fourth end saw quite a few archers put up some good scores to move them up in the standings. No one, however, was touching either of the Japanese archers in the points race. The Japanese archery officials watched with glee as they saw the two Japanese flags next to the names on the top of the scoreboard. Those names would become even more firmly planted up there, as Kagome shot another 114, tying her new Japanese record, and Kikyo tied it as well with a 114. At this point, the crowd did not cheer as loudly for a tied record, as it was something they had seen before, so there was no loud cheer for Kikyo that would draw Kagome’s attention.

          The fifth end rolled around, with archers putting more pressure on themselves to improve their position. It seemed to backfire for some, however, as a German archer desperate to move up in the standings ended up missing the target badly, while a Russian archer sent four straight arrows outside of the “5” ring. They were in no condition to catch Kagome or Kikyo, but for that matter, neither was anyone else. The South Korean archers, some of the best in the world, found themselves frustrated as their best efforts could not move them close to either Japanese archer in the standings. They felt even more helpless as Kagome and Kikyo both posted scores of 114, each tying the Japanese record yet again as they did.

          Entering the sixth end, Kagome held the lead at 568, with Kikyo three points back at 565. The closest competitor to either was a South Korean archer at 538, and no other archer was even in the 530s. Many fans were just interested to see which Japanese archer would finish on top of the points standings, knowing no one else stood a chance.

          The added pressure of the final end seemed to affect several of the top archers, while others rose to the occasion and posted personal bests in order to move up. Kagome, meanwhile, stared at the ground, feeling more butterflies than before. She was worried that she would suffer a breakdown in this final end and hurt her position in the standings. All the time, Kagome did not check the scoreboard, but she figured herself to be in first place, due to the fact that she had received the loudest cheers of the day.

          It finally came time for Kagome to shoot her last end of the qualification round. She stepped up and shot every arrow brilliantly. The fans were becoming more and more excited with every arrow she fired. And when her end was finished, the crowd exploded with cheers. Kagome knew she had shot well, but she did not realize how well until the scoreboard showed her score – 116, with the letters “OR” next to them.

          It was an Olympic record end. Moreover, it gave her the new Olympic record for a qualification round at 684. Through the crowd’s cheers, the public address announcer’s voice boomed with this statement: “Kagome Higurashi has just set a new Olympic record for a qualification round!”

          When Kagome heard this announcement, she was filled with ecstasy. What she had just done was better than what any other archer had done in the history of the Olympic Games. Maybe in the feudal era, she was the worst fighter, the weakest, the most helpless. But now, she could truly call herself special – perhaps even great. But the pure-hearted Kagome was not one to let it go to her head. She simply felt her self-esteem built up, allowing herself to soak in all the joy while not getting too arrogant.

          In fact, she was still basking in all the excitement when Kikyo came up as the final archer of the sixth end. She was busy waving to her family as the crowd began getting more and more exciting, as if something great was slowly happening – and it was.

          After Kikyo’s eighth arrow, a Chinese archer who sat in sixth place walked over to Kagome and tapped her on the shoulder. She then said something, which Kagome did not understand.

          “I’m sorry,” Kagome said, “I don’t know Chinese.”

          The Chinese girl realized Kagome did not understand her, and then pointed at Kikyo, who shot her ninth arrow. This arrow – like all the others in this end – hit the bullseye, and this brilliant performance was the reason why the Chinese archer was trying to get Kagome’s attention. But all Kagome saw was the archer, not the score, or the location of the arrow.

          That girl looks an awful lot like Kikyo, Kagome thought at first, feeling disgusted to even think about that name. But as Kikyo shot her tenth arrow right at the bullseye, Kagome noticed the way she shot it, and realized this girl was a dead ringer for Kikyo.

          I’m imagining things, that’s not Kikyo, Kagome thought. This archer just must really resemble her, maybe that’s just a great shooting technique that archers use, that makes her look so much like Kikyo. But as Kikyo hit the bullseye for an eleventh straight time, Kagome couldn’t help looking up to the scoreboard to find out the archer’s name.

          To her horror, the name clearly read “Kikyo.” With that, Kagome shot her eyes right back at the archer. It was Kikyo. This competition, these Olympics, this must all be a dream, Kagome thought. I must be dreaming about trying to beat Kikyo at something.

          Pinching herself did not change reality, however. This was happening. Kikyo was there, in 2008, in Beijing, China, for the Olympic Games. She was competing against Kagome in an archery competition, which Kagome had thought would be finally her chance to shine. And of all places for her archrival to show up, Kikyo was here.

          Kikyo fired her twelfth arrow, and it, like every arrow before it in this end, landed right in the center of the target. The crowd erupted like it never had before. Kikyo had just wiped Kagome out of the Olympic record books, shooting a perfect 120 end, as well as a 685 for her qualification round score. Kagome’s family clapped for Kikyo, disappointed that Kagome’s records had been broken, but showing good sportsmanship while realizing that Kagome’s gold-medal chances were still totally alive. InuYasha did not cheer. He merely smirked, while seeing Kagome staring in a state of shock. He reveled in the sweet taste of revenge, getting back at Kagome for her recent dismissal of him.

          But the ultimate reaction came from Kikyo. In her usual fashion, she did not smile. She merely turned around from her shooting position and began to walk back in the direction of where she had stayed while the other archers were shooting. But as she did, Kagome caught her eye, and she turned her head to stare Kagome right in the eyes. It was the coldest stare imaginable, a death glare, as if to say, “I’m still better than you.”

          The public announcer’s voice blasted across the stadium, saying, “Please congratulate the new Olympic record holder for a qualification round, with a score of 685, from Japan, Kikyo!” And this time, he pronounced her name correctly.

          Kagome just stood there, staring at Kikyo, as she began to walk away. She felt all sorts of feelings: shock, disbelief, anger, disappointment, heartbreak, worry, confusion. But most of all, she felt sadness, as all her previous joy was wiped away. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she began to cry hysterically.

          Her Olympic dream had turned into a nightmare.

Chapter 4

Elimination – Round 1

          A Japanese archery official came over to Kagome in order to tell her information about the next round of the competition. When he saw her in tears, he figured that she was merely crying tears of joy.

          “Congratulations, Miss Higurashi,” one of them told her, as he looked at a stat sheet. “You have qualified 2nd for the elimination round, and you will be facing an archer from Greece in the first round, as she qualified in last place. Her name is…”

          The official suddenly noticed that Kagome had completely ignored her and ran off, heading for the exit to the stadium.

          “Miss Higurashi!” he called, running after her, but it was too late. Kagome had found her way out of the stadium, and as a large crowd also was on their way out, he could no longer find her.

          Kagome was waiting for her family, and as they came to her, they too began offering her congratulations. It took a minute for them to realize that she was upset.

          “What’s the matter, sis?” Sota asked her.

          “Ki… Ki… Kikyo…” Kagome stuttered through her tears.

          “Kikyo?” Kagome’s mother asked.

          “Kikyo,” Kagome said, her voice filled with anger. “She’s here!”

          “Who’s this Kikyo?” Kagome’s grandfather asked.

          Kagome had never told her family about Kikyo, and this was the worst possible time for her to have to explain who she was. So she came up with the easiest description she could: “She’s my rival.”

          “Rival?” Kagome’s mother asked, thinking Kagome was only feeling disappointment over being in second place. “Kagome, you did well. You should be proud of yourself.”

          “She… she’s always there,” Kagome cried. “Always!”

          At this point, Kagome’s mother became quite worried. Her daughter had just turned in one of the best performances in the history of Olympic archery, but here she was, hysterical, upset about some girl who was apparently haunting her. So she put her arm around Kagome and told grandfather to get a cab, so they could go back to the hotel and talk things out.

---

          After an hour-long talk with her daughter in her hotel room (while Sota and his grandfather were off watching a basketball game, at her request), Mrs. Higurashi finally thought she understood the situation. If not for her father-in-law, she may never have been able to accept this crazy talk of time travel, half-demons and reincarnations. But now she seemed to have it straight: Kikyo, a rival to Kagome when it came to InuYasha’s affection, had somehow traveled through time to compete in the Olympics against her.

          “How do you think this Kikyo found out you were in the Olympics?” Kagome’s mother asked her daughter.

          “InuYasha,” Kagome answered. “That’s the only way.”

          “So you think InuYasha did this to you in order to spite you?” Kagome’s mother asked.

          “He was mad at me for not spending time with him, for delaying our search for Naraku, for being better than him at something,” Kagome responded. “But I didn’t think he… loved her more…”

          Mrs. Higurashi sat in silence as Kagome’s eyes began to well up again. Her daughter was in love with InuYasha, who apparently was choosing Kikyo over her. But one thing gave her hope.

          “Kagome,” Mrs. Higurashi continued, “InuYasha may have had Kikyo come here to get back at you, but there may be more than that. Maybe he misses you so much, that now he has become very angry, and this is his way of taking out his anger.”

          “He doesn’t care about me!” Kagome cried. “If he truly missed me, if he truly wanted me, he wouldn’t do this! He loves Kikyo so much more than me that he wanted to rub it in my face! I’m never going back to the feudal era! Never!”

          She took the three jewel shards that were in her pocket and threw them across the room. “I don’t need those anymore!” she yelled. “I don’t need to see that fool ever again!”

          At that statement, Kagome’s mother thought of something Kagome had not mentioned: “Maybe InuYasha came with her.”

          “So what if he did?” Kagome snapped. “I don’t ever want to see him, or that stuck-up Kikyo ever again!”

          “But Kagome,” Mrs. Higurashi said, “at least Kikyo will be at the competition tomorrow.”

          “And I won’t!” Kagome yelled. “I’m not going to compete. I quit!”

          “Kagome, it’s the Olympics!” Mrs. Higurashi protested. “This is the chance of a lifetime! If you drop out you’ll always regret it. Besides, it’s your country you’re representing.”

          “I don’t care,” the upset Kagome replied. “I can’t go there.”

          Kagome’s mother thought it not best to argue with her daughter anymore. She simply hugged the tearful Kagome, feeling very sad for her daughter’s troubles.

---

          The Japanese archery officials showed InuYasha and Kikyo to their apartment in the Beijing Olympic Village. The officials then told the two that they would be around to pick them up the next morning for the elimination round, before leaving.

          Once they were out of the room, Kikyo gave InuYasha a cold look. “Aren’t you going to thank me?” she asked him.

          “Yeah, I guess,” he replied. “I just wonder how Kagome feels now.”

          “Why do you care how she feels?” Kikyo asked. “I thought you brought me here to get back at her.”

          “I know I did,” InuYasha responded. “But I don’t want her to hate me or anything… how did she look when she saw you?”

          “She looked stunned,” Kikyo answered.

          “Did she look upset?” InuYasha questioned.

          Kikyo became frustrated with InuYasha’s constant questions about Kagome. “InuYasha, if you truly cared how she feels, why did you bring me here?” she responded.

          InuYasha looked down in silence, as Kikyo had made a good point.

          “InuYasha, forget about her,” Kikyo said. “I want to die here with you.”

          “Enough of that nonsense!” InuYasha snapped. “You came here to win this competition, not to die!”

          “As you wish,” Kikyo replied. “But however that girl feels- that’s your fault.”

---

          When Sota and his grandfather returned to the hotel room late that night, they were met by Mrs. Higurashi outside the room, who told them that Kagome was sleeping inside.

          “That’s fine, we’ll just be quiet,” Kagome’s grandfather said.

          Mrs. Higurashi gave a weak smile. “No, you won’t,” she replied.

          She walked them down to the lobby, where she told them about Kagome’s refusal to compete in the Olympics anymore. When Kagome’s grandfather heard this, he began to shout, furious that his granddaughter would bail out on her country.

          “I told you that you wouldn’t stay quiet,” Mrs. Higurashi said.

          “I can’t believe it! She’s giving up a chance at honoring her country over that InuYasha! This can’t be!” Kagome’s grandfather yelled.

          “Mom, she can’t quit,” Sota remarked. “She’s so good… I admire her more than ever.”

          “Relax,” Mrs. Higurashi replied. “I have a feeling that all she needs is a good rest, and everything will be fine tomorrow morning.”

---

          “I’m not going!” a furious Kagome yelled, with her arms crossed.

          It was the next morning, and Kagome’s family was pleading with her to go to the event, but she refused. She was now angry, instead of sad, and she was feeling quite stubborn.

          “The nation of Japan is counting on you!” her grandfather shouted. “This is important to millions!”

          “I don’t care!” Kagome snapped. “They can have Kikyo!”

          “Kagome,” her mother gently said. “Please.”

          “Nope!” Kagome responded. “I’m not competing!”

          “But sis!” Sota pleaded. “You can win this thing and beat that girl and get back at her!”

          This changed Kagome’s demeanor from angry to sad again, for she thought about Sota’s statement, and realized her mindset: that she can’t beat Kikyo.

          “I’m not… I’m not embarrassing myself,” Kagome said. “I’m not giving her the satisfaction of beating me.”

          There was a long silent pause, before Sota spoke up.

          “Sis, if you give up now, she has beaten you,” he commented.

          Kagome then realized that what her younger brother was saying to her was true. Allowing Kikyo to stop her from chasing her dream would be worse than having to see her smug face.

          “I guess you’re right,” Kagome said. “What could I do without my brother for help?”

          And with that, she led her family out of the hotel room, ready to compete in the next round after all.

---

          Kagome’s family arrived at the stadium, where they took their seats in the stands, while Kagome walked over to where the other archers had convened. As she went over to meet up with the Japanese archery officials, she saw two familiar faces walking into the area – InuYasha and Kikyo.

          “Ka-Kagome!” InuYasha exclaimed, feeling quite embarrassed, while Kikyo stood there silently.

          Kagome stared at InuYasha, gave him a disappointed look, then turned around and walked away. He looked on after her, wanting her to turn back and say something to him, but she did not.

          “She didn’t even say ‘Sit’?” InuYasha wondered. “Does she… not even care?”

          “That’s your problem,” Kikyo told InuYasha.

          A Japanese archery official showed Kagome the bracket for the tournament, which had her competing against a Grecian archer in the first round. The official noted that Kikyo would have a bye through the first round, which caused Kagome to sigh with frustration. He then told Kagome that she would actually be competing in the first match of the day, so she should get ready.

          Kagome walked over to her seat to wait for the announcer to declare the beginning of the round. She saw her family in the stands and waved to them, although not nearly as enthusiastically or happily as she did the day before. She then looked over to the other side of the stadium and noticed InuYasha, who sat in his seat with a long look on his face. She quickly averted her eyes off him, and tried to mentally prepare herself for the round – but she was having a tough time of that.

          The public address announcer gave his proclamation that her match was to begin, and the Grecian archer stepped up to aim her first arrow. In these head-to-head matches, each archer would shoot four ends of three arrows each, for twelve arrows total. The player with the higher score after the four ends would be the winner of the match.

          The archer from Greece shot her first end terribly, putting arrows in the “5,” “3,” and “4” rings. She was clearly frustrated by her performance, but it was nothing new; having qualified in last place, she had been having control issues ever since the beginning of the qualification round.

          Kagome took her mark and fired her first arrow. This one hit the “7” ring, an uncharacteristic mistake for Kagome, who had not hit any ring outside the “8” ring since she had been here in Beijing! The crowd gasped as she then hit the “6” ring with her next arrow. Her final arrow hit the “8” ring, giving her a 21-12 lead after one end, but it was clearly not the type of performance Kagome was capable of.

          The crowd seemed to ignore the fact that the Grecian archer had started off poorly. There was disbelief in what had just gone on with Kagome’s first end. This girl had looked like one of the greatest archers in the history of the sport just a day before; what had gotten into her?

          As the archer from Greece posted a much better score of 24 in her second end, Kagome felt herself completely losing focus. Her stomach churned as thoughts of InuYasha and Kikyo kissing crossed her mind. All she could see was that cold stare of Kikyo’s, a look of silent arrogance. When she walked up to shoot her next arrow, she clearly was not feeling right, and the crowd let out a giant gasp as her first arrow hit the “3” ring.

          The Japanese archery officials began to scramble as they saw Kagome struggling. This girl was the one they selected, the one they thought would bring home the gold. Now she was falling apart here in the first round. As she hit the “6” ring, the officials shook their heads in disbelief. They felt helpless, though, as there was nothing they could do. Kagome fired her final arrow into the “7” ring, giving her a 16, and thus barely keeping her lead, at 37-36 after two ends.

          Archery experts watching this were stunned at what was going on. Neither archer looked worthy of even being in the Olympics; was there something wrong with the bows they were using? Or was the wind blowing too harshly? They could clearly see that it was not, so they scratched their heads in befuddlement.

          The Grecian archer put up a score of 22, and unbelievably enough, the pressure was on Kagome. She put her first arrow into the “8” ring, but then fired both of the others into the “7” ring, matching her opponent’s 22, and keeping only a one-point lead at 59-58.

          The archery experts started scrambling through the record books to find the lowest-ever score by a winning archer in an elimination round. The Japanese archery officials crossed their fingers and hoped for the best. Kagome’s family looked on with worry. InuYasha felt incredibly guilty. Kikyo watched without a care.

          The archer from Greece finally hit the “9” ring, then hit the “8” ring twice to give her a final score of 83. This meant that Kagome needed at least a 25 to win, or a 24 to at least tie.

          No one felt worse about her performance than Kagome, but she just could not get her mind focused. Every time she even looked at the target, it reminded her of Kikyo. Her mind was so out of focus at this point that she grabbed the bow just hoping her shots would find the target. Her first arrow hit the “6” ring, and yet another gasp went up from the crowd. Was the #63-seeded Grecian archer about to pull off one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history?

          Kagome found enough focus to hit the “8” ring with her next arrow, but she found herself in an inevitable position: either hit the bullseye, or be eliminated in the first round. And considering that she had not even hit the “9” ring yet in this round, things looked utterly bleak.

          She had a 30-second time limit to shoot the final arrow. With that time, she began to think about how the effort it took for her to get here, and how far she had come as an archer. Then, suddenly, a voice rang out of the stands.

          “Come on, Kagome!”

          It was the voice of InuYasha. Kagome was shocked to hear him, but hearing him support her gave her all the confidence she needed. She looked over at him in the stands, winked at him, then fired her final arrow at the target.

          A match-tying bullseye.

          The crowd erupted with cheers as the score came up, 83-83. The archers would now shoot extra arrows to determine the winner. Experts began discussing who they thought had the advantage. But at this point, there was no discussion.

          Every ounce of Kagome’s confidence and focus had returned.

          The Grecian archer went first, and she shot an 8. Many wondered if Kagome would be able to match her, but when they saw Kagome’s next shot, there was no doubt.

          It hit the very center of the target, as perfect as you can get.

          And with that, the crowd roared with cheers. Kagome’s family celebrated, seeing the final score come up, 83-83 (10-8). The Japanese archery officials hugged each other with glee. Kagome and the Grecian archer shook hands. But no one in the stadium cheered louder than InuYasha.

          “Kagome Higurashi advances to the second round!” the public address announcer said. Kikyo simply looked away, giving no response.

          Kagome was thrilled that she had won, but even happier than InuYasha had called out to her. She looked over to see him in the stands, and he was standing up clapping for her.

          Those first eleven arrows weren’t me, Kagome thought. Next round, I’ll show everyone what kind of archer I really am.

Chapter 5

Elimination – Round 2

          Kagome Higurashi had just survived what would have been the biggest upset in Olympic history. Now, as the first round of elimination continued, she took a seat to relax. She had regained so much confidence after hearing InuYasha root for her… but then, that made her think… why was he rooting for her? Wasn’t he the one who caused all her problems in the first place by bringing Kikyo here?

          She sighed when thinking about this, trying to stop herself from becoming angry. She resolved to not even think about InuYasha or Kikyo for the rest of the day, as she knew that she had to win another match today in order to stay alive in the competition.

          So while archers were competing against each other, she began to completely zone out. She was almost at the point of falling asleep when someone said her name. And the voice that said it was unmistakable.

          “InuYasha,” Kagome said. She turned to see the half-demon standing behind her, looking more ashamed than she had ever seen him look before.

          “Kagome,” InuYasha replied, “I’m... I’m sorry.”

          Kagome did not know whether to be shocked over InuYasha being sorry or whether to be thrilled that he actually admitted it. She simply gave him a smile, remaining silent.

          “You aren’t going to make me sit?” InuYasha asked.

          “Well, if you want to…” Kagome replied.

          “Wait, I didn’t mean-”

          “Sit!”

          InuYasha collapsed to the ground, and Kagome laughed. This time, though, InuYasha managed to smile about it as well.

          “Kagome, I was jealous of you,” InuYasha admitted. “I brought Kikyo here to beat you.”

          “That much I already knew,” Kagome responded.

          “When you looked at me like that earlier… it looked like… you no longer cared about me at all,” InuYasha continued.

          “Why would that bother you?” Kagome asked with a smile, hoping to provoke a certain response from InuYasha.

          “Uh, um,” an embarrassed InuYasha responded. “Uh, well, you know… oh, all right! I care how you feel about me!”

          “Awww…” Kagome said, grabbing InuYasha’s face, as he became extremely embarrassed.

          “So you forgive me?” InuYasha asked.

          “Maybe…” a thoughtful Kagome answered. She then looked across the expanse of the stadium, seeing Kikyo standing by herself, waiting for the first round to be finished.

          “There’s something you could do for me,” she told InuYasha.

          She then lifted up InuYasha’s baseball cap and whispered something into one of his dog ears. It took only a second to get a reaction from him.

          “I can’t!” he yelled.

          Just as he shouted, a Russian archer was distracted and totally misfired her arrow. The archer turned around and pointed at InuYasha, and immediately security guards came running towards him.

          “It was an accident!” InuYasha yelled, as Kagome stepped away from him. “Kagome, defend me!”

          The security guards grabbed InuYasha, ready to take him out of the stadium, while he called out to Kagome, who refused to help.

          “Sorry, InuYasha, but I think you owe me something first,” she told him, as the guards took him away.

          InuYasha sighed as he was taken out of the stadium. Fortunately for him, the guards decided not to arrest him or further punish him, but they chose to just refuse him entrance to the venue. He meanwhile thought about Kagome’s request, and how he absolutely could not fulfill it.

          That request was to find a way to get Kikyo out of the competition. A somewhat selfish request from Kagome, she hoped to have her archrival removed from the event, in order to take the pressure off her. InuYasha knew he could not just get Kikyo to give up the very thing she came here to do, as she would lead to her becoming even angrier with him. He really was torn between Kikyo and Kagome, and he was hoping to continue his juggling act of keeping together relationships with both girls. For now, he decided just to wait outside of the stadium for the competition to end.

          As the first round continued, Kagome rested her chin on her hand and smiled. InuYasha truly cared about her after all. He made a mistake out of jealousy, but she was willing to forgive him. She hoped that he would convince Kikyo to pull out of the Olympics, completely fixing the problem he created. In that case, there would be no harm, no foul, and she could use this as an opportunity to grow closer to him.

          What if InuYasha could not convince Kikyo to pull out? She tried not to think about that possibility, although she ended up doing so anyway. Maybe the officials would not let her pull out at this point. Then it would not be InuYasha’s fault at all, and she could move on.

          But what if… she thought, allowing her mind to wander, what if, InuYasha still wanted Kikyo to beat me, even though he apologized? Maybe he wants me to do well, but then to be crushed by Kikyo in the end. If he gets her to quit, I’ll know that’s not the case, but if he doesn’t… I don’t want to think about that.

          The first round eventually came to an end, and Kagome joined the other archers in viewing the tournament bracket. She saw that she was to go up against a French archer here in the second round of the tournament. She also saw that her match would be the second one of the round, immediately following the match involving a certain archer, whose name Kagome tried to block out of her mind.

          Kikyo was taking on an archer from Germany. She was the #1-ranked archer and had received a bye through the first round, while the German archer was coming off a hard-fought victory. This match was greatly anticipated by many of the fans at the stadium.

          The German archer started off with a score of 23 in her first end. Kikyo, looking as determined as ever, shot all three of her arrows right into the bullseye, drawing cheers from the crowd and a small sigh from Kagome.

          The German girl began to really feel the pressure after that perfect end by Kikyo, and it caused her to mess up here, shooting only a 19 in this end. That was soon followed by Kikyo shooting an end of 29 to give herself a 59-42 lead after two ends.

          Now the German archer was really rattled, and her first arrow was way off, hitting the “1” ring. She followed that with an arrow in the “5” ring, and one in the “6” ring, giving her a dreadful end of 12. Kikyo then fired two arrows into the “10” area with one in the “8” ring, building an insurmountable lead of 87-54.

          Archery experts watching this match were astounded. Kikyo had managed to clinch the victory before any arrows were fired in the fourth end! As the German archer scored a 22 to make the score 87-76, they were trying to figure out whether this win had more to do with Kikyo’s greatness or the German girl’s poor performance.

          Kikyo looked at the scoreboard, saw that she had such a lead that it could not be overcome, and simply walked off the field. The 30-second time limit for each arrow would expire, thus leaving her with a final end of 0, but still a victory. Many of the fans wanted to see her shoot more arrows, so they were disappointed by this move. To many, it seemed to be a move of arrogance, although others made the argument that she was trying not to run up the score. The cold look in Kikyo’s eyes held the answer to that.

          Kagome was next up, and she tried forgetting all about what Kikyo had just done as she prepared for her match. Her family cheered the loudest for her as her name was announced. She waved to the fans, then waited as her opponent shot her first end – a 23.

          Kagome was not fazed by this score, and she put all three of her arrows in the gold area, two in the “9” ring and the other in the “10” area. She was happy to see that she had a five-point lead after one end. The Japanese archery officials were even happier to see this, because this looked like the archer who qualified 2nd overall, not the archer who barely escaped the first round of elimination.

          The French archer scored a 22 in her second end, leaving Kagome some breathing room in case she made a mistake. Kagome did not need the help, however, shooting another end of 28, and expanding her lead to 56-45.

          At this point, the French archer knew that she may need perfection to stay alive, and she shot an excellent end of 28 to at least put some pressure on Kagome. However, Kagome was completely focused, and she put all three arrows in the bullseye to make the score 86-73.

          It was desperation time for the French archer, but what could she do? She hoped to reach 100 for her round, but failed when her final arrow hit the “8” ring after her first two were in the “9” ring. That made her final score 99, and left Kagome just a bit of work to do in order to win the match.

          Kagome slipped on her first arrow and put it in the “8” ring, but then recovered with a couple of arrows in the “9” ring. She matched the French girl’s 26 for the final end and won the match by a score of 112-99, drawing cheers from all over the stadium.

          Kagome gracefully shook hands with the French archer, then waved to the cheering crowd. She then walked over to meet the Japanese archery officials, who were ready to give her information about tomorrow’s events.

          “Tomorrow is the big day!” one of them said. “You will have four matches tomorrow, from the round of 16 to the quarterfinals to the semifinals to the finals!”

          “Assuming I win…” Kagome replied.

          “Of course you’ll win,” the other official told her. “We saw your second match, and it looked just like your usual performance. That first match, what happened?”

          “I was a little… distracted,” Kagome explained.

          “Okay, well, try to get those distractions out of sight, out of mind come tomorrow morning, because it’s going to be a big day!” the official responded. “You get a good night’s sleep.”

          “I’ll try,” Kagome said, walking away.

          Kagome began to walk towards the exit of the stadium, where she expected to meet her family, as they were going to leave early instead of watching the rest of the second round. As she did, she ended up meeting someone she definitely did not want to see – Kikyo.

          Kagome’s first thought was to simply ignore her archrival, just walk by and not say a word. But that would be rude, she thought, so why not just say “hello” or “good performance”? That couldn’t be too hard, could it?

          “Uh… nice round,” Kagome stuttered. Never before did she feel so uncomfortable talking to someone other than InuYasha!

          “Foolish girl,” Kikyo replied.

          “Excuse me?” Kagome exclaimed angrily.

          “You think you are InuYasha’s true love, but you are greatly mistaken,” Kikyo said. “My sister Kaede says InuYasha’s lover is the one who could put an arrow through his heart. Only the best archer can do so. I shall prove to you once and for all that InuYasha is mine.”

          She then walked past Kagome, who stood there in stunned silence. So, my relationship with InuYasha relies on the result of this competition? she thought. If I don’t win gold, InuYasha is… Kikyo’s?

          Her family came down out of the stands to meet her, and they began to congratulate her. But once again, they saw that their Olympian was in a state of shock, ready to cry. None of them had seen Kikyo talk to her, so they did not understand why she was like this.

          Kagome could not even think of anything to say to her family at the moment. Right now, all she could think of was the ultimate pressure-filled situation. She must win the gold medal tomorrow… or lose InuYasha to Kikyo forever.

Chapter 6

Elimination – Rounds 3 & 4

          Back in the feudal era, Miroku, Sango and Shippo wondered about InuYasha’s whereabouts.

          “He hasn’t returned ever since Kagome left,” Sango said.

          “He’s probably just taking out his anger while Kagome’s away,” Miroku commented.

          “That InuYasha, he’s such an idiot!” Shippo remarked. “He’s so jealous that Kagome’s good at something, so he goes off and throws a fit!”

          “Well, we’re better off not being around him when he’s in one of his moods,” Miroku added. “I’m sure he’s not causing any trouble, he’s not that stupid.”

---

         A Japanese archery official knocked on the door of InuYasha and Kikyo’s apartment. InuYasha woke up with a jolt and ran to the door, opening it quickly.

          “I am here to take you to the archery venue,” the man told InuYasha.

          “Sure, we’ll be ready in a few minutes,” InuYasha replied.

          As they prepared to go with the archery official, Kikyo noticed a strange look on InuYasha’s face. “What is it?” she asked him.

          “I’ll tell you later,” InuYasha replied.

          The two followed the archery official to his vehicle, which he would use to take them to the Olympic Green Archery Field.

---

         Kagome woke up feeling incredibly nervous. This was the big day – four potential matches, and if she won them all, she would be Olympic champion and wear a gold medal around her neck. One loss, and that dream would be over. That was bad enough to think about, but then there was that comment from Kikyo.

          “You think you are InuYasha’s true love, but you are greatly mistaken,” Kikyo said. “My sister Kaede says InuYasha’s lover is the one who could put an arrow through his heart. Only the best archer can do so. I shall prove to you once and for all that InuYasha is mine.”

          Obviously this was of great concern to Kagome; did Kaede really say this, and was it true? Would InuYasha really reject her if she failed to win the gold medal? Had this competition become that important?

          This is ridiculous, Kagome thought. Why would my relationship with InuYasha hinge on an archery competition? That just doesn’t make sense.

          Her family took her to the Olympic Green Archery Field. Once they arrived there, they wished her luck and were about to go to their seats in the stands, when Sota grabbed Kagome’s hand and opened it.

          “I found these in our hotel room,” he told her, handing her the three jewel shards she had thrown away. “I thought they might bring you good luck.”

          “Thanks, Sota,” Kagome said, smiling as she saw the jewel shards.

          Her family then took their seats in the stands, while she walked over to the area where the rest of the archers were gathering, to see her matchup for the third round. As she did, she saw InuYasha and Kikyo walking into the area as well. She was disappointed to see Kikyo still in the competition, as she had hoped InuYasha would talk her out of competing.

          “Hi, Kagome,” InuYasha told her. “Good luck today.”

          “Thanks, InuYasha,” Kagome replied.

          Kikyo looked annoyed at the two exchanging words, so she chose this time to ask InuYasha about his earlier look. “InuYasha,” she said, “why don’t you tell me what you wanted to say earlier?”

          InuYasha had an embarrassed expression on his face upon hearing this. “I had a strange dream,” he responded. “One of you won the gold medal, and she kissed me, and it all felt so perfect. But I couldn’t tell which one of you it was.”

          Kikyo coldly stared at Kagome after hearing this, while Kagome looked frightened. It was just a dream, she thought. It doesn’t mean anything… or does it?

          “So, um, InuYasha,” Kagome stuttered, “that dream- it doesn’t, uh, mean anything to you, does it?”

          “I don’t know, but something about the way I felt – it was almost as if it was a sign,” InuYasha answered.

          Oh no, Kagome thought. InuYasha is taking this dream seriously – and this means that I’m going to have to win this competition in order to win his heart.

          Kikyo said nothing, simply walking away from Kagome. Not knowing what to say, InuYasha also walked away, going up into the stands. Kagome just looked on in silence. Her worst fears were coming true.

          But there was hope. If she would just win the gold medal, everything would be solved. She would have finally beaten Kikyo, and InuYasha would have no choice but to choose her over Kikyo. She became determined to use this as extra motivation to win every match.

          A few minutes later, the third round of the Olympic archery competition began. Kagome took a seat to wait for her match. She refused to watch the other archers, with the idea that watching others would distract her and cause her to lose her focus. So she just stared at the ground while the other archers competed, not even looking up when the crowd gave some loud cheers.

          Finally the time came for Kagome’s third match. She was to compete against an American archer in this round, the round of 16. She waved to the crowd as she was introduced, then took a deep breath. This may not be the final round, but winning this match is just as necessary, she thought.

          The American archer took aim at the target first. She put all three of her arrows into the “9” ring, causing Kagome to take another deep breath. Her opponents were not just going to give her matches now; she was going to have to take the matches from them.

          So she went out and did just that, putting all three of her arrows of her first end in the bullseye. Her score of 30 caused the crowd to roar, while the Japanese archery officials grinned with approval, seeing that one of their medal hopes had come out on fire today, unlike yesterday.

          The American archer put up another 27 on the scoreboard in her second end, with a 10, 9 and 8. This allowed Kagome to add to her lead when she posted a 28, making the score 58-54.

          Kagome continued to feel immense pressure to win, as she looked over to the stands to see an intent-looking InuYasha. Nevertheless, she continued to handle the pressure well, matching her opponent’s 26 in the third end, and keeping a four-point lead.

          It was now the final end, and the American archer knew she had to put up a great score in order to have a chance. She put her first two arrows in the “10” area, but her final arrow hit the “6” ring, giving her a final score of 106. This meant that Kagome needed only a 23 to win.

          Kagome fired her first arrow into the bullseye, drawing cheers from the crowd. Her next arrow hit the “9” ring, and she now only needed a 4 to clinch the victory. At this point, she began to feel nervous, afraid that she might mess up…

          But she came through, putting the final arrow in the “9” ring and ending up with a final score of 112, winning 112-106. The crowd erupted with cheers, and she waved happily to everyone as she walked off the field. The Japanese archery officials were thrilled that she was going on to the quarterfinals. Kikyo, however, was not amused.

          The third round continued, and soon all the matches were complete except for Kikyo’s match against a British archer. Kikyo’s opponent looked a little nervous coming into her first end, and it showed, as she failed to hit the gold ring (9 or 10) at all with her first three arrows, ending up with a 23. Kikyo then scored a 29 to take a six-point lead after one end.

          The British archer recovered nicely with a 28 in her second end, but it was of no use, because Kikyo matched that with an even better 29. In the third end, Kikyo outscored the British archer 27-25, making the score 85-76 going into the fourth and final end.

          At this point, the British archer felt desperate, and she put too much pressure on herself, ending up with a terrible end of 19. Kikyo then shot two arrows into the bullseye and one into the “8” ring in order to win the match by a final count of 113-95. The crowd cheered for her as the score was posted, but Kikyo simply walked off the field emotionlessly.

          Kagome felt further pressure on herself with Kikyo’s victory, knowing that her archrival was still alive and well in this tournament. Nevertheless, she tried to put that out of her mind, as the quarterfinal round started immediately after Kikyo’s match. There were a couple matches before Kagome’s match, both of which were won by Korean archers. These went by too quickly for Kagome, who wanted a longer time to rest between matches.

          Whether she liked it or not, it was time for Kagome’s quarterfinal match, which would be against the lone remaining Chinese archer in the tournament. Of course, being here in Beijing, that meant that the crowd would be rooting all-out for Kagome’s opponent. The chant of “Jiayou! Jiayou!” echoed through the stadium (a term which roughly translates to “Go!” It was just a bit of added pressure for the already super-nervous Kagome.

          The Chinese archer came out with three straight shots in the gold ring, scoring a 28 to start off the match. Fans all over the stadium waved their Chinese flags while cheering loudly. Kagome could barely hear herself think as the chants of “Jiayou! Jiayou!” continued, although the crowd did politely stop before she stepped out onto the field.

          With all the pressure on her, and with the crowd firmly rooting for her opponent, Kagome’s nerves were greatly affected, and it ended up showing as she turned in a less-than-impressive 25, putting her behind after one end, and forcing to her to shoot her second end before her opponent (as the trailing player always shot first).

          Kagome calmed herself down quickly, and she shot a great end of 29. However, when her opponent shot another 28 to take a 56-54 lead after two ends, the crowd was back to full force cheering, and Kagome was back on edge yet again.

          The third end, Kagome hoped, would be a turning point. However, even though she shot a 29, her opponent matched her score, and she still trailed by two points, 85-83, going into the final end. The Japanese archery officials began to panic, and Kagome’s family started worrying, as the archer they were cheering for was trailing going into the fourth end for the first time in this Olympic tournament.

          This was when Kagome managed to muster up all the confidence and focus she had left, and put it to use for these final three arrows of the match. She put the first one in the “9” ring, then scored two straight 10s in order to put her final score at 112. It was a good score, but would it hold?

          The Chinese archer stepped onto the field with deafening chants of “Jiayou! Jiayou!” roaring through the stadium. A 28 would be enough to eliminate Kagome, and there was nothing Kagome could do about it, except sit and watch.

          Her first arrow struck the “9” ring, sending the crowd into a frenzy. The crowd then exploded as her second arrow hit the “9” ring as well. This put her into a scenario where a bullseye would eliminate Kagome and win the match.

          She fired her last arrow, and Kagome could not bear to watch. When it hit the target, the crowd let up a huge cheer, causing Kagome to panic. But she noticed it was a different cheer… not as loud, maybe a bit strained. When she looked at the scoreboard, she saw the reason why: the arrow had hit the “9” ring, the score was tied, and the archers would now shoot extra arrows.

          Kagome was to go first. Clearly this was no time to leave any room for error. Hoping to put the match away, she shot this arrow with the full confidence that it would keep her alive, and it did. It was a bullseye, a perfect 10 for Kagome.

          The crowd then began cheering for the Chinese archer again, hoping she would be able to tie Kagome and stay alive in the match. However, her arrow ended up in the “9” ring yet again, and this time, it was not enough. Kagome had won the match, 112-112 (10-9), and she was moving on to the semifinals.

          The fans clapped appreciatively over the result, while Kagome waved to the crowd in a celebration of relief. Clearly she did not win by much, but she remained in the tournament, and that was all that mattered. Her family cheered loudly while the Japanese archery officials breathed their own sighs of relief.

          The stadium still seemed to be buzzing with talk about the previous match while Kikyo competed in the final match of the quarterfinals, against a Russian archer. This match was no contest for Kikyo, who breezed to a 113-102 win. She advanced to the semifinals as well.

          Kagome and Kikyo both walked over to check their matches for the semifinal round. They would each be going against a Korean archer, Kagome first, Kikyo second. The winners would be playing for the gold medal, while the losers would be playing for the bronze. The medal round was about to begin; would Kagome be able to take down the top-ranked archer in the world, or would her gold-medal dreams die here?

Chapter 7

Medal Round

           It was time for Kagome’s semifinal match. Winning this match would be no small feat; her opponent was the #1-ranked archer in the world. Surely this would require an excellent score for her to have a chance at advancing.

          Although the Korean archer was ranked higher in the world rankings, Kagome had qualified higher in the qualification round, so the Korean archer was to go first. She skillfully shot a 29 for her first end, putting the pressure on Kagome right from the very start.

          Kagome felt a little nervous, but the fact that she was battling neither Kikyo nor a fan favorite took some of the pressure off her. Her accuracy was dead-on, as she put all three arrows into the bullseye for a 30-29 lead after one end.

          Kagome’s brilliant start caused the crowd to cheer loudly, and thus the pressure was on the Korean archer. She misfired on one of her shots, ending up with a 7, before hitting the bullseye twice to score an end of 27. Kagome knew she now had an opportunity to increase her lead, and she did just that, with an end of 29 that widened the gap to 59-56.

          The third end was where it all came together for the Korean archer. She regained her focus and shot all three of her arrows into the bullseye. Now with momentum in her favor, the pressure swung back over to Kagome, who ended up shooting a 27. This meant that after three ends, the score was tied at 86.

          “Let’s go, Kagome!” Sota called from the stands, as his sister walked off the field a bit disappointed. Kagome heard his voice, but she did not look up to see her little brother. Right now, she had to regain her composure. It did not help her at all to hear the crowd cheering as the Korean archer put two more arrows in the bullseye. The final arrow hit the 9 ring, and this set the bar at 29 for Kagome’s final end.

          Walking out onto the field, Kagome knew that there was only one way to finish this match with victory in this end: shoot a perfect end. The pressure was on. One misfired arrow outside of the gold area on the target would eliminate her from gold-medal contention. She took a deep breath, then fired away.

          Her first shot hit the bullseye dead-on, drawing a cheer from the crowd. Her second shot was just as excellent, and now she needed one more bullseye to win the match. A hush settled over the stadium as she prepared to shoot her final arrow of the end.

          Bullseye.

          And with that, Kagome was on to the gold-medal match, with a 116-115 victory over the #1-ranked archer in the world. The two archers shook hands, before Kagome waved appreciatively to the cheering fans. She walked off the field with a huge smile on her face. She, Kagome Higurashi, was an Olympic medalist.

          The Japanese archery officials walked over to congratulate her. They told her that she had clinched at least a silver medal, with the possibility of gold still available if she would win the final match. Of course she already knew this, which was why she was so happy. She had gone from not even thinking about the Olympics to now knowing that she would be standing on the medal podium, receiving a medal of some sort.

          However, even as she felt the joy of knowing she would win a medal, she also felt the worry of having to face Kikyo in the gold medal match, especially with this dream InuYasha had and how he was acting like it meant something to him. It did not help that Kikyo had already taken an early lead on her opponent, 30-27.

          Kagome refused to watch the rest of Kikyo’s match, or even look at the scoreboard, for fear that it would make her more nervous. However, she could tell by the cheers that Kikyo was doing well. And, in fact, she was. Kikyo was well on her way to victory, as she easily defeated her opponent by a final score of 117-109.

          The Japanese archery officials were in utter ecstasy. The nation of Japan would be bringing home both the gold and silver medal from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They congratulated Kikyo, who gave no reaction, as if victory was expected. In the stands sat a very conflicted InuYasha, who now knew that Kagome and Kikyo were about to battle it out for the gold medal.

---

          As the two Korean archers battled each other for the bronze medal, Kagome sat there, staring at the ground, extremely nervous. Her deepest fears had now come true: she would be facing Kikyo in the archery match of a lifetime. With all InuYasha had said, and with the way he was behaving, she feared that this match was not just for a gold medal. It was perhaps for InuYasha’s heart. Now, more than ever before, losing was not an option. She figured she would have to be perfect in order to defeat Kikyo, or at least very close to it. But as she thought about these things, she overheard a voice.

          It was InuYasha’s. There he was, on field level, talking to the Japanese archery officials. She could not make out exactly what he was saying, but she did hear that dreaded name – Kikyo – in his conversation. Why he had to come down here now was beyond Kagome’s understanding, but all it could possibly do was make her more nervous.

          It seemed like only seconds to Kagome before the bronze-medal match was over. The archer whom Kagome had defeated was the victor, 112-111, making her the bronze medalist. That meant that it was now time for the gold-medal match, whether Kagome liked it or not. She sighed, realizing it was finally time to face Kikyo.

          The public address announcer read the names of both contestants to the crowd, and both Kagome and Kikyo received great cheers. Each of them took their bow, then prepared for the match to begin. Since Kikyo had qualified first back in the qualification round, she would go second in the match, putting Kagome up first.

          Kagome took a look up at her family in the stands, who looked a little on edge themselves. She then focused on the target and launched her first arrow, which hit the bullseye. As the crowd cheered over her 10, she felt a bit of the tension lift off her. She then put both of her next two arrows in the bullseye as well, giving her a perfect 30 for her first end.

          As she walked off the field to loud cheers, she could feel a sense of relief. Maybe, perhaps, she could win this thing after all, even with her archrival Kikyo as her nemesis. But it only took a minute for that relief to dissipate. Kikyo nonchalantly shot all three of her arrows into the bullseye as well, and just like that, the score was tied at 30.

          With the pressure back on, Kagome began to lose a little bit of focus. The thought of Kikyo besting her was just enough of a distraction to cause her to slip up and put her first two arrows in the 9 ring. She recovered with a bullseye with her third arrow, but it was too late; she had opened a window of opportunity for her opponent.

          Kikyo pounced on this chance Kagome had given her to take the lead. She shot her first two arrows into the bullseye, before a 9 with her third arrow. That end of 29 gave her a 59-58 lead after two ends.

          Kagome now knew she was behind, but she refused to allow this to bother her. Instead, she walked out onto the field as if she had the lead. By gaining some confidence in her abilities, she allowed herself to relax just enough to relieve the tension. Her grip on the bow was perfect, and so were her next three arrows – all landing in the bullseye.

          Maybe this caused Kikyo to feel some pressure, maybe it did not affect her. But for whatever reason, Kikyo ended up shooting two of her three arrows of the third end into the 9 ring, with a 10 for her other arrow. The tables had turned; going into the final end of the gold-medal match, Kagome led Kikyo by a score of 88-87.

          As the fourth and final end was to begin, it was Kikyo who prepared to shoot, as since she was behind, she had to go before Kagome. There was not a bit of tension visible on her face. While Kagome was a nervous wreck, she seemed completely calm. It showed in her results – three straight bullseyes to score a perfect end of 30.

          Kagome walked onto the field, perhaps to take her final shots of this Olympic competition. She knew what she needed – a perfect 30 to win, an almost-perfect 29 to tie. It was just like the previous match, where she shot a perfect final end to win. However, this was with the added pressure of being for a gold medal, as well as being a match against her archrival Kikyo. One small slip could cost her the match.

          She took a deep breath, holding her bow firmer than ever. She launched her first arrow towards the target, and it landed squarely in the bullseye. After some brief cheering, she let her next arrow fly, and it too hit the bullseye. This meant that the entire Olympic tournament came down to the next arrow. A bullseye, and Kagome was Olympic champion. An 8 or worse, and she was the silver medalist. She took aim at the target, then let her twelfth arrow of the match go.

          It just missed the bullseye, hitting the 9 ring.

          The crowd let up a loud sigh as Kagome failed to win the match, but then they cheered, because this meant that the match would be going to extra arrows. Kagome was not eliminated with her near-miss, and neither was Kikyo. The two would now shoot one extra arrow each, with an attempt to break the 117-all tie; Kikyo first, Kagome second.

          Kikyo looked like a moving statue, with absolutely no emotion on her face. It was as if ice water was pumping through her veins, as the pressure of a gold-medal Olympic match did not affect her at all. Maybe it was because she did not understand the magnitude of the event. Or maybe, she just figured she was going to win anyway. Whatever the reason, this clearly helped her, as she shot her arrow right into the bullseye, putting the pressure back on Kagome.

          Kagome now came out onto the field with no chance to win with this arrow, only with the opportunity of extending the match. This was even more intense than her previous arrow. But regardless of the pressure, she managed to hit the bullseye with her arrow and force the match to continue.

          The action shifted back to Kikyo. The stoic priestess gave absolutely no signs that she was affected by Kagome’s excellent play. She simply took aim at the target and landed yet another arrow in the bullseye.

          Kagome walked back to her spot on the field where she was to shoot her arrow, wondering if this match could possibly end well for her. Again she was shooting with no chance at immediate victory, although with plenty of chances at a loss. But regardless of this fact, she was able to tie the match once again by putting her arrow in the bullseye.

          A couple of Olympic officials called the players over to them to explain the situation. This arrow would be the last for each player. If the match remained tied even after this arrow, the officials would measure their arrows. The archer who had the arrow which was closest to the absolute center of the target would be declared the winner. This meant that merely scoring the same as the other player would not be enough; no matter what, a more accurate shot on this arrow would be necessary to win.

          Kikyo again was the first archer to shoot. She again looked as if this was no more than a practice round, as she was as calm as ever. However, this time she failed to hit the bullseye; her shot was just slightly off to the right, landing in the 9 ring. And with this, a golden opportunity was created for Kagome, both literally and figuratively; she could now win the gold medal with a bullseye on this shot, her third extra arrow.

          All the pressure in the world was upon Kagome now. As she held her bow and prepared to aim, thoughts raced through her mind, thoughts of every single thing that made this arrow so important. A gold medal. The pride of her country. The hopes of her family. Her school, its archery club and the instructors there. Her own self-confidence. But most of all, the opportunity to defeat Kikyo in front of InuYasha as well as thousands of people. With all these things in mind, she let the arrow go.

          It flew in the air for what seemed like hours. But as it came down and hit the target, there was no doubt to everyone that the match had been decided.

          Kagome’s arrow had landed in the 8 ring. She had lost the match, and the gold medal. Kikyo was the 2008 Beijing Olympic champion and gold medalist.

Chapter 8

Medal Ceremony

          As the crowd roared with cheers for Kikyo, the new Olympic champion, Kagome stared at the target in disbelief. There was her arrow, securely fixed in the 8 ring, inches from potential victory. She could not figure out how what she had done wrong. Why was this arrow just a bit to the right of the bullseye? Such a small difference in distance, yet such a big difference in result; she was the silver medalist.

          She turned her head to see Kikyo walking off the field, towards InuYasha. Tears filled her eyes as he was about to embrace Kikyo. Kikyo then shot a quick glance at Kagome, and for the first time during the tournament, she smiled. It was a wily smile, a taunting one. She then immediately turned back to InuYasha, and pressed her lips against his.

          Kagome turned hysterical as she watched Kikyo and InuYasha kiss for what seemed like days. All the while, as she watched their kiss through tear-filled eyes, the crowd continued to cheer. Suddenly only one thing went through her mind: she wanted to run away.

          So she dropped her bow and sprinted towards the exit of the stadium, but she never made it even halfway there. She was immediately greeted by a Japanese archery official, who came over to congratulate her on her silver medal-winning performance. He was holding a large Japanese flag, which he wanted for her to celebrate with.

          She heard none of his words. She pushed the flag away, then turned towards the stands. She walked over to where her family was, and they had made their way down to the front row.

          “Congratulations, big sis!” Sota called down to her.

          “We’re so proud of you!” Mrs. Higurashi shouted.

          “A silver medal is something to be proud of!” her grandfather yelled.

          She wanted no consolation. A loss to Kikyo was worse than any other possible result in the tournament, even a loss in the first round. But as her family continued to give her congratulations, she turned away from them, taking a seat on the ground.

          She then just sat there, in the grass, crying hysterically. Some Olympic officials noticed this as they set up the medal podium, commenting that they had never seen someone so upset over coming in second place before. They let her cry, though, until the medal ceremony was set to begin. That was when a couple of Chinese girls motioned for her to join the other medalists for the medal ceremony.

          Kagome followed the girls so she could get in line for the medal ceremony. Fortunately for her, she was placed near the front of the line, in front of Kikyo, so she would not have to look at her archrival. There she waited for a couple of minutes, before the medal ceremony began.

          The beautiful song “Molihua” came over the stadium’s speakers, beginning the medal ceremony, and the medalists marched out, each led by a Chinese girl. They all walked to their spots behind the medal stand, waiting for their names to be announced. All three of them had different expressions on their faces; the Korean archer who won the bronze medal was smiling happily, Kagome was crying, and Kikyo was stoic.

          Kagome was in so much despair that she hardly noticed when the Korean archer’s name was announced. She stepped up to the podium and received her bronze medal to cheers from the crowd. She was also handed a bouquet of flowers, as was customary for every medalist.

          “Silver medalist, from Japan, Kagome Higurashi!” the public address announcer said. Kagome stepped up onto her spot on the podium, as the crowd cheered loudly. An archery official then placed the silver medal around her neck, and she gave him a fake smile as she shook his hand. She then took her bouquet of flowers, waiting for the dreaded announcement.

          “Gold medalist, and Olympic champion! From Japan, Kikyo!” the PA announcer said. Kikyo then stepped up onto the top spot on the medal stand, and the crowd erupted. It was all Kagome could do to keep herself from going hysterical again as Kikyo was awarded her gold medal and bouquet of flowers. Kikyo, however, did not even smile, keeping her same emotionless expression on her face throughout the whole ceremony.

          “Ladies and gentlemen, please rise, for the national anthem of Japan!” the PA announcer said. Everyone in the stadium rose to their feet and looked over at the flagpoles, where three flags were ready to be raised. The national anthem then began to play, and the flags made their way towards the top of the flagpoles. Not only did Kikyo remain without expression throughout the anthem, there was no way she could feel patriotic; after all, she came from a time before Japan was an organized nation. Kagome wished she could feel proud about hearing her national anthem being played, but she knew that it was not being played because of her performance, but rather because of Kikyo’s victory.

          Once the anthem finished playing, the crowd cheered very loudly again. “Once again, our Olympic medalists!” the PA announcer said. The Korean archer stepped up to the top step of the podium with Kikyo, as it was customary for the three medalists to have their picture taken together there. However, Kikyo shot her such an angry glare that she stepped back onto her step of the podium. And in bizarre fashion, instead of the medalists walking out together, they all split up, with Kagome bolting from her spot on the podium, and Kikyo stepping off it to meet up with InuYasha.

          As Kagome began to run towards her family, InuYasha seemed genuinely concerned about her. “Kagome! Kagome!” he called to her, but she did not respond. He was ready to run after her, but Kikyo grabbed his arm, and he stopped. The Japanese archery officials then began to talk to them about how they would be transported back to where they came from.

          Kagome met up with her family shortly before exiting the stadium. It only took one look at her face for Mrs. Higurashi to embrace her daughter. Sota desperately tried to get a look at the silver medal, while Mrs. Higurashi tried to console Kagome.

          “It’s going to be okay,” she whispered to Kagome.

          “No! It’s not!” Kagome screamed. “InuYasha said that if Kikyo won the gold medal, that she would be the one who he would go with!”

          “So you’re not even so upset about coming in second, but about InuYasha choosing her over you,” Kagome’s mother replied. “I understand.”

          “Oh, Mama,” Kagome cried, as she burst into tears once more.

          The Higurashi family went back to their hotel, where they spent one last night, before planning to travel back to Japan the next morning. That night, as she was about to go to sleep, Kagome felt something sharp in her pocket.

          The jewel shards, she thought. I guess I won’t need these anymore.

          But she took a closer look at them. They were tainted, much darker than usual. She then realized that it had been her jealousy of Kikyo that had tainted the jewel shards.

          The jealousy in my heart has tainted these shards, she thought. I’ve been so selfish…

          She thought about her Olympic performance in a new perspective. She had gone from simply using archery as a recreation, to representing her nation in the Olympic Games. And not only had she represented Japan, she had done quite a good job of it, too, winning a silver medal. One of those Japanese flags waving during the medal ceremony – it was because of her performance. She really had made her country proud, as well as her family. Why else would Sota want to wear her silver medal to bed?

          These thoughts allowed Kagome to smile. She then slept in peace, realizing that the Olympics had not been a lost cause after all.

Chapter 9

Epilogue

          Kagome and her family flew back to Japan on a commercial plane. As the other passengers were Japanese tourists visiting the Olympics, they instantly recognized her as the silver medalist, and they all applauded her, with some of them trying to touch her medal. She was more than happy to allow several of the passengers feel her silver medal, before taking her seat near the back of the plane. All this attention surprised her. Was she really so popular, even though she had finished in second?

          Upon arriving at the airport, she was met by a large group of Japanese media members, taking her picture and wanting interviews. Her mother tried to get her to ignore them, but she obliged to a few interviews. Afterward, she joined her family in their car as they drove back home.

          As she sat in the back seat of her car, she began to wonder about InuYasha. Surely he had gone back to the feudal era with Kikyo, as he clearly favored Kikyo over her. But would it still be worth going back to the feudal era? She knew her friends Sango, Miroku and Shippo would be happy to see that she won a medal of some sort. So despite InuYasha’s behavior, she was ready to forgive him and continue her journeys with him, as she figured he would not stop her from staying with him.

          Once her family arrived back at home, Kagome was the first one to walk through the front door of their house. What she saw came as a complete shock to her.

          It was InuYasha.

          Why was he here? To further rub in the fact that Kikyo had won? To tell Kagome never to come back to the feudal era?

          “I - I’m sorry.”

          Kagome stared at InuYasha closely. Had she heard him correctly?

          “I’m sorry,” InuYasha repeated. “I – I ruined everything. It’s my fault.”

          Kagome was having a hard time believing what she was hearing. Was the ever-stubborn InuYasha really apologizing for what he had done to her?

          “Kagome,” he continued, “this competition did prove something to me when it comes to you and Kikyo.”

          That Kikyo’s better than me, right? Kagome thought.

          “It has nothing to do with archery,” InuYasha went on. “I saw the true Kikyo – and the true you. And now, I know which one of you I deserve. It’s Kikyo.”

          That figures, a disappointed Kagome thought.

          “What I mean is,” InuYasha continued, “the lousy half-demon I am doesn’t deserve a girl as pure and wonderful as you. I did everything I could to spite you, you suffered greatly because of me, and yet you never took out your anger on Kikyo or me. I understand if you never want to return to the feudal era again. If I were you, I wouldn’t want to be around me either.”

          Kagome gave InuYasha a look of compassion. This was a side of him she had never seen before.

          “Kagome, you are a true champion,” InuYasha said.

          She walked over to him, then whispered in his ear, “I forgive you.” When he gave her a look of shock, she then did something she had always wanted to do.

          She kissed him – right on the lips, with her family watching silently. Sota noticed something glowing brightly in Kagome’s pocket – it was the jewel shards, completely purified.

          “Kagome, I would be honored if you would return with me to the feudal era,” InuYasha told her.

          “Gladly,” Kagome replied. She then took his hand and headed off towards the Bone-Eater’s Well, with her family wishing her good luck.

          “You’ve got to show this medal to Miroku, Sango and Shippo!” InuYasha told Kagome. “This is a true honor!”

          “It is only a silver medal,” Kagome replied. “Second place.”

          “In my heart, Kagome, you are second to none,” InuYasha responded.

          That was all Kagome needed to hear. She quickly turned to InuYasha and kissed him again, and as she did, a great weight lifted off her.

          She had finally defeated Kikyo.