Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, it belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

This is my first story, I hope you'll like it.

Chapter 01 - Secret About My Father

"Kagome! Are you still here?" I was on the edge of the well and ready to jump back to the feudal era, when I heard my mum calling my name. She was out from early morning and I didn't even say her goodbye, so I put the bags on the ground and went out of the well house.

"Yes mum, I'm here, but if you came a minute later, I would be gone. I told you that I am leaving today." I looked at her, she was panting hard and I was sure, that she was running here. "Did you forget about that?" I asked.

"No, no, it's not like that. Of course I know that you're leaving today. It's just... I met someone when I was shopping this morning and he invited me on late breakfast. I just lost count of time." She smiled and I smiled back.

"It's fine mum, don't worry about that. I am leaving then, bye." I waved her goodbye and turned to leave.

"Uhm, Kagome?" I stopped and turned back. She looked uncertain and it definitely wasn't common for her. Usually she was full of life and pretty carefree. She never thought twice about what she was saying and didn't care about what others thought about her. This was strange, definitely, and it unsettled me.

"What is it?" I asked and waited.

"Well... Uhm... do you think, you could stay a little longer? I need to talk to you about something."

"Ok." I replied and we both went into the house. Mum looked serious and I wanted to know what's going on. I was sure Inuyasha will be out of mind, if I'm late, but I can handle him.

"Hey sis, I thought you already left." Souta was in the living room playing with Buyo. I wanted to tell him something, but mum was faster.

"Souta, would you go play outside for a while? I need to talk with Kagome about something."

"Some girl's talk, right? Ok, I'm leaving, I don't want to hear it anyway. Come on Buyo, let's go."

When they both left, I sat down and watched mum as she went to the kitchen and came back with two cups of tea and some biscuits. This will probably take longer than I thought. Mum sat down opposite me across the table and sighed.

"It's quite complicated, I don't know where should I start." She said uncertainly while looking at her hands in her lap.

"Try it from the beginning." I suggested. She was silent for a while but then started.

"Ok. That guy I met today, we've met for the first time when I was on the college." Fine, she is going to talk with me about some guy she met a long time ago at university, what it has to do with me? I have other things I have to do. I thought angrily, but before I could start to think about some excuse for me to leave, she continued.

"He was really handsome and pretty rich, so there was no girl who wouldn't want to be his girlfriend." She said with dreamy expression on her face.

"You too?" I just had to ask.

"Sure, I already said 'every' girl. But he was withdrawn. He never talked to anyone and when someone tried to talk to him, he ignored them. No one even knew his first name, I wonder if at least professors knew, but I doubt it." This time she frowned a bit.

"Pretty big-headed, who does he think he is?" I commented. I still didn't see the point of talking about him. Mum chuckled and continued.

"Yes, it seemed that way, but I guess he must have gone through a lot. I think he had just met with a lack of understanding. He lived alone. I don't know why, or what happened to his family. Maybe they just lived somewhere else, maybe they died, he never talked about his past. The only person he lived with was an old man who did all the housework." She paused and I used that pause without thinking.

"So, he was handsome, big-headed guy, who had a lot of money, ignored everyone around him and let some old man to serve him. What is so amazing about him?" I made a quick summary. It really started to annoy me. Even if he'd lost his parents, it didn't give him any right to act like an idiot. He wasn't the only one who lost someone. Another thing hit me right away.

"And how do you know so much about him? You said, he never talked to anyone." I asked, this time really curious.

"Yes, I know, but I was really determined to reveal the great mystery with a name Taisho, so I made up a plan. I started to join him through the lunch breaks. Every morning I was waiting in front of his house to go to school together and every afternoon we went home together."

"All the time I was talking to him. He wasn't answering, but he wasn't rejecting me either. It was the beginning. Sometimes I asked about something, but didn't wait for the answer for long and continued talking. It was quite annoying sometimes and I almost gave up, but one day he finally answered to one of my questions."

"After that it was only easier and we spent a lot of time together. He still didn't talk much, but at least it wasn't that annoying one-sided conversation anymore. No need to say, that all girls were really jealous, but true friends wished me luck." Mum winked at me and I was thinking.

Maybe there is something about him, but that name... Somehow it sounds familiar. I heard that before, I'm sure about that, but where? I couldn't come up with any conclusion and it irritated me, but I couldn't pay much attention to it as mum continued, so I focused on her again.

"When I got to know him better, I found out that he is actually very kind and smart person." She started to explain.

"That old man in his house, they told me his name, but I already forgot it, was quite rude to me, but I figured out that for his master, he would jump into the fire, if he told him to do so. I was really surprised how loyal this old man was to him. I guess that Taisho must have done something really big for him in the past."

"Later even he accepted me, but it was more like 'I pay no attention to you, you pay no attention to me and we're fine.'" Mum smiled and added. "It was really funny relationship." She stopped and I used it for asking a question, which was running in my head for a while now.

"And what of this has something to do with me?" Mum looked at me and said quietly.

"Everything." I looked at her amazed, not knowing what to think about it.

"What do you mean?" I asked and before she started, she sighed again.

"Once I stayed in his house over night and we spent it together. After a few weeks I found out that I was pregnant, but at that time he was already gone. He moved somewhere else about two weeks after that night." She stopped purposely and waited for my reaction. It took me a while to actually react, my brain just refused to process these information, but in the end it sank in.

"No, it's not true! It can't be true! He can't be my father. My father died in the car accident when Souta was one year old, HE was my dad, not this guy!" I yelled while mum was just looking into her almost empty cup of tea. I sat back and closed my eyes. "It just can't be true." I said quietly and I could feel how my eyes started to fill up with tears.

I couldn't believe it. The man I was crying for, when I was little, wasn't my dad, but to be my dad was supposed to be some guy with clearly strange behavior, whom I never seen before. I felt my mum sit down next to me. She took my hand into hers and whispered.

"I'm sorry Kagome." I looked at her and asked.

"Why did you tell me now?" For me this single question contained two other ones: 'Why didn't you tell me sooner or why did you tell me at all.'

"I would like you to meet him. I invited him for lunch on this Sunday. I will be really glad if you come. After all, he IS your father, even if you don't see him this way. I don't expect you to like him or accept him as your dad, I just want you to spend one afternoon with him and then decide, ok?" She gave me some time to think about it, which I did. When I thought it over, I nodded and stood up. I was heading back to the well house and before I crossed the door, I turned at her.

"I will be back on Sunday at twelve then." I made it clear and continued on my way.

Some thoughts rose up in my mind unconsciously. How does he look like? In her descriptions, mum never mentioned his look. She said he is handsome, but it's not very useful for me. What if I met him somewhere before? It could be the reason, why his name sounds familiar.

Will he like me? Suddenly, I found this very important. According to mum's descriptions, he is very quiet and deliberate. I'm, on the other hand, quite noisy sometimes and my mouth is usually faster than my mind. Mum told me I have all rights not to accept him, but it would be nice to have father again.

Now I started to be afraid of him rejecting me and it unsettled me. He hasn't right to reject me. I told to myself. I am his responsibility, he must accept me. With that thought in my mind and with determined expression on my face I jumped in the well.

Before I reached the edge of the well on the other side, I could already hear Inuyasha complaining about my late arrival.

"Hey Kagome, where have you been? I was ready to come for you!" He started his tirade. I wasn't in the mood for any argument with him and when I reached the top, I looked at him, my face showing no emotion at all.

"Inuyasha, sit!" I said tiredly, but with strong voice and started to walk towards the village.

"What the hell was that for?" Inuyasha picked himself up from the ground and followed me, clearly angry. I gave him one of my looks, which make some people shiver and he stopped in an instant. I smiled satisfied and continued peacefully on my way to the village.

We walked side by side, neither of us saying anything. Too many thoughts were still spinning on my mind and Inuyasha seemed to be confused by my unreasonable and strange behavior. Until now I had usually such mood only after a fight with him, never after returning from my era.

"Kagome, you're back!" Shippo jumped to my hands happily and I smiled at him. We reached the village where the rest of our group waited impatiently for my return. Sango was first who noticed that something was different about me.

"Wow Kagome, you look horrible, what happened? Did you have a fight with Inuyasha already?" She asked, her voice full of worry. I chuckled shortly at her deduction, before returning back to my numb state of mind.

"Well, partly." I shot a glare to Inuyasha and continued. "But the main reason is something what happened back at home and that's also why I'm late." I took a deep breath. "I had a conversation with my mum about... something. I'll tell you later, but right now I need to put my thoughts together by myself."

I separated from them and went to the river. There was always peace, so it was perfect place for thinking. I wasn't sure if I should tell the others about this. But they are my friends. Whom else I should tell, if not them?

And what if the meeting with that guy won't fulfill my expectations? What if he is some creepy guy whom only mum sees as a nice one? I couldn't wait until the Sunday, but on the other hand, I didn't want it to come at all.

I spent there the whole afternoon, thinking, and when the sun started to set, I returned back to the village.

I really must have looked horrible, because not even Inuyasha came to check me all the time. He must have guessed that it would annoy me, and when I found them, they were all sitting quietly around the camp fire, obviously not knowing what to talk about.

"I'm sorry about earlier." I said while I was sitting down to them. I pointed it mainly to Inuyasha, but the others deserved apology as well.

"Never mind that. Do you want to talk now about what happened between you and your mum?" Miroku was the first one to speak. I looked at him and he seemed to be really worried about me. Actually, all of them seemed that way and I could also see the same expecting look on each of their faces.

"Ok, I guess I need to talk about it with someone anyway." I sighed and told them about the conversation with my mum and about the appointment with my supposed-to-be-father on Sunday.

"What? You're leaving so soon again? How are we supposed to find the rest of the Shikon shards, when you're still away!" Inuyasha started to yell almost immediately.

"Don't be so rude Inuyasha. Family is more important, especially for Kagome and under these conditions. Am I right?" Sango turned at me for confirmation with smile on her face. I was glad that I didn't have to be the one to argue with Inuyasha about this right now and nodded to her.

"Yes, it is, but it's strange as well. I never saw him before and I don't know what is he like, so I am quite scared about this meeting." I paused for a while thoughtfully. "But I wonder how will he take my journeys to the feudal era." I laughed and the others soon joined me.

Once we created this relaxed atmosphere, we didn't want to break it, so we didn't return to this topic anymore and talked about everything but this.

We didn't mention it until Sunday, when I had to return back to the reality of my modern life. Everyone went to see me off to the well and to encourage me.

"Good luck Kagome." Miroku started.

"Do your best and remember every detail, after you return here, you must tell us about how it went." Sango seemed more excited than me.

"If he will be rude, you can return immediately, we will support you." Shippo winked at me and I smiled in return.

"Just come back as soon as possible." Inuyasha didn't even look at me and I had to laugh.

"Thanks guys, you always know how to cheer me up." I waved to all of them and they waved in return before I disappeared in the well.

"Finally sis, you came! We're all waiting for you and I'm already hungry." Souta screamed running towards me right after I opened the door of the well house.

"Shh, Souta, you saw him, right? What is he like?" I whispered to him when he was close enough. Souta's opinion probably wouldn't be the most objective, but I wanted to know at least something about him, before I met him and Souta's descriptions should still be better than mum's.

"Why should I tell you? That guy is sitting in the living room, you can come and see on your own. But there's nothing so special about him." He seemed to be confused by my question and I just sighed. He obviously didn't understand how important was this meeting for me.

"Ok, so let's go, what are we waiting for here anyway?" I tried to shake my nervousness and dragged Souta behind me on my way to the house.

"Kagome's here." Souta cried into the house once we crossed the stoop, leaving me no time to react at all.

"Oh, great, come in you two." Mum answered from the living room and I was slowly approaching there. My speed slowed to half of my normal walk and still, the door to the living room seemed to be getting closer too fast for my liking.

Finally, I stepped inside. I looked at the guy who was sitting on the sofa and I couldn't believe my eyes. He wore some very expensive-looking suit and when I entered, he looked my way. He had long black hair and brown eyes. There were other slight differences, but when I looked at his face, I was sure with no doubt.

"Sesshoumaru?"