The sun shines brightly on the small clearing in the middle of the forest, while a breeze of wind stirs the surrounding tree branches and makes the green leaves dance.
"She jumped right in."
Stroking her chin with one of her golden calla lilies, Asahiko moves around the surroundings of the magical well. Well, the only thing magical about the well is making people disappear, since everything else is ordinary.
"Test number one. Flying squirrel."
Holding a squirrel he has taken from god knows where, Asahiko approaches the well and looking into that dark place, he drops the squirrel down into it.
"An expected result. ¿Though it will only work on humans?"
Closing his eyes and ignoring the squirrel escaping from inside the well, Asahiko asks himself a question out loud and though he seems to come up with an answer, he extends one of his tails to grab the squirrel again.
"Second test. Magic flying squirrel."
Scratching his forehead with his fingernails, Asahiko takes one of the pearl fragments he has there, then slowly brings it closer to the squirrel and inserts it into its body.
In a few seconds the squirrel went from being an ordinary rodent to a clear freak of nature. Its body was three to four times normal, the eyes took on a red hue full of madness and its fur became spiky.
"This happened to a squirrel, imagine what would happen if he used it on a predator... Better yet, on some youkai?"
Imagining that situation in his mind, Asahiko stops his fantasies and drops the squirrel again. Just as it happened the previous time, the poor rodent fell straight down to the end of the well, but nothing else happened.
"Had to try... Did it catch some bandit? No, too much trouble."
Sighing exaggeratedly, he waves his hand and a sharp flame quickly pierces the squirrel's body, ending its experimental life.
Managing to grab the fragment coming out of the corpse, Asahiko sighs again and with a leap, easily leaps over the pit. He seems fully ready to jump in there and discover the great mystery.
"Hold it right there furball!"
Running on all fours through the green grass, Shippo, who had escaped after being slightly threatened by Asahiko, reappears.
Normally Asahiko would have ignored him and gone on with his plans, but the little fox had made good on his threats, causing young Sango to accompany him here.
"The fake fox and... Sango?". Well, it was obvious that Inuyasha and Miroku simply wouldn't listen to him."
"Oh, no, Asahiko is in his winter rain mode!"
"What... Seriously, you still haven't dropped that stupid nickname?"
Frowning for a few moments, memories seem to come back to Asahiko and he easily recalls the moment when the fox gave him that nickname.
Hearing Asahiko's words, Shippo begins to nod his head, it was obvious that he was quite at ease with the nickname she has given him. On the other hand, Sango can't seem to take it anymore, then asks in an unsure tone.
"Can you... Know what you're doing Asahiko?"
"Come on, we're not strangers, say it with more confidence."
"What are you doing?"
"Too much confidence"
Raising her lips at the sight of Sango's beautiful mortified face, Asahiko lets out a short laugh as she notices how Sango's expression goes from mortified to angry in a few moments.
"Now I understand what Inuyasha said, you are unbearable."
"Thank you for the compliment, I'm honored that you like my art."
Giving a strange and very grandiose bow in Sango's direction, he easily twists her whole body to look back at the well.
"Hey furball, stop trying to change the subject, what were you doing with the well?"
"For every second that passes, you find yourself getting closer to becoming a cap, Shippo."
"Asahiko. Are you really fighting with a child?"
"Inuyasha does it too!"
Turning around to look at Sango who just admonished him, Asahiko raises his voice to the sky and points his finger at Shippo, while looking very aggrieved at the difference in treatment.
"You know what...haa...I'm just getting out of here."
"Wow stop that look of disappointment hurts. Stop, stop, I'll be serious Sango."
Giving up on seeing that truly Sango would leave if she keeps joking, Asahiko raises her hands in a show of surrender and begins to speak.
"You know... Oh, of course you weren't there when I got up. Anyway, the situation is that I came to accompany Kagome so that nothing happens to her, but after twists and turns, she disappeared after jumping into the well."
"So the well captured all your attention, causing you to start playing with its surroundings to discover its secret."
"I wouldn't say play, but yes, you're on the right track."
Closing her eyes and nodding her head fiercely, Asahiko agrees with Sango, but she never expected what would come next.
"Just like Shippo when he finds something new, I guess they're not so different really."
"How dare you compare the big me to Ahvebe!"
Unable to finish his words, Asahiko slips off the edge of the well and falls in. It was a natural thing to happen, he made such a fuss over the edges that he had to fall in at some point.
Watching in surprise as Asahiko is devoured by the darkness of the well, Sango quickly walks over to confirm her situation. She may have acted tough before, but she is someone who truly cares about her teammates.
"Asahiko, are you all right!"
"If you're alive send a signal, furball!"
They both leaned against the wooden edges belonging to the well, before beginning to shout out loud into the deep darkness. After a few seconds of total silence, a small flame grazes Shippo, causing him to fall backwards.
"I'm fine, Sango. I feel like I've even broken three or four bones with my skull. By the way, did I hit the raccoon?"
"It's a demon, how is it going to get hurt from that little fall..."
"Hey! My body may not be hurt, but my pride sure is!"
Asahiko shouts from inside the well with an offended tone, though Sango already seems to have gotten used to his idiocies, so she just shakes her head before walking away from there.
"You're going to leave me down here? Hey, Sango, come back!"
"Serves you right."
Mocking Asahiko who is down there, Shippo also tries to leave, though as he is turning around, a shadow covers his body and grabs him by the head.
"Family, today you eat."
"Let go of me, let go of me you silly furball, Sango, help, Asahiko wants to eat me!"
Ignoring that shoddy drama, Sango calmly continues walking towards the village and leaves Shippo alone with Asahiko.