Chapter One

"You need to run faster, Kou, or I'm going to be late." Kagame's voice was caught in the wind, but she was sure that her wolfish mate heard every word she said and the exact tone she said it in.

"I'm running as fast as I can. Maybe if you had packed lighter than we wouldn't have this problem."

"No, if you hadn't distracted me this morning than we wouldn't have this problem." She couldn't help but smile as she teased him, risking to remove one of her arms from around his neck before poking him slightly in the side. Her and Kouga's mating was still in the "honeymoon phase." At least that's what it was referred to as in the future. Much to her friends',especially InuYasha's, distain they couldn't seem to keep their hands off of each other.

She was lucky though, she knew that much for sure. After Kouga lost the rest of his pack in an attack from Naraku he had joined their small group. The had remained friends for weeks before slowly moving onto something more. But the second her life had been put in serious danger their mate bond had immediately clicked into place, everyone assumed that it had taken so long because she was human. True bonds between demons, whether half-breed or not, and humans were rare. But the moment the mate mark had appeared on the inside of her wrist it had been a complete game changer for them. Kouga had waited to fully mark her though; he had wanted to be sure she was okay with how her life was going to change afterwards.

She was brought out of her thoughts when Kouga started running faster, jumping over things that lay on the forest floor in their pathway. She instinctively wrapped her arms tighter around his shoulders; even though she knew he would never drop her. At least not again. As she adjusted her hand for a better grip the small band she wore around her finger caught the slight rays of sunlight that shown through the tree tops. It was a more delicate silver match to the one that Kouga had on his own finger. Bonded pairs usually don't wear anything but the bond markings to show their matings, but with Kagame being human he had reluctantly agreed to the piece, especially after Kagame had explained the significance of the rings. He never took it off, even in battle or when he was washing up afterwards, and neither had she.

Kagame came to her senses fully as she felt Kouga begin to slow down. It was only then that she noticed that they had finally reached the clearing the sacred well was in. Saying goodbye to her mate was the hardest part of having her feet firmly planted in both worlds. Though now with the help of the bond Kouga could now come to her world; if he wanted to, though recently he only came to drag her back to the past. To her home. Him being able to travel through the well was a good thing, fat better than she had expected. He now understood exactly where she was come from and why she had acted so odd for so many years, not that her acting odd had changed at all since their mating. Kagome knew that even once Naraku was defeated they would still keep the link between the two worlds open for as long as possible for a few reasons. It was one of the reasons she had decided she needed a friend, someone who would understand what she was going through more than the friends she had from the past. She had thought about telling the friends she already had in the future, but that would cause more problems. She had given up on bringing anyone else with her until she had started talking to Casey and they had clicked immediately.

Her friendship with Casey had started simply enough online. Kagome had been mindlessly scrolling through her favorite blog site when she stumbled upon an amazing webcomic. She had binge read every page that had been posted so far, staying up way later than she had planned and paying for it the next day when she had to return to the past. Her new online obsession had gone from silently lurking and paying a monthly subscription to get the artist's content faster, to commenting way too much, to finally messaging and having long conversations with the artist. It was in those conversations that they had become as close as any friends could become; some days it felt like Casey lived right next door. They video chatted as often as they could and eventually revealed secrets about themselves. Kagome could still remember the moment she had finally told Casey everything.

"Okay, last time we were here I finally broke down and told what was actually going on with me for the past two years. It's you're turn this time."

Kagome couldn't help but smile as Casey's voice filled the room and her smiling face finally popped on screen, instantly demanding things . That was Casey's way; something Kagome had learned early on in their friendship. It was still unbelievable how well this friendship worked between them. Casey knew there were things Kagome was hiding and, after Casey dropped her own bomb two weeks ago, Kagome knew it was her turn to fess up. She still had no idea what Casey's reaction would be.

"Okay, okay okay," she said, lifting her arms up in mock surrender. "But you can't interrupt me until I am done."

"Okay."

Kagome could hear the wariness in Casey;s voice as she took a deep breath before finally saying, "I have a magic well at my family's shrine. It has the power to take me back to Feudal Era Japan where I have a group of friends. We search for something called the Shikon no Tama-"

"The Sacred Jewel?"

"No interrupting remember," Kagome said, trying desperately to judge Casey's expression. Once she was sure there would be no more interruptions she finally continued, "I shattered it when I first arrived. Entirely by accident, I might add. I mean, it's not like I had ever even shot an arrow before that moment. So it's not like it was completely my fault. But ever since then I've been helping InuYasha find the shards. We are trying to keep in out of Naraku's hands because who knows what kind of evil he will bring if he gets ahold of the entire thing. He has a large portion of it, but our piece is bigger and we don't plan on letting it fall into the wrong hands." Kagome stopped and smiled when she finally noticed Casey had her hand raised as if she was in some classroom waiting to be called upon by the teacher. "Yes?"

"Who exactly is we? I mean who all is in your group? Who are your friends from the Feudal Era? Is that cute Kouga guy in it? Is he from the past?"

"Yes, Kouga joined our group about six months ago when Naraku killed the last of his pack. There's also Shippo, Miroku, Sango, and Kirara. Miroku is a monk, Sango is a demon slayer, Kirara is a two tailed cat demon, Shippo is a fox demon, Kouga is a wolf demon, and InuYasha is a half-breed. I hate that word. He's a hanyou; he's half human and half dog demon. I can send you pictures if you would like or if I need to prove myself a little more. Even I have to admit this is a lot to take in and it's really complicated, along with being a little unbelievable"

"I would love to see pictures of everyone, but honestly I think I believe you. I mean we talk about once, maybe twice, a month if we are lucky. So I'm assuming the gap between our conversations is due to you being away, plus it makes how Kouga looks make so much more sense now. How does it work? I mean why are you able to travel through the well? Can anyone do it? Could I?"

"I can now because of the mate bond I have with Kouga. We are connected that way and whatever magic governs the well it can't separate us or break our bond. It also means that he can come through the well, though he doesn't do that very often. Before I knew about the bond I always carried the jewel shards around my neck. I mean it was the jewel being embedded in my body in the first place that started all of it. InuYasha and I just assumed that was the link, but even that doesn't explain why InuYasha can travel through it. With him, I can't help but wonder if it has more to do with Kikyou and the sacred tree than the jewel itself. Don't even get me started on Kikyou; that's another story I think would be better off coming from InuYasha." Kagome had expected the shocked silence that settled between them, but what she hadn't expected was the laughter the emanated from Casey once she realized Kagome was done with her story.

"That sounds so exciting."

"Really?"

"You're going on an adventure every day. What's not to be exciting about that? I mean look at me and my life. You have to admit you definitely win. Not only are you going to unknown places and putting yourself in constant danger, but you have Kouga. And then there is me, who hasn't even been out of this state in two years. I'm lucky my parents even let me leave the house. And dating. That's a nonstarter for them. I hardly have friends at this point"

Kagome could hear the longing and regret in Casey's voice, it wasn't the first time she had heard it and she couldn't help but wonder if she could help in some way. It was then that a crazy idea clicked inside her head. "Would your parents ever let you study in Japan?"

She was shaken out of her thoughts as Kouga finally stopped and set her back down on solid ground. Kagome still had no idea how they had ended up convincing Casey's parents into all of this, but she was glad they had. This experience would be good for both of them, not just herself. She took a moment to gain her balance; as many times as she had ridden on someone's back she still couldn't get used to it. She always felt a little unbalanced once her feet hit solid earth.

"You know I hate this."

She could hear the frustration in his voice. She hated leaving him, but not only was she bringing someone new into their tight-knit group, but she was also going back for more supplies. The plan was to get Casey used to Japan a little before diving head first into the past. Though, both Kouga and InuYasha were only giving her a week before they came to drag her back through the well. They were finally gaining a momentum that no one in their group wanted to lose; they were so close to defeating Naraku once and for all. She was hoping it wouldn't come to that. Although, Casey had seen many pictures of everyone in the group Kagome knew the two males were a force of nature that very few people could handle at once.

"I'll be back before you know it, Kou," she said, reaching up and wrapping her hands around his neck. She kept her eyes locked on his as he slowly lowered his head towards her own. "I love you and give you full permission to drag me back in a week."

"You get five days."

His voice was harsh but as she met his gaze she realized how worried he was that something would happen. That something would keep her from him.

"I thought-"

"Yasha and I talked about it last night. There's no sense wasting too much time. Neither of us know what you have planned, but if you think this girl will come with you it needs to happen sooner rather than later. You've talked to her about all of this right?"

"Of course, she knows exactly what she is getting herself into. The only people who are completely clueless in this situation are her parents. She didn't want to tell them. She was afraid they wouldn't let her come."

"She's 18 right? Isn't she technically considered an adult in your time?"

"Yes, but it's far more complicated."

"So uncomplicated it for me."

She knew he hated being in the dark about things; especially when they involved anything to do with her or her safety. "It's not my story to tell. She has to do that. And she will, eventually. I promise." She gasped as he immediately embraced her tightly.

"Please come home soon," he softly whispered in her ear.

"I will."

She climbed on to the ledge of the well still holding onto Kouga's hand for extra support. She squeezed it one last time before finally letting it go. She didn't look behind her again before she finally jumped into the well. She knew if she saw his face one last time she wouldn't rush things way too quickly for Casey and that was the last thing she wanted to do. As darkness surrounded her she let the magic take her back to her future.

Casey took a deep breath as the plane began it's finally descent into Tokyo. She couldn't believe she was finally here. After talking to Kagome for a over year now; along trying to convince her parents to let her spend her Senior year of high school in Japan she couldn't believe it was actually happening. She was so excited that she got very little sleep on the plane. In fact, she had been so nervous that she had gotten very little sleep for the last week. The fatigue was finally catching up to her and she was in desperate need for a shower and a good night's sleep. Looking at her watch, which she had already switched to the correct timezone, she realized it was only three in the afternoon and nightfall was still a hours away. She knew it was going to be a long day; she only hoped Kagome would take pity on her and go easy on whatever she had planned.

She wanted to explore her new home. Or at least the home she would be visiting part of her time in Japan. She realized there would be another world she would be calling home most of the time. She still couldn't believe that Kagome's mother had agreed to allow her daughter to bring someone she never met into their home. They had already worked things out with the school as well. They would be returning slightly more often than Kagome usually did and going to school as if everything was normal, but while they were in the past Kagome's mother would be teaching them from home. It worked out considering how often Kagome missed because of all the fake illnesses her family told people she had. And with Casey's own ill past it was the perfect excuse. They had given her parents and the school the same excuse. She couldn't help but think back on the conversation that finally convinced her parents about this trip.

"Mom, you have to let me do this." Casey knew she sounded ridiculous and was beginning to think she was becoming a broken record since this was the only conversation her and her parents had been having lately.

"I don't have to let you do anything, Cassandra. I'm your mother. The only thing I am supposed to do is keep you clothed and fed and generally healthy. And before you say another word my main focus right now is the latter of the two."

She couldn't help but rolled her eyes; she always knew she was talking to the stern business side of her mom when she used her full name. "I'm eighteen years old. I am technically an adult so I don't even need your permission."

"You are still in high school."

"It's not like that is my fault," she took a deep breath, knowing anger was not the way to get through to her mom. "I already lost a year and a half of my life. Please let me have this year away to make up for it. I can't go back to that school."

"What about your friends?"

As her mom's tone of voice softened Casey sat down at the kitchen island. "What friends? The ones who I don't I don't see outside of school anymore or the ones who won't even talk to me anymore." She waited until her mom came around from where she had been standing next to the sink before finally saying, "I can't do this anymore, mom. I can't take the looks I get every time someone realizes who I am. Teachers and students both give me the same pitiful look and I can't take it anymore. Even the very few people who still talk to me treat me differently now. I need to start over." She buried her head in her shaking hands; this was the last thing she could think of that might convince her mother into letting her go. It didn't hurt the situation that all of it was true. She took a deep breath before looking up and continuing, "Kagome knows everything and her mother is equipped to deal with sickness. Kagome misses a lot of school for chronic illness and her mother supplements home school on the days she can't make it into school. I've already talked to her and she is more than happy to do the same thing for me. Even the school has agreed on the arrangement. I'll go see doctors while I'm there. Hell, I will promise to go to the hospital for the slightest fever if you let me go."

The loud sigh her mother gave her brought her head up before her mom finally said, "I want to talk to Kagome's mom about all of this. I want to know exactly what the plan is and if they are prepared if worse comes to worse for you."

"Really?"

She couldn't believe the adventure she was about to go on, especially when she had thought for the past three years she wasn't sure she was going to make it to this moment. It had been a long, exhausting battle. But with Kagome knowing pretty much everything from her past she was excited for where she was heading.

As the plane finally touched down, the roughness bringing Casey out of her thoughts, she began gathering the things she had brought onto the plane. She was thankful her parents had upgraded the ticket she had bought on her own to a first class ticket instead. The extra legroom and the fully reclining seat helped her to feel more comfortable and relaxed. She had also been able to work on her web comic while in the air thanks to being able to plug her computer and tablet in. She carefully put her electronics safely away in her backpack. She was thankful for the hours she was able to work, knowing her friends, parents, and the few fans she had would be wanting to see her work continue in Japan.

The web comic had been something she had started about two years ago, during one of her longer stays in the hospital. It was the only thing that kept her mind off the pain she was in. If had been her dad's suggestion after he had found her stash of drawings. He had even gone as far as researching and buying the best drawing tablet on the market. As she added more and more comics to her Tumblr account and more and more people began following her, interacting with her and commenting on her art, she realized people actually cared about her art and the story she was tell through it. She knew her parents would be checking her page regularly so she would need to be uploading as frequently as she could and also get pages set up to post during certain time periods.

She finished collecting things around her seat and situating herself to depart the plane as it continued to taxi to the gate. Kagome had sent her an email before she had left saying they would be outside of customs waiting for her. She was a bundle of nerves and couldn't seem to sit still in her seat, her leg bouncing to a rhythm all its own. All she wanted to do was exit the plan and head out on the adventure her and Kagome had planned.