Chapter 4
"First, find a way to gather all the top wealthy individuals in Tokyo—find any excuse to bring them together. Let me know when you're ready."
"Yes."
With power in hand, money couldn't be neglected either. While Makima wasn't sure if money would be meaningful to her in the future, it wouldn't hurt to prepare more. Using government power directly to acquire money would be somewhat inconvenient.
"Second, contact the military. Similarly, find an excuse to gather the officials from the Ministry of Defense. If that's not possible, contact them individually, starting with the Minister of Defense."
"Yes."
"Third… send people to collect all information related to me, from birth certificates to parent information and family relationships. Find everything, organize it, and give it to me."
Makima thought for a moment and added:
"Do this as quickly as possible, and… be discreet."
"Yes."
"That's all for now. Without my orders, your daily work can continue as usual. Don't let anyone notice anything unusual."
"Yes, please rest assured!"
Everyone acknowledged the command again. The Governor of Tokyo, seeing that Makima had no further orders, hesitated before asking:
"Madam, what about you next?"
"Nothing else for now. You don't need to report anything to me regularly; I still have to go to school."
After all, there was still the "plot" that Makima was interested in involving Kagome.
"Yes, then… do you need me to send people to protect you daily? After all…"
"No need. Just get the few things I mentioned done as quickly as possible."
"Yes."
——————
While it was unclear how efficient normal Japanese officials were, the Japanese officials under Makima's control were certainly very fast.
The next day, the officials cleverly concocted reasons, and several wealthy individuals and zaibatsu residing in Tokyo were summoned, successfully becoming Miss Makima's dogs. Soon after, several high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Defense and a large number of council members from the deliberation council followed suit.
On the third day, more key government officials in Tokyo were summoned to a sudden meeting. A dozen top soldiers from various branches of the Self-Defense Forces became Miss Makima's first batch of loyal military dogs.
This also allowed Miss Makima to successfully transform into an all-around special forces soldier who was good at shooting guns, firing cannons, flying planes, and driving tanks.
On the fourth day, just as Miss Makima was preparing to extend her reach to the US forces stationed in Japan, Kagome Higurashi didn't come to school.
She had someone inquire and learned that her family had already reported her missing, and she herself seemed to have disappeared.
Makima immediately realized that the Inuyasha storyline had begun.
Kagome should have already returned to Japan's Sengoku period five hundred years ago through the well at her family's shrine, and then met that fated stray dog.
Upon hearing this news, she immediately pulled out her phone:
"Are the things I asked for ready?"
"Reporting, Madam, everything is ready. Should I send it to you now?"
"Yes, send it over."
Mundane matters had become somewhat uninteresting to Miss Makima—things easily obtained brought no sense of accomplishment.
The existence of supernatural phenomena, however, was precious.
The situation with Kinomoto Sakura's Clow Cards was quite complex, and Miss Makima felt it was a bit difficult to grasp.
.
And on this trip, she already had a clear goal.
005 The Girl Who Traveled Through Time
Patiently waiting until the evening of the third day of Kagome Higurashi's disappearance, Makima, carrying a long backpack, arrived at the Higurashi Shrine for a visit.
Because Shintoism is closely linked to the daily lives of the Japanese people, much like temples and Taoist temples in China, or churches in the West, people visit shrines during festivals to show respect to the gods and pray for blessings. Kagome's grandfather was responsible for managing this ancient shrine, and sometimes Kagome even had to work as a shrine maiden.
Besides her grandfather, Kagome had lived with her mother and younger brother all these years, with only a fat cat remaining.
Don't ask where her father went; the answer is unknown.
The family had searched the not-so-large shrine and the surrounding neighborhood several times over the past few days, and could only anxiously await news from the police.
They had no idea of Miss Makima's background. Under her superb acting, they all believed Makima was Kagome's good friend, who had come to offer condolences after hearing about her disappearance.
Kagome's younger brother, Sota Higurashi, even recounted the story of "Sister being taken by a monster in the well" to her.
Of course, before witnessing supernatural powers firsthand, adults would obviously not believe a child's "nonsense."
But Miss Makima bent down and looked into Sota's eyes seriously:
"Can you take me to see that well?"
"Yes!"
Following Sota, Makima quickly arrived at an old well house. It was clear that before it was damaged, the area around the well had been sealed with wooden boards and talismans. Now, the ground was covered in broken wooden boards and paper scraps.
Makima looked inside; the empty well bottom only had dirt.
Kagome's grandfather shook his head: "We've searched here several times. Kagome couldn't possibly be in the well."
Makima touched the well wall: "What is the origin of this well?"
"Oh, this well is very old. It's called the Bone Eater's Well. It's said that in ancient times, people would throw the corpses of demons into it, and they would all disappear… Of course, those are just stories passed down…"
"I see." Miss Makima nodded.
In fact, she knew more—for example, this well was made from the trunk of a sacred tree, also known as the Tree of Ages, which possessed a mysterious power. Kagome and Inuyasha were able to travel through time using this well precisely because of this.
Miss Makima pretended to look around and said calmly:
"I'm afraid the monster Sota saw wasn't an illusion. There is indeed residual demonic energy here."
"…Huh?"
Kagome's grandfather was bewildered by Makima's sudden words, while the latter continued to spout nonsense without batting an eye:
"To be honest, my ancestors were Demon Slayers. This well is no ordinary well. Kagome's disappearance must be related to it."
The others looked at each other, but Makima didn't care. She just said calmly:
"If you don't believe me, wait here a little longer. If nothing goes wrong, Kagome will be back soon."
"This…"
With a "nothing to lose" attitude, Kagome's family ultimately decided to wait there.
And soon, before sunset, there was a commotion from the bottom of the well. The family members looked down with flashlights and then discovered Kagome, dressed in a shrine maiden outfit, appearing out of nowhere at the bottom of the well.
"Kagome!?"
"Grandfather! Sota!? And… Makima-senpai!?"
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After a flurry of activity, the reunited family's emotions finally came under control.
Kagome also told everyone about her incredible experience of traveling to the Sengoku period through the well.
"So… the locals believe you are the reincarnation of a shrine maiden named Kikyo from five hundred years ago, and then because a demon wanted the jewel of four souls inside you, you were forced to unseal a dog demon. After a series of events, you shattered the jewel of four souls, which then attracted a demon named Sakamaki Jie Luo who hunted you down. You fell into the well and traveled back again?"
"Yes." Kagome nodded.
It's just like the plot I remember… "So what do you plan to do next?" Makima asked.
"This… I don't know either…"
Kagome's expression was also very confused.
"Grandmother Kaede said that the jewel of four souls can grant powerful abilities to demons, and if it falls into the wrong hands, it could cause many bad things… She hopes Inuyasha and I will retrieve all the fragments of the jewel of four souls and restore it to its original state."
"Oh? Do you want to do that?"
Kagome was silent for a moment, then hugged her shoulders and shook her head:
"I… don't really want to go back. Inuyasha doesn't need me anyway."
Tsk tsk, they just met, and it's already "Inuyasha" this, "Inuyasha" that.
"What if that little puppy follows you?" Makima asked.
"Huh? No… that's impossible, right?"
Kagome subconsciously denied it.
"Grandfather said he already sealed the well again with the strongest talisman passed down through generations of our shrine, and… that Inuyasha, he wouldn't care about me at all. He's completely like he wishes I…"
Before she could finish, with a "clack," the door opened.
A young man with white hair, dog ears, and a red fire rat robe appeared before everyone.
"Inu… Inuyasha?" Kagome was dumbfounded.
"Hey, you! Who allowed you to just run back here!?"
The white-haired dog boy completely ignored everyone else present and stepped forward to pull Kagome away. Kagome's mother, seeing the young man tugging at her daughter, instinctively reached out to touch his ears.
"It's real!"
"Mom! This isn't the time for that… Ugh… though I did it too back then…"
"Sister, can I touch this big brother too?"
"Sota! This isn't the time for…"
In the midst of the chaos, Kagome noticed a long strand of hair hanging from Inuyasha's body. She quickly realized it was the hair controlled by the earlier demon.
"Wait, could it be!?"
Ignoring everything else, Kagome quickly took Inuyasha to the Bone Eater's Well to look, and then discovered a scene comparable to a horror movie—a large amount of black hair was gushing out from inside the well.
"It seems your little puppy isn't the only one who followed you."
Makima, with her backpack, slowly walked up behind Kagome.
She ignored Inuyasha's shout of "Hey! Who are you calling her little puppy!?" and, looking at the menacing hair, shrugged:
"Even ordinary demons can pass through the Bone Eater's Well. This is troublesome now…"
"What's so troublesome about it! Watch my Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!"
Inuyasha charged forward and cut the hair with a few slashes.
However, it was useless—the hair was endless, growing back even after being cut, and almost entangled Inuyasha. If Kagome hadn't been able to distinguish which strands were the main ones controlling the others and warned Inuyasha, it would have been truly difficult to resolve.
Makima was not surprised by this:
"Unless you completely defeat the opponent, it will probably be endless. Kagome, you don't want your grandfather, mother, and Sota to be in danger, do you?"
Kagome looked at her family, whom she had kept safely outside the well house away from danger, and recalling the ferocious demon she had encountered earlier, she nodded with a solemn expression:
"You're right, Makima-senpai. Please tell my family I'll be back as soon as possible. Inuyasha, let's go back!"
But Makima shook her head:
"Sorry, I plan to go with you."
"Eh!? But…"
"If Higurashi-senpai is worried about me, there's no need. After all, I am a descendant of a Demon Slayer, and honestly, I'm quite strong. Let me help you."
Kagome was still hesitating, but Inuyasha had already taken off his fire rat robe, draped it over her, and then tsundere-ly complained:
"Put this on! This clothing is much stronger than ordinary armor. Honestly, who told you your body is ridiculously weak."
Then he looked at Makima with an annoyed expression:
"As for you, annoying swirly-eyes, if you get torn to pieces by a demon later, I won't help you!"