The three of them made there way through the big city towards her mother's house. They stopped occasionally when Shippo saw something he liked or wanted and figuring that she didn't know when she would be able to make it back, Kagome let him get some things he wanted. When he wanted a toy, she got him a toy. When he wanted to go see the special fish pond they had inside the park they were in, they sat there for about a half hour while the young boy observed the fish, happily. When he wanted ice cream and some candy… well, he could pretty much get that anywhere, but he was being good, so she decide he could have some anyway.

She let out a heavy sigh as her and Sango made their way up the shrine stairs that led to her old home where her mother and younger brother Souta still lived. Shippo ran ahead of the two woman, excitedly skipping up the stairs. "Be careful, Shippo!" Kagome kept yelling to him as she watched him worriedly. "I swear, he's trying to give me a heart attack!" Sango giggled.

"And from the looks of it, he might succeed someday soon." Kagome sighed again.

"You have no idea…"

Sango tilted her head a bit as she looked at Kagome's stress-ridden face. "Are you alright, Kagome? What's the matter?"

Kagome crossed her arms and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I guess I'm just kind of a little nervous…"

"Nervous? What ever for?"

"Well, I thought I wouldn't have a hard time telling Inuyasha about Shippo… But now, I guess I'm a little scared that he won't accept him. Shippo's been asking about his father ever since he could talk, and it would just break his heart if Inuyasha denied him," Kagome explained as her eyes began to tear, relieved to finally get all of her feelings off of her chest.

Sango wrapped an arm around her best friends' shoulders for comfort. "Don't worry about him, Kagome. Inuyasha is an odd one, but he doesn't really strike me as the dead-beat father type. And even if he does, you and Shippo always have all of us. We're your friends, and we'll never abandon you two, Kagome; you know that," she reassured her.

Kagome nodded and sniffled before smiling weakly. "Yes, I know. And thank you; I really appreciate the support from you guys." Shippo had stopped near the top of the stairs and waited for the two women to catch up. Once they did, Kagome reached down and took his small hand in her own, leading him the rest of the way up the long stairway. Kagome knew that what Sango had said was true, but that didn't ease her mind that much. She still worried of Shippo's stability if he continued to grow without a father. Not that Inuyasha was the best role model, but he was still better than nothing. Kagome had tried to date a few guys when she moved to Osaka, but none of them were really all that great. And with most of them, once they found out that she was a single mother, they wanted nothing to do with her. Kagome knew she was on thin ice when it came to finding her little boy a father, and right now, Inuyasha was the best chance she had.

They approached the door and Kagome took in a deep breath before bringing her hand too the doorbell and pushing it. After a few seconds of shuffling behind the door, it opened quickly to reveal Souta. "Souta!"

He smiled brightly at seeing his older sister standing before him. "Kagome?!" After a quick hug, the two separated and Kagome kissed him lightly on the forehead. "Aw, come on, sis!"

Sango and Kagome laughed. "Give me a break, Souta. I haven't seen you in forever," she scolded.

"I know."

"And look how much you've grown! Oh, my God!…" She rubbed her hand through his hair and he pushed her away.

"Hey!… Go easy, will ya?! I'm not that little kid you left behind all those years ago, ya know?!" he scolded.

"Right, you're 17. You're all grown up, a man of the world now," she teased.

"Come on, don't patronize me, sis… So when did you get back? I feel so left out."

"Don't worry, Souta. I just got here a few hours ago so you haven't missed out on much. May we come in?" Souta stood aside.

"Oh, yea sure. Come on in." They walked in past him and Souta noticed the small boy clinging to his sisters' leg. "So I guess this little guy is Shippo, huh?" Kagome smiled and turned back to her brother as he closed the door.

"Yup, this is Shippo. Shippo, say hello to your Uncle Souta."

"Hi…" Shippo said shyly again. Kagome shook her head.

"Don't worry, he just acts shy. Once he gets used to you, you won't be able to get him to shut up."

"Haha. I'll be sure to remember that."

"So Souta, where's mom?"

"You know, you just missed her. She just left about 15 minutes ago to go shopping." Kagome snapped her fingers.

"Dang, I was really hoping that she'd be here. I wanted to introduce her to Shippo today…"

"Don't worry, Kagome. I'm sure you'll see her soon enough. But hey, I was actually about to get going. A friend of mine is having a party and if I don't leave now, I'm gonna be really late."

She gaped at him. "Souta! You mean to tell me that you would rather go to a party than spend time with your own sister who you haven't seen in almost 7 years?!" He shrugged and smiled weakly at her as he picked up his jacket.

"Sorry, Kagome. It's a really important party. Everyone who's anyone will be there," he explained as she crossed her arms.

"Now you sound like me…" He shrugged again.

"I learn from the best." He opened the door and walked outside. "Catch ya later. Lock up when you're done, okay? Love ya, sis."

Kagome sighed again as he closed the door behind him. "Well. That went well."

Sango gave her friend a weak smile. "Come on, don't be too hard on him. He's 17, you can't expect him to want to be around you all the time when he has girlfriends to make."

"I guess you're right. Well, since mom's not here, why don't we head back to your place. Unless you had somewhere else you wanted to go to first?…"

"Uh… You know, let me just make a quick phone call, okay?" she asked nervously, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket.

"Sure. I'll just be upstairs showing Shippo my old room. Let us know when you're done."

"Will do." She dialed the number to her apartment as Kagome headed up the stairs with Shippo.

Hello?

"Yea, it's me, Miroku. Is everything ready?"

Not yet. Where are you two?

"We're at Kagome's old house. I take it Mrs. Higurashi is there?"

Yes, she arrived here shortly after you left.

"Great. And Souta just left here. Knowing him, he'll be there in like 10 minutes tops. How much longer do you guys need?"

Don't worry, Sango. Everything will be ready by the time you two get back here, okay? Miroku assured her. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Alright, babe. We'll see you in a little bit," she finished before closing the phone. She smiled. Everything was going perfectly! All was going according to her plan. And the best part was that Kagome had no idea! She mentally noted that she needed to pat herself on the back for doing such a good job later.

After forcing the hysteric grin from her face, she walked over to the banister and placed her hand on it. "Kagome! You ready?!" she yelled up the staircase.

"Just a few more minutes, Sango!" Kagome yelled back down before turning her attention back to her son with a smile. "So do you like mommy's old room, honey?"

He nodded. "Who's that, mommy?" She followed his extended hand which pointed to a picture that rested on the desk by her window. Her eyes widened a bit as she realized that it was a picture of her and Inuyasha from when they had been together. Her muscles stiffened and her mind began to race. Should she dare show him the picture? He is his father after all, and she was planning on introducing them during this trip anyway, wasn't she? It would be okay for her to tell him, wouldn't it?

With a heavy sigh, she walked to the picture and picked it up before sitting down on her bed. "Come here, Shippo," she said, patting the bed next to her so that he would come. He walked over and crawled onto the bed next to his mother and leaned on her shoulder to look at the picture. "Shippo… This is me a long time ago… with your daddy." She saw his large green eyes widen as he leaned in closer to the picture. After a few seconds, he reached stubby fingers out to touch the image of his father.

"He's my daddy?…" he asked in an almost frightened tone. Kagome nodded as she wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him a bit closer.

"Would you like to meet your daddy, sweetheart?" He turned his surprised gaze to her with excitement dancing in his eyes.

"Can I, mommy?!" She nodded.

"Hopefully, sweetie. We have to see if he's still mad at mommy or not," she explained, lifting him up and placing him on the floor before standing herself.

"What if he's still mad at you mommy?" She sighed again, something she noticed she was doing a lot lately.

"I don't know, Shippo. I really don't know… But come on. Your Auntie Sango is waiting for us downstairs and we have to get home so we can have some dinner. I'm starving, aren't you?" she asked, trying to make the mood a little happier.

He smiled at his mom's suddenly cheery mood and nodded. When he asked her if he could keep the picture, she was a bit hesitant but decided that there could really be no harm in it. So after giving her son the photo, they made there way down the stairs to where Sango stood waiting for them.

As they made there way back to Sango's apartment, Kagome decided to ask the question that was burning in the back of her brain. "Why is everyone tiptoeing around me whenever I ask about Inuyasha?" Sango stopped walking, her head down. Kagome stopped as well, turning to her friend in confusion. "Sango?…" No response. "Come on, Sango. You've never kept anything from me before. Please, tell me. What's going on with Inuyasha?"

Sango smiled weakly up at her friend. "Kagome, please. You know that I love you dearly, that you're like a sister to me. You are my very best friend and one of the only people that I trust. But please, please don't force me to tell you something that I'm uncomfortable saying to you. You know I would never intentionally keep something from you unless it wasn't my place." Kagome's eyes were glazed with sadness as she listened to her friend.

She forced a smile on her face though. "Alright, Sango. I'm sorry. I won't ask you again, it was wrong of me to try to force you."

"Don't worry about it." She entwined her arm with Kagome's. "Let's just hurry and get back to my place, huh? Miroku's probably starving!"

"You mean he can't cook his own food?"

Sango shook her head as they continued on. "He absolutely refuses to. After he tasted my cooking, he says he'll only eat what I cook." Kagome giggled.

"Are you serious? He's such a player. What a line he fed you."

"I know, but it's still kind of sweet, if you think about it."

"Haha. Oh, Sango… You really fell hard, didn't you?"

"What?" Kagome just shook her head.

"Nothing. Never mind…" Sango shook her arm.

"No! Tell me!"

"It's nothing! Don't worry about it!" she laughed out.

"Kagome, you're absolutely horrible!"

"Haha. I know, but that's why you guys love me so much!"

They continued on their way. Kagome took Shippo's hand in her free one, telling him that it was getting too dark for him to run ahead by himself.

Ring Ring

Inuyasha hurriedly ran to his desk where he had placed his cell phone and answered it quickly.

"Kikyou?!"

…Not exactly. But it's good to know that you can tell us apart. Inuyasha's face contorted as he let out a small growl.

"Miroku. What the heck do you want?"

Calm down, Inuyasha. I called to remind you of Kagome's return today, and--

"Yea, yea, yea, I know already! I heard all about it from my idiot brother! Why won't you people get off my back?!"

Sigh Inuyasha. I simply wished to know if you intended on coming over to Sango's to see her tonight.

Inuyasha huffed. "Huh! And why exactly would I want to do that?" Miroku felt anger rise up in him.

Maybe because you're supposed to be her friend? Because you haven't seen her in 6 years? I know that Kikyou is more than likely your main priority right now, but if it matters to you at all, Kagome has been asking about you. She wishes to see you. That's all I have to say. Goodbye, Inuyasha.

Click

Inuyasha was again left to his own thoughts. He brought his gaze to the floor with a cute, innocent look as he mulled over in his mind what he was going to do. He did wish to see Kagome, but he was torn because he knew that Kikyou would never approve, even if he was just going to say hi. Kikyou was crazy jealous of Kagome and had threatened to leave him if he talked to her. She was the best thing that had happened to him since Kagome, and he wasn't about to mess it up.

He sighed. 'Sorry, Kagome. But I just can't risk losing her like I lost you. I just don't think I could handle that…'