1. Foreign Ambitions

Kagome wasn't sure what to make of it. It was bad enough her math homework was a lost cause. Now, her English work was going down that same path.

"I just had to go and learn English," she mumbled to herself while sitting at her room's desk. The list of verbs for her to conjugate seemed endless.

"Come on, Kagome. You can do this! One more semester and then I'll be a graduate!" she encouraged herself and picked up her pencil. She managed to go halfway through the list before mental exhaustion took over.

"Kagome!" she heard her mom's voice filter into her room. "Dinner will be ready soon. Can you please tell grandpa to come inside?"

"Sure, mom!" Kagome yelled back in the direction of her open door. Thankful for the distraction, she immediately set to her task.

The night air outside was chilly. The nights of January were starting to settle in. Bundled in a jacket, Kagome carried a light as she searched for her grandfather, but before she could utter his voice, her sights settled onto the little shack that held the Bone Eater's Well.

She couldn't help herself. She entered and stood by the entrance, gazing at the silhouette of the well's lips. Since her return to her time, she had only tried once to go back, but instead of a meeting with familiar forests and dirt paths, Kagome only met with bruised knees and a twisted ankle. That was almost two years ago.

Kagome narrowed her eyes with sorrow. I guess it's better that I can't go back, but you never came back either, InuYasha.

She knew she shouldn't, but she entered the room and went up to the well. She shone her light down, but it wasn't bright enough to illuminate it all the way to the bottom. It was an empty void. Total darkness.

A sob escaped Kagome. Surprised, she brought a hand up to her cheeks and felt the wetness of her tears.

"No." She weakly smiled. "I gave it up, remember. I can't feel sad for something I decided to do. It's just…"

There was an emptiness, a need for closure she knew would never come. How were things on the other side? Were her friends okay? Did Miroku's Wind Tunnel go away? What about Sango and Shippo?

She sighed.

Kagome had left right after Naraku's death, but had he really died? What if the battle had continued without her? What if InuYasha never went through the well because he had—

She fiercely shook her head at the thought, a terrible ache bubbling in her chest.

No. Get it together. I still need to find grandpa, she scolded herself and wiped her tears away.

"Excuse me," a voice behind her spoke.

Kagome gasped and turned around to see someone standing by the Bone Eater's temple entrance. The setting sun's light silhouetted the figure, but she was able to tell it was a male's.

"Um. Yes. Can I help you?" she hesitantly said.

The guy took a step forward. "Sorry, but I was just wondering if this temple was open?"

Kagome could now hear and American accent in his words. She felt relieved and a little silly. He was probably a tourist that had been misinformed.

She walked up to him and smiled. "Sorry, but not right now. My grandpa is the one that runs things, so if you come back tomorrow morning, look for an old guy." She laughed.

He joined in the laughter as the two walked out into the twilight. In the light, Kagome saw him better. He was young and about a head taller than her, dressed in jeans and a light jacket. The striped scarf wrapped around his neck matched his beanie.

"I'm so sorry," he said with an apologetic smile. "I'm taking abroad classes here in Japan, and I'm still learning how to read signs."

Kagome waved his apology away. "Don't worry about it. You seem to speak the language pretty well though."

He blushed despite the cold. "Thanks."

"You said you were taking classes here. Are you in college?"

"Yeah, but I'm still in my freshmen year. Are you in college too?"

She shook her head. "No. This is my last semester in high school, but I would like to study somewhere out of the country. Somewhere where I can just start again."

He looked at her and Kagome noticed his soft brown eyes. "Is that why you were so sad next to that well?"

Kagome's eyes widened.

"Um. Sorry. I shouldn't have said that." He awkwardly smiled. "It's just that, you seemed so sad standing there."

She was silent for a moment. "No. It's nothing."

He sighed. "Well. Sorry for this whole thing. I'll just stop by tomorrow and see if I can see the place better then."

"Sure. Take care on your way back."

"Thanks. You take too." He turned and began to walk away but stopped and faced Kagome. "Don't be so sad over something you can't control."

She stared at his smile before giving him a small one of her own. "Okay. Thanks." She watched him disappear into the night.

"Hey, Kagome! Have you found grandpa yet?" Kagome heard her little brother say as he came up to her.

"Sota," Kagome said. "Uh. No. I haven't seen him around yet."

"Well good 'cause he came inside a few minutes ago." He grinned.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You could've just told me that in the first place."

He laughed as Kagome chased him back inside where she had a satisfying dinner with her family. A bath followed that and eventually, she ended up back in her room with her unfinished homework. The night outside her window was calm but frigid and cloudy. Aside from her desk lamp, there was no other source of light in Kagome's room.

Her eyes were starting to droop as she finished up her English conjugation. "Seems like I'll be copying my math homework from Eri tomorrow."

Kagome placed her books and supplies away in her knapsack and readied her clothes for the morning. She turned off her lamp and was about to climb into bed when something caught her eye.

A familiar purple glow was coming from under her bed.

She furrowed her eyebrows as she knelt and reached for the light. She pulled out a small, white box that was held closed with a pink ribbon. The violet glow was coming from the top's rims.

Kagome open it and looked inside. Freely rolling inside its container was the Shikon jewel in its signature shining glory. The purple haze lit up Kagome's face, making her sadness all the more noticeable.

Bewildered, she plucked it out of the box and held it in her palm. Suddenly, she felt angry.

"Why?" she cried. "Why did you come back? You had disappeared! Why did you come back!"

She shook with her sobs. "What's the right wish, then?"

The jewel simply stood in her hand.

"Why don't you talk to me now?" Kagome demanded, tears hot on her face. She closed her hand, locking the jewel in a fist. Beams of violet shone through her fingers.

"Why did you have to come back? If you hadn't, maybe I'd still be with InuYasha. I wish…I wish I knew what happened to him."

The Shikon no Tama gave one final, bright glow before dying out.

Author's Note: Wow! Thank you guys so much! Thank you all who have favored/followed/commented this story and me! Wow! I didn't know so many would be interested in this story. I can't give you enough of my thanks! *bows*

Sorry for any typos or weird, mixed up wording...I'm terrible at catching them. Also sorry for the terribly uneventful chapter. I already have the next six specifically planned, so those should coming soon. Yay!

Thank you once again! ^^