He perched on a nearby branch, hidden from prying eyes such as that of Miroku or Sango. It had long ago become clear that Kagome had no intentions of returning to the Feudal Era—no intentions of returning to him. Normally he would've accepted it over all these years, but even with rumors of Kikyo and Naraku floating around from time to time, he couldn't bring himself to permanently part from the Bone-Eater's Well. The longest he'd ever been gone was a whole month when he and his team had been certain that there was a jewel shard inside a gargantuan snake demon. The reason the trip took so long wasn't directly because of the demon, but because it had attacked a village in its vicinity and slaughtered hundreds of innocent people. The dwindling number of survivors had lost their homes, family, and friends. Back then it was so horrible that even Kilala had to help out by carrying loads of lumber and stones to the houses and baskets of medicinal herbs to aid the wounded. The entire time was spent mourning over the deaths.

He was mourning something else though. He had successfully reclaimed a shard of the Shikon no Tama; he should've been happy, if not satisfied. But it seemed a hollow victory for them all. It was the first time that they had located a shard all on their own, without the assistance of anyone else. One of the most valued and important members of their little group had been missing for many years now—Kagome. She was essential and a major asset to them, being as she was the only one with spiritual powers and the ability to sense jewel shards.

She'd left a long time ago—sixteen years to be exact. It wasn't like he ditched her. It wasn't like he never tried to come back for her. He did. He did, so many times... But if she caught him when he was just coming out of the well, she simply used that awful command to bring him straight back down to his own time period. Now he almost missed being stuck in a crater.

Almost.

His ears flattened as he remembered the very day she left. It was the same day he'd claimed her as his. She hadn't resisted the idea nor did she try to sidestep it. She hadn't gotten mad. There was no sit command. It was only after they'd proven their love and loyalty to each other that she slapped him and ran off, jumping hastily down the well. She had never come back since.

So, he did the best he could think of and after a few days of her absence, followed her down the well. His first thought was that he would have to try just one or two times, like always, and she would come back with him. But he wound up trying at least twenty times only to be viciously thrown back into the past each time. No one could accuse him of not being persistent enough, especially since he came back at intervals of a few days. It took him all those failures to finally admit to himself that she was gone for good this time and there was nothing he could do that would bring her back. Miroku, Sango, and Shippo tried to assist him by having him relay their messages to her, but she never listened. No matter what he said, no matter what he did...she chased him off.

He hadn't gone back since his last attempt sixteen years ago. It was pointless, he knew, and unless she chose to come back on her own accord, he would never see her again. He only wished that it was his pride that was holding him back, instead of the realization that she would only say "sit" until he agreed to leave.

To send him packing with his tail between his legs was something he never thought possible.

To her the well was nothing but an old legend once more, as was the tree and the inside of the shrine itself. Her adventures with Inuyasha—how she despised his name—were history, and now she had new adventures and an entirely new goal in life. The jewel meant nothing anymore, being as it only existed in the Feudal Era. That mutt of a halfbreed could—

"Mom!" a feminine voice shouted as footsteps could be heard bounding down the stairs. "Mom, so guess what?!"

Kagome turned around to face her sixteen-year-old daughter, a teenager the spitting image of her father despite a few changes here and there. For one, her father only had long humanlike hair, whereas she had long humanlike hair plus a trail of fur along her back down to a tail. She didn't seem to have inherited any of her mother's traits and even her personality mirrored her father's.

She didn't even know her true heritage, having been told all her life that she had a rare condition that caused a person's physical appearance to become warped. To her knowledge there was no cure or surgery that could fix it.

The problem was, she had the same abilities as her father and often acted like him—hated baths, sniffed the ground and air, and shook herself off like a dog when she was wet. Occasionally she would chew on furniture but that habit was almost dead.

"What is it?" Kagome asked.

"Okay, so get this! Ebisu just asked me out!" she squealed. "I can go, right? I mean on the date?"

Sighing, her mother answered, "You know you can't be seen too much in public; you'll only draw attention to yourself."

"I can tuck my tail in and cover my ears, so please? Nobody will notice, I swear," she pleaded.

"Honey, we've talked about this..."

Per usual, her daughter's temper flared and her cheeks turned red with frustration. "Yeah, we have talked about it. We've talked about it a million times. But have you ever considered how I feel about this? Every time I ask for one chance to be normal you say no! Just because I look a little different! I'm still human; I still deserve to do human things!"

"You are human but—"

"Or wait, should I act like an animal? Because you always treat me like one! Should I sit, beg, and wag my tail every time I'm hungry? Should I walk on all fours and chew on doggie bones all the time? Should I play fetch and sniff people's butts?!"

"You are not a dog and you will not act like a dog. But you will listen to me and you do need to trust my judgment, young lady!"

"Why should I?" the girl huffed.

"Because I said so! You are not going on a date and that's final!"

She couldn't go on that date—not because she looked like an animal-human hybrid, but because demons didn't exist in modern times. There was no such "rare condition" that she had. If people decided to look into the reason behind her appearance, she would be taken away and labeled government property.

Kagome knew where Nozomi would truly fit in. On rare occasions she thought about taking her there and then bringing her back to convince her it was merely a dream. But still... Nozomi always had to hide her body. Her tail and ears were especially difficult to cover up and it caused her enormous discomfort. Kagome couldn't really blame her for complaining—her tail had bones that were being forced into an awkward position and her ears had cartilage that was being bent over under a headband every day. Like her father, she wouldn't have that in the Feudal Era.

But in that time period, demons roamed freely and danger lurked around every corner. To ward off danger, she would need to master her abilities. She tried on her own, constantly fighting trees and metal poles, and had gained some experience from it, but there was only one person that could ever teach her how to handle her own strength—her father.

And there was no chance of Nozomi ever knowing about that man.

"Why can't I just do what I want for once?" her daughter continued, almost as if she was unwilling to drop the conversation.

"Nozomi!" Kagome shouted. "Stop acting like your fath—" She stopped mid-sentence and was about to take it back, but she'd let her frustration get the better of her and it was too late now.

Nozomi hissed through her teeth as tears formed at the rims of her eyes. "How can I act like a dead man?!"

Those seemed to be her parting words, because before her mother even had a chance to open her mouth, she'd rushed out the back door. She would be found in the tree by the well house—it was where she always went to calm herself. Most people would blame it on simply being a teenager, but she was actually just as stubborn and hotheaded as her father. It never took much to get her blood boiling and she could be as reckless as ever. She could be crude, arrogant, and rough...but just like her father, she was kindhearted and caring. Kagome knew that she was the overprotective type, but there was nothing to protect so that was probably the only trait that was never revealed.

A/N

Don't you just love where I cut it off? I had the summary in mind so while it was still fresh in my mind, I had to take the chance to go on and upload the document I had, despite being incomplete (but complete enough to make a chapter). Anyway, yeah, hope you enjoyed it and hope you keep reading because things will heat up soon...