"Stay out of the way and safe, Wench!"

Kagome couldn't believe the push that sent her down the well, especially with her hurt ankle. At least she didn't have to worry about falling down into the well and landing harshly, the time portal slowly swallowed her and she found herself in modern day Tokyo once again. She had to fight the urge to go right back to make sure everyone was okay, but it wasa human bandit that had attacked them and she was heading home anyway. She wanted to get more supplies, namely pain medication. While hunting jewel shards, she got injured by a snake demon and acquired a sprained ankle. This made it difficult to get out of the well, hopefully someone would hear her. Souta should just be getting home from school.

Sure enough, there were footsteps right outside of the wellhouse door. "Souta, is that you? Can you hear me?"

The door slowly slid open, Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. "Souta, can you help me? I hurt my ankle and can't get out of the well."

"Higurashi? Is that you?"

Oh crap.

"Hojo! What are you doing here? I was looking for Souta."

"Why are you looking for your brother in an old well?"

"I, well, uhh..."

"Let's get you out of there, then we can talk. I brought some stuff for you." Hojo came towards the edge of the well and reached in to help Kagome out. Hojo was very athletic, but maybe he just wasn't expecting a "sickly" Kagome to weigh as much as she did (muscle is heavy, and she got plenty of exercise running from demons), or maybe his foot slipped in the loose dirt around the well. Regardless of the reason, Kagome found herself falling back into the well, Hojo's hand still tightly in her grasp. It was almost instantly after going through the time slip that Kagome heard the gruff voice of her silver-haired friend.

"Oi, Kagome, I thought I told you to go home! You're hurt, Wench!" When he reached in and grabbed her hand she didn't think twice about reaching out and taking it. Then she remembered that Hojo was with her in the wellhouse.

"Oh, no! He is going to wonder where I went!"

Inuyasha was just about to ask who she was talking about when he caught a whiff of a familiar scent.

"Higurashi?"

Shippo ran over to look in the well, and came face to face to Hojo who had used the vines growing down the sides to climb up from the depths of the well. Shippo backed up quickly, and Hojo hoisted himself over the edge of the well and landed on the grass.

"Where are we? This isn't the well at the shrine! Who are you people? Did you say Higurashi was hurt?"

Miroku, calm as always, came over to the confused young man and bowed to him. "I am the monk Miroku, and these are my friends. Please do not get overly excited, you are going to be fine."

"KAGOME! Why is Hobo here with you?"

"Inuyasha, calm down. He was walking by the wellhouse and came to help me get out of the well with my sprained ankle. We fell back into the well, although I am not sure why or how he came through the well with me. I will get him back right now." Kagome turned to grab Hojo's hand again and jump in the well when Miroku spoke again.

"Wait, Lady Kagome, we have to make sure your secret is safe. Is he a trustworthy friend?"

Both Hojo and Inuyasha turned to Miroku and said at the same time "Lady Kagome?"

Kagome blushed at this attention, and tried to decide the best course af action with Hojo. Could he be trusted with such a big secret? Why did the well let him through in the first place?

Hojo, despite hearing low growls coming from the silver-haired man who he had seen before both at the shrine and at school, walked closer to Inuyasha. He scrutinized him a little and then said, "That's it! I knew there was something different about you! I have never seen you without your head covered before! Why..." and as he trailed off Inuyasha and Kagome both noticed that Hojo was staring at Inuyasha's ears.

Just then Sango and Kirara landed in the clearing. She glanced at the newcomer and then focused on Inuyasha. "Kikyo's soul stealers are getting closer. I noticed them as we were chasing the bandits away."

At the mention of soul stealers, Hojo visibly paled. He wasn't quite sure what to make of his current situation when Inuyasha said in a flat tone "She's here." Hojo looked around expecting to see some monster or spectre, instead he seen a priestess in traditional robes walking toward the group. Her face reminded him of someone, but he just couldn't put his finger on who. He noticed that while everyone else took a defensive aproach to this new arrival, the small pointed-eared boy backed away from her. He got closer to the child and got his attention.

"Hey, kid, who is that?"

"That's Kikyo, Kaede's sister. But you haven't met Kaede. Inuyasha used to love her, but I'm not sure he does anymore. He still runs to see her if she sends her soul stealers to get him, but I think it is more a sense of duty now than anything else. It still hurts Kagome everytime he runs off, though. Those two never talk about their feelings but its obvious they like each other."

"Oh, well... She reminds me of someone, but I just can't think of who it is."

"Probably Kagome, she is Kikyo's reincarnation after all. I think Kagome should have come first, they would be better off that way."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Kikyo and Inuyasha fell in love, but Kikyo couldn't accept him as a half-demon. They were going to use the sacred Shikon Jewel that Kikyo was guarding to turn Inuyasha human so they could be together. But we all know he wouldn't have been happy. If you could see him on his human nights it pretty obvious he hates being human. Because they really didn't trust each other, Naraku was able to use that against them and kill Kikyo and almost kill Inuyasha."

"Kill her? She is standing right there, so he didn't kill her..."

"She is made from graveyard soil and ashes, an evil witch made her a new body but her soul was already in Kagome. The witch made it so Kikyo could steal some of her soul back from Kagome. Kikyo still tries to get the rest of it back from time to time, though she hasn't tried in a while. Come to think of it, she hasn't tried to take Inuyasha to hell with her in a while, either. That is why I think it would have been better if Kagome came first, she accepts Inuyasha for who he is. Do you think Kikyo would have fit in in your time? There are no demons for her to disapprove of, are there? Would you have liked Kikyo as well as Kagome? You are human, you wouldn't have had to change for her. I have heard Inuyasha talk about you a few times, he won't admit it, but he is very jealous of you. He is jealous of just about every man who gets too close to Kagome. Just wait until Koga shows up, you'll see what I mean!"

Suddenly, Inuyasha had Shippo by the tail. "What are you talkin' about that flea bag wolf for, runt?"

Hojo unknowingly saved Shippo from a few bonks on the head by speaking up at that moment.

"Is Kagome really her reincarnation?"

Inuyasha whipped around, seemingly ready to say something to Hojo, then he put Shippo down and turned to walk away growling out a "Don't worry about it" to Hojo.

When Hojo and Shippo went to join the rest of the group, they were discussing what to do next. Sango, who hadn't been introduced to Hojo, introduced herself and Kirara. Kirara was still in her larger form, and Hojo looked terrified. Kirara shrunk down to her kitten size and jumped up onto Hojo's shoulder, licking his cheek. He warily scratched her head, then asked Sango what was going on. Sango informed him that they had to get him back to his own time, but they needed to make sure that he was not going to cause trouble for Kagome. They could hear Kagome and Inuyasha arguing in the distance, then a loud "SIT!" and the ground shook. Shippo looked up at Hojo's wide eyes and said, "That happens all the time."

Kagome came hobbling over to Hojo, Hojo immediately reaching for her to help her walk on the sprained ankle like the gentleman that he is. They could hear a muffled "Get your hands off of her!" from the crater the half-demon was currently occupying. Kagome just sighed angrily and turned Hojo towards the well.

"Hojo, I am going to take you back through the well, if you can help me into my house and off of this ankle we really need to talk."

Hojo just nodded in agreement and helped Kagome to the edge of the well. She could see the doubt on his face about blindly jumping into a very deep hole, but she assured him that it was easier than it looked and would be painless. He closed his eyes and they jumped at the same time, which was when Inuyasha was able to get out of his crater and yell out "KAGOME!" and start running towards the well.

When a very irate Inuyasha made it to the well and looked down into it, he heard a groan and Kagome saying, "That's not how it is supposed to work..." He jumped to grab them out of the well, but was surrounded by the well's magic before he could reach them. When he got to the other side, he had to wonder why he was allowed through and Kagome, least of all, was not. He jumped back through and they were still there in the bottom of the well. He grabbed them and with one under each arm jumped back up out of the well. When he released them, Hojo looked at him with almost the same admiration that Souta does, and said, "Wow, you are really strong!"

"Feh, that's nothin', Kagome! Why couldn't you go through the well?"

"I don't know, maybe because Hojo was with me, but that doesn't make any sense since that is how he got here in the first place. Let me try going through without him and then I'll come back and we will try again."

"Don't be stupid, Wench! You can't keep jumping with that ankle of yours! I'll take him back then we will try to figure out what is going on with you."

Kagome caught a look that she didn't really like when Inuyasha said that he was going with Hojo alone, and that would keep her from talking to him before he was back in the modern era. "No, Inuyasha, can you take us both? I really need to talk to him before we just set him free in my time. I am sure he has a lot of questions. I would feel better about this situation if I could talk to him, or we could talk to him together. That way if I don't have an answer to one of his questions you might."

Inuyasha looked thoughtful for a second, then huffed. "Alright, let's go. But you need to be on my back so you don't do more damage to your ankle."

Hojo noticed the way her face lit up when Inuyasha gave in, and Kagome looked way to comfortable on the half-demon's back, like it was as familiar to her as riding her bike. All those times that he had asked Kagome to go out with him, and the polite way she almost always turned him down started flashing through his mind. The few times that he did get her to agree, it was when her friends were there and now he realized that they said yes more than Kagome did. Also during their few dates, he did seem to remember feeling like he was being followed...

With Kagome securely in place ("her place", he couldn't help thinking) on his back, Inuyasha grabbed Hojo the same way he did when he got him out of the well, like a sack of rice under one arm. He jumped in the well and felt the magic hit him, then he felt Kagome and Hojo getting lighter. By the time he landed in the wellhouse at the shrine, Kagome and Hojo were no where to be found.

"KAGOME! ARGHH!"

Kagome felt Inuyasha disappear. She wasn't sure if Hojo would notice or not, because he had only gone through the well once, so wouldn't really know what to expect. As soon as the magic faded she didn't even have to look up to know she wasn't on her side of the well. It was barely a second later that Inuyasha came back, not very happy. "What is going on? Kagome! Why are you not going through the well?!"

Hojo just could not keep quiet at the half-demon's outburst. "You can't take it out on her that this isn't working correctly, she obviously didn't do anything to make it not work."

Inuyasha turned and growled at the teen, but before he could say anything, Kagome shouted out "I don't know, Inuyasha!" It was at this point he thought he caught a scent of tears. "It has always worked before!"

Shippo looked down from the top of the well and said, very innocently "Unless you don't have any jewel shards, Kagome."

Inuyasha's and Kagome's eyes locked, then Kagome said "But I just came through the well with Hojo not twenty minutes before I tried to go back through. We stayed right here, and besides, they are still on the chain around..." At this point she was trying to retrieve said chain when she came up empty handed.

Miroku spoke up. "Kagome, is it possible that the chain broke when you and Hojo fell into the well? Shippo, jump in and try to find the bottle in the bottom of the well."

Kagome looked dazed. "I don't think so, I didn't feel any tug on the chain, nothing that would make it break. The farthest I have gone from the well is when we were talking to Kikyo, so if it did break they have to be right here somewhere."

Sango took a quick intake of breath and had a worried look on her face. Inuyasha turned to her. "Spit it out Sango, what are you thinking?"

"This wouldn't be the first time that Kikyo stole the jewel shards from Kagome..."

Before she could finish she was cut off by a feral snarl from Inuyasha, but he was cut off by Hojo. "I thought it was rather odd, from what the kid told me, it didn't seem like Kagome and Kikyo got along too well."

Inuyasha then turned to him and growled out "Spit it out, Hoho."

"Kikyo got very close to Kagome, after those serpent things were flying around Kagome's head. I kept thinking how I wouldn't want to be too close to those things."

Kagome looked up wide-eyed, "That's right! They were getting really close to me and she came over and told them that she wasn't going to take my soul... today. Then she put her hand on my shoulder, I thought it was just a kind gesture but it was very close to my shirt collar."

Inuyasha looked around at everyone very annoyed. Then stared at Hojo. "Listen Hozo, you can't come here and just think that you know everything. Up until today, you thought you knew that Kagome was missing school 'cause she was sick. You thought you knew that demons were just legends. You thought you knew..."

"Inuyasha, sit boy!"

"OOHF"

Shippo: "And we thought you knew when to shut up."

Inuyasha: "Shippo, when I get up, I am going to kick your..."

Shippo: "Kagome! Say it again! Hurry! Say it! Oh no! Here he comes! AHHHhhhhhh..."

Sango watched Inuyasha chase Shippo and wondered why Kagome wasn't defending the kit as she was accustomed to doing. When they were out of sight, she turned to ask the girl and noticed the smirk on her face. Kagome noticed Sango looking at her. "What? Shippo is getting better at getting away from Inuyasha, and do you really think we would be able to discuss an action plan, especially against Kikyo, with Inuyasha here? Let's go to Keade's and see what we can come up with."

Hojo just quietly followed the group down a path, soon coming to a primitive looking village. It dawned on him that he still had no idea where they were. "Kagome, I didn't get the chance to ask yet, but where exactly are we?"

"Oh, sorry Hojo, I wasn't thinking about it, but I will explain when we get to Kaede's. I don't know how much time we have until Inuyasha and Shippo get back."

"Shippo is going to be alright, isn't he? I mean he is just a kid and Inuyasha is unusually strong."

Miroku spoke up with a small smile on his face. "I take it there aren't any kitsunes where you come from. Shippo can take care of himself. He may look like an innocent, young child, but demons age different than humans. He is older than you and I combined and he has a lot of... resources. Inuyasha was younger than that when his mother died and he was left on his own and he made it just fine without all of Shippo's kitsune tricks."

Hojo just looked back towards the way the two had run off and then continued to follow the rest to a small hut. As they were getting close, Kaede came out of the hut with a water bucket in her hand. She looked up and greeted the group, then noticed it's newest member. "And who have we here? My, your strange clothes make me think that like young Kagome, you are not from around here. Please, everyone go on in and make yourselves comfortable, I was just getting some water for tea. I will be back shortly. There is some soup by the fire."

Sango spoke quietly to Miroku, then reached for Kaede's bucket. "I will go and get you some water, Kaede, they may need your opinion our the current situation."

Unfortunately, she should have stepped away from Miroku faster. As the others were heading into the hut there was a loud slap and a shout of "Pervert!" that made Hojo jump. Kagome and Kaede just shook their heads.