Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Inu and gang or the show, only this idea and this character, whose POV the story is often told from.

To anyone who read my stuff and gave up on me, I am SO SORY, words cannot express. Work, life, college, but it is no excuse. With luck, all my stories will be updated inside the next two weeks.

I jogged through the woods, hands resting on the hilts of my swords to keep them from making noise in their sheaths. After over a week on the run, I had gotten better at keeping this pace for a time. The moonlight was my only illumination, and I preferred it that way. Safer to run at night, my father had always said. Remembering who had taught me brought tears to my eyes as I remembered how I had left my parents. Their bodies broken by a rain of bullets as we tried to escape. I still wasn't sure what happened, I had blacked out when my mother fell, when I came to, the bodies of the men who had been pursuing us lay around me, my swords covered in blood. I had buried my parents and left the bodies of the men for whom or whatever. Gathering the supplies I could in the time I felt I had, which wasn't much, I ran. Three pairs of jeans and shirts, several bottles of water, a pot to boil more in, and my cd player were stuffed in my backpack, with a sleeping bag rolled tightly and tied on top. Pausing, I scavenged some K-rations and beef jerky from the bodies of the agents. Since we were only a few miles outside of town, the highway was the easiest way to move fast, so I drove north until I ran out of gas and went on foot from there. Unable to figure out anything else, I was headed to central Iowa, and I was almost there, only a few hours more travel to go.

My great-grandfather's farm was depressing, like I needed more of that. The house my father grew up in was falling in upon itself, the roof sagging low into the kitchen. Somehow, the old barn was standing, the door hanging open like a gaping maw. I slipped inside, staring at the empty stalls and barn loft, years empty. I was so busy scanning the area, in fact, I didn't see the edge of the well in front of me as I stepped forward. My right toe caught the lip of the wooden edging and I fell. What a stupid way to die. I cursed one last time before I slammed my eyes shut and a blue light overtook me.

interlude

"Oswari!"

A crash was heard, followed by loud cursing.

"I'm going home, Inuyasha-baka, and that's final!"

"We have more shards to find!" The hanyou growled into the dirt as Kagome walked away from him, followed by the rest of the group. How he hated that damnable subduing spell!

After a moment I opened my eyes, shocked I had felt no impact. I found myself kneeling in the bottom of a, surprise, well, backpack and swords still strapped to me. Looking up, I was confused to find clear sky above me instead of the barn rafters. An ivy vine caught my eye and I began to test my weight on it, but stopped short when I heard voices approaching. My right hand went to the red hilt on my hip. They would just shoot me if I was lucky, but I would die with my sword in my hand. Silent, I waited and listened to the approaching people.

"I'm only going home for a few days!" Female voice, sounded annoyed, filled with strained patience, but young, too young to be an agent, maybe no older than I.

"NO, we need to keep hunting!" Male, insistent, but young as well, though the use of the word, "hunting" made me wary.

"Inuyasha…" Same female voice, clear warning in it.

"No, wench, I mean it!" Clueless, stubborn male.

"Oswari!" An impressive thud followed the female shout.

"He never learns." Female voice number two, tolerant, almost bored, with a faint edge of amusement. A little older sounding than number one.

"Nope." Male number two, bored as well, maybe the sasme age as the other, still not an old voice.

A moment a loud SMACK was heard. "Hentai!" Angry and annoyed tone now for Female Two.

"Looks like Inuyasha-baka isn't the only one who doesn't learn, Miroku-kun." Male number three sounded much younger, a child's voice, and highly amused. It was swiftly followed by a mewing noise, probably a cat.

All right, enough of this, if I was going to die or get help, either was I was tired of standing in this damn well. Besides, they were speaking a dialect of Japanese my parents had taught me as a child, unlikely to be anyone after me. I hadn't heard of any such units, anyway. "Hey, can someone give me a hand?"

Dead silence for a moment before a girl poked her head over the edge of the well. She had black hair and pale skin, looked to be about twenty or so, like me. "Who are you?" Ah, this was Female One.

"Name's Ami." I was getting a crick in my neck from looking up. "Any chance I can get a hand outta here?"

Another head poked over the edge of the well beside the girl. He had black hair tied back in a rat-tail style, and what looked to be like a purple sash over one shoulder on top of a black something. "How did you come to be down there?" Male Two identified.

"No clue. Fell down an abandoned well in my great-grandfather's barn. Looked up and saw blue sky, so you tell me and we'll both know."

The girl's eyes widened. "What year is it?" Male Two shot her a look and I looked at her like she was nuts.

"Two thousand five."

Now I was on the receiving end of two wide eyed stares from the top, no, make it three as another girl's head appeared over the edge. The first girl suddenly grinned in excitement. Mood swings much? "You're from my time!"

'My time!'

"Inuyasha-kun, go help her out!" Female One was looking over her shoulder at this "Inuyasha" I now assumed was Male One. "Come on, quit sulking, or I'll say it again!"

A red and white blur was over the edge of the well and beside me in a flash. I yelped and jumped back, my sword sliding an inch out of its sheath. This guy had white hair despite his young features, and little dog ears rested on top of his head. I swear, he actually sniffed at me, his golden eyes narrowed. Okay, weird. "Fine, get on." He turned and squatted, his red clothed back to me.

I blinked, not in the habit of getting on the back of strange men, or any men for that matter, not literally. "And how, exactly, are you going to climb out of here with a twenty year old girl, two extra swords, and a heavy pack on your back?"

He tossed a look of disdain over his shoulder. "Keh. Just get on."

Hey, if he was on a macho kick, who was I to stop him? His broken back, not mine. I rolled my eyes and shrugged, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. To my surprise, he promptly reached back and grabbed my legs so I was practically straddling his back and then he leapt UP. Soon as his feet touched grass I tumbled off with a clatter as my pack, swords, and butt met the earth, painfully. I stared at his for a breathless moment. "If you ever, EVER, do that again without warning, you are gonna have a wet spot on your back, CLEAR?" Okay, no need to shout, not much at least.

A light touch on my shoulder made my crane my neck back.

"Sorry, he just isn't too polite. I'm Kagome Higurashi."

Standing, I realized we were almost the same height. "Ami. Just Ami." I resettled my pack and swords, relaxing my guard a bit. "Where the hell am I?"

"Japan, about five hundred years in the past."

I smiled and looked up, all prepared to laugh until I saw her face, and she looked deadly serious. Oh shit. For probably the first time in my life, I was shocked speechless.

Taking pity on me, she moved back slightly and gave me some breathing space before introducing the rest of the group. "The woman over there is Sango-chan, a taiyja."

I managed a shaky smile and nodded acknowledgment at the exterminator.

"On her shoulder is her friend and companion, the neko youkai Kirara."

Youkai!

The little orange ball of fur with two tails mewed at me and I just had to smile, it was just so cute!

"Over there," Kagome motioned to the man who had looked into the well. "Is out friend Miroku-kun, a houshi and a hentai, watch where you stand."

Miroku placed his hand on his chest and approached, a wounded look on his face. "Kagome-sama, your words injure me." He knelt in front of me, and, I have to admit, he was cute, even though I saw Sango begin a slow boil as he took my hands in his and I felt a blush rise. "Would you do me the honor of bearing my child?" Well, he rui9ned that.

Kagome sighed and shook her head in resignation as Sango let her gigantic weapon fall on Miroku's head. "He really is a nice guy at heart, just too…hormonal."

A child stepped out from behind Sango and walked over to Kagome, standing close by her side. "This," Kagome announced, looking down and ruffling the young boys hair playfully, "is my son, Shippo."

He had to be ten, and that just wasn't right if she was twenty. Seeing my look, she quickly adjusted her statement. "Adopted. He's a kitsune youkai."

Again, I gave a nod of respect, knowing how I hated being patronized at that age.

Hooking a finger at the gigantic tree behind her, she indicated the red clothed figure in the branches, glaring down. "That's Inuyasha-kun. Don't mind him, he doesan't mean anything by it, he's just naturally cranky."

"Am not!" Oh yeah, mature too.

"What kind of youkai is he with those ears?" The comment earned me a snarl from the object of my curiosity.

"Hanyou, not youkai. Half inu youkai." Kagome looked uncomfortable. "He doesn't like to talk about it.

"Right…." My voice trailed off as I looked around the clearing, still in shock, but definitely relaxing.

"Well, I was just headed home, let's see if we can't get you back too." Kagome's voice was like a ice down my spine with that idea.

Panic returned to me. "No!" I stepped quickly away from the well. "No, please, don't make me go back!"

The others seemed to startle and tense at my outburst. Miroku cautiously asked me the burning question. "Why not?"

I sat down hard, not feeling the pain shoot up my back as my eyes glazed. My current situation was forgotten as I once again remembered the events leading up to my flight to the farm and its non-existent refuge.