InYasha had smelled Kagome's scent in the children's room the first night he had entered. It was light, not heavy, like it had been when she had slept there. Yet, he could still tell she was healthy. He wanted some idea of what he was walking into before he confronted anyone with his return. He was shocked by the children and knew the situation was not the same, as he remembered it, so many years ago.

InuYasha sat on top of the roof for three days. Yet, he learned very little about the current situation of the shrine because there was little activity outside the house. The children left in the mornings probably for that school thing. In the afternoons, the kids would come home and play outside, but only for an hour or two, before returning indoors. He hadn't re-entered the house again for fear of being caught.

An adult's footsteps on the shrine stairs drew InuYasha attention.

"Daddy! Daddy!" called Toshi. The footsteps paused. Smaller footsteps ran up the stairs. He saw the Toshi's form being held up in the air and spun around.

"How are you doing, Miss. Toshi?" asked a man's voice.

"Just fine! How was work?"

"Pretty good today," replied the man.

"Did you bring me anything?" asked Toshi exuberantly. He gave a hearty laugh.

"I can't bring you something every time I visit. Hey, where's your brother?"

"Kishirou was walking too slow. I told him to hurry up because you were coming over today!"

"Well maybe we should wait for him."

"He knows the way home, he's just taking foooorever. Come on, I want to go say 'Hi' to Grandma. He'll catch up."

"Alright, alright," agreed the man. As the human ascended the stairs and came into view, InuYasha recognized Hojo immediately. Hojo was taller, slightly more broad shouldered, but still painfully skinny. He wore a business suit with the coat causally thrown over one shoulder. He was holding Toshi's hand, as she bounded up the stairs ahead of him. InuYasha's stomach twisted at the sight of them together. Kagome's mother opened the door to greet them and they all went inside.

InuYasha sighed with a heavy heart. Hojo had a way in while he still felt locked out. The Hanyou jumped off the roof. I better make sure Kishirou is alright. He followed Toshi's scent trail, as he assumed Kishirou would take the same path home as Toshi. InuYasha mostly stayed off the ground and therefore out of the visible view of humans. He kept to the trees and the roof tops. His ears perked at the sound of Kishirou's voice. He strained to hear what was being said over the rush of the cars and other urban noises.

"Get off me!" Kishirou's shouted. The Hanyou paled and ran faster. "Stop it! Give me my damn hat back!" InuYasha leaped from a building to a near by tree. Three older boys tossed Kishirou's red hat to each other and shoved Kishirou when he tried to snatch it back.

"Why don't you just take it? I'm trying to give it back to you," taunted one of the boys, as they held it out of reach. InuYasha dropped from the branches but none of the boys noticed. He had to be calm in this situation. These were frail human boys that were no match for his strength or claws. And he had to be certain, he didn't scare Kishirou the very first time, he saw him. InuYasha clawed hand grasped the boy's wrist and took the hat from him.

"Hey! Let him go!" one of his companions shouted.

"Gladly," replied InuYasha. The Hanyou tossed the boy at his friends and they all fell to the concrete. InuYasha's ear ticked at the sound of small footsteps running away. He stood over the three boys and glared down at them. "Don't bother him OR anyone else again, unless…." He cracked his knuckles and the three clamored away. InuYasha turned around to find Kishirou gone. His scent trail hung in the air towards the shrine. InuYasha looked down at the red hat in his hand and then ran after the small child.

Kishirou started to cry as InuYasha closed his steps. InuYasha grasped the child's shirt and he pulled him behind a building; where prying human eyes were less likely to see. The hanyou knelt down to Kishirou's level and placed his clawed hands gently on his shoulders.

"Hey settle down. You're alright now," hushed InuYasha.

"I don't want to die," wailed the small one, wiping away his tears with his fists and bellowing as loud as his lungs would allow.

"Hey, I said you are alright. Those weak humans couldn't kill you anyway. And look I got your hat back." InuYasha held it before the child. Kishirou sniffled and then removed one hand to look at his hat.

"I hate that hat."

"Then why are you crying?" Kishirou took his other small fist away from his face and grasped on to the rip of his red baseball hat with both hands. His watery eyes still let tears fall. His face had turned a blotchy red and his nose was running.

"Aren't you a demon?" asked Kishirou staring at his baseball cap. InuYasha crinkled his nose as the question irked him slightly.

"A hanyou," he answered. Kishirou gave a gasp. His blue eyes met InuYasha's honey gold ones. And his ears perked up under the black bandanna.

"Like me?" asked the child pointing at his chest, the sparkle of excitement in his eyes. InuYasha worked his jaw.

" I'd say your more human than half if I had to guess." Kishirou tilted his head to the side, his excitement dulled with confusion. His eyes slowly turned from thoughtful to looking up at InuYasha's ears.

"You- You have ears like me!" Kishirou's little claws worked to undo the bandanna around his head. The child flexed and twitched his tiny ears about then stood them forward in attention. "See!" said the child pointing at his black fuzzy ears. "Are you part dog demon? I'm part dog demon!"

"Yeah…"

"I've never met another dog demon before! Have you?" asked Kishirou.

"Yes," InuYasha answered

"I mean before me?"

"Yeah, I have."

"What were they like?"

"Ah-"

"My dad was a dog demon! Was your dad a dog demon?" Kishirou inquired. InuYasha tilted his head in much the same fashion as the child had earlier- Your father a Youkai? What has Kagome been telling you?

"Uh-huh," replied InuYasha.

"Was that really cool?"

"Umm…"

"I don't know my Dad." Kishirou sat down in a huff. "He's always gone and stuff. And Mom is always freaking out over my ears. I like my ears. Hey where's your hat?"

"Uh…"

"You shouldn't lose your hat! That's what Mom is always telling me. She said people will come after you, if you don't have your hat on. Bad people, and full Youkai too. Here, take my bandanna. I got lots of them. I only got one hat though. I always wear both outside just incase something happens- like those stupid jerks back there." InuYasha mumbled an incoherent response and fingered the bandana his son handed him. "Don't forget to cover your dog ears, ok?"said Kishirou.

"Ok, I guess," replied InuYasha ."Hey, you should probably be getting home before your mom gets worried." He was feeling light headed with all the talk about Kagome and reality coming at him just a little too fast. His son didn't recognize him as his father, and then again why should he? But didn't Kagome take pictures and stuff…?

"Mom's not going to be worried."

"What are you talking about? Of course she will." The one thing Kagome is good at is worrying. Always pestering about where I had been, if I had been hurt- she would be the same way with Kishirou.

"Nope, not my mom. All my mom does is sit with that stupid paper. She just… just…" His blue eyes became watery and then he changed his tone of voice, visibly pushing all his emotions down. "Well anyway, its fine. Mom doesn't care if I come home later than normal. She knows I don't like Hojo."

"Why… Why don't you like Hojo?"

"Cuz, he's not my Dad. I don't care what Toshi says. Toshi's my sister. She's always going on and on about Hojo. Ever since he took her to that parent day thingy at school. But you know my real Dad is going to come back," Kishirou paused and then continued on softer, "Mom always said that, 'Dad's going to come back.' She doesn't say it so much anymore. But she use to all the time and I still believe he's going to. You know he's a Great Dog Demon. Mom use to tell me stories about him all the time. I try to remember them all, but it's hard. Now, she won't tell them anymore, even though I keep asking." His eyes became watery again and InuYasha panicked. "Its not fair!" Kishirou whined.

"Hey, now, don't get all upset. I'm sure your Dad's gonna come back."

"Yeah?" asked Kishirou hopefully.

"Yeah, I'm sure of it. Dog demons keep their word."

"kay" Kishirou said quietly and put his hat back on. "The sun's going down."

"I'll walk you home, come on."

"You gotta put your bandanna on first."

"Oh, right." InuYasha tied the knot behind his ears and looked over at his son in the red baseball hat. This is what being in the modern era means for him. Hiding. At least his ears could be free in my time. But there are bullies on both sides. He sighed and reached his clawed hand down for the smaller clawed hand. For the most part, he let Kishirou lead him, because Kishirou knew the way of the streets, instead of the roof tops. Kishirou dragged InuYasha along. At the bottom of the shrine stairs InuYasha stopped. I probably shouldn't just walk up to Kagome with our son in hand. He knotted his black eyebrows and looked down at Kishirou's small face.

"You can come up to the shrine if you want. You can meet Grandma. I dunno if Mom is up to visitors today, so she may stay in her bedroom. Hojo might still be there but we can just ignore him."

"Whelp, this is as far as I go today."

"But pleeeeease," begged Kishirou. InuYasha scratched the back of his head in consideration. He really did want to see Kagome, but didn't think it was the best idea right now. He knelt down to Kishirou's level.

"I really can't, not today anyway."

"Later then? You're the first Hanyou I've ever met!"

"Maybe, I dunno."

"Am I ever going to see you again?" asked Kishirou. InuYasha heart skipped a beat, not seeing his son again was not an option.

"Yes, you will."

"When?"

"I'm not sure."

"When?!"

"Soon. Hey, don't mention this to your Grandma or anyone else ok?"

"Why? Mom says if someone says not to tell her about someone, then they are up to no good."

"That's not true. At least not for me."

"You know I thought you were a Youkai that was going to kill me at first."

"Well I'm not."

"Then why can't I tell my family I met another dog demon?"

"Because… because…" stumbled Inuyasha looking down at the ground, he didn't want to really lie. He suddenly meet Kishirou's blue eyes triumphantly, " it has to be a secret between us. We can't have everyone we meet know we are part dog demons. It has to be a secret, right?"

"But my family knows I'm a dog demon, so why not you too?" asked Kishirou doubtfully.

"Listen kid. The world is a lot crueler than you may know. It's just best as few people know we are actually part dog demon as possible. It's got a be a secret between dog demons."

"Well could I at least tell them I met a new friend?"

"I dunno, I think they will figure me out. If we make this just between us, I'll meet you after school tomorrow too."

"Promise?"

"Dog demon promise," said InuYasha.

"Ok! Bye then!" Kishirou waved and jogged up the shrine stairs. InuYasha's head was pounding. The kid had expectations. A lot of expectations, he hoped he could meet them. And some of the things the kid said about Kagome didn't make sense, but he could talk to him about it tomorrow. For now, he had to wait for dark before he could hop back up on Kagome's roof to keep an eye on things.


InuYasha stood on top of the school building waiting for the children to leave. As the herd of kids left he spotted Kishirou and Toshi. He wasn't quite sure he wanted Toshi to know about him yet. She might run off and tell Hojo and that wouldn't be good. The two children stopped and over all the chatter of the exiting school children, InuYasha couldn't hear what was being said. It looked like they were arguing though. Toshi had the same expression that Kagome had when she was fuming. She tapped her foot a few times and then stalked off and left Kishirou behind. InuYasha waited till all the children left and it was only Kishirou sitting on the school steps looking around expectantly. InuYasha dropped from the rooftop and walked up behind him. He tapped him lightly on the shoulder with a claw.

"Oh hey! You did come!" Kishirou hugged his legs and InuYasha returned the hug as best he could, by patting the kid on the back.

"Hey. I told you I would."

"I know but it was getting late. I told Toshi I was going to meet with one of the teachers after school" Kishirou said and released his hold on him. "You wanna walk me home?"

"Sure."

Kishirou led the way again by holding InuYasha's hand. When it came to crossing a street, InuYasha bent down, and said "Kid, climb on my back."

"Oh a piggy back ride! Yay!" exclaimed Kishirou and he held on firmly. InuYasha jumped across the street in a single bound. Kishirou screeched in his ear. InuYasha rubbed his furry appendage hidden under the black bandanna. "Wow, that was so fast! That was totally cool! Can we do it again? Again?"

"Not now. Can't hear right anymore."

"It was just so fast! I couldn't help, but scream! But it was fun! I'll do better next time! Come on!"

"Later. Hey kid, is your mom, you know, mad at your dad?"

"Ah, I don't think so," replied Kishirou. His voice sounded defeated, like a single question had taken all the fun out of the day.

"You think she'd be happy if your Dad came back?"

"Yeah, but I don't know how happy Toshi would be," replied Kishirou. InuYasha mused on this, allowing a few silent moments to pass between them.

"So Hojo, doesn't live there?" asked the Hanyou.

"No, I mean, Mom and him aren't actually together or anything. Toshi just calls him Daddy."

"Oh," replied InuYasha. He was relieved that Hojo did not live at the shrine. At least one more mystery was unraveled.

"Do you ever think about your dad?" Kishirou asked.

"Sometimes."

"You guys still talk and stuff?"

"Can't, he's dead."

"Oh, that sucks. What about your mom? She's human like my mom right?" inquired Kishirou.

"She's dead too, but yeah, she was human." At the shrine stairs InuYasha put Kishirou down and asked, "Tomorrow?"

"I can't, if I come home late three days in a row, Grandma will know something is up."

"Alright, when then?"

"I dunno, in a few days I guess, if I don't get in much trouble today."

"Ok, hurry home." InuYasha waved to him. Halfway up the stairs the little boy turned around to look for his friend.

"Hey, I forgot to ask your name again!" but he was already gone. Kishirou cursed and trotted up the stairs.


Days passed as InuYasha struggled to accept all the life changes. His emotions surged from happy to distraught. On a particularly chilly evening when autumn's scent was crisp, InuYasha returned to the well house. He grasped a hold of the well's edge and stared down into the depts. Does this damn thing still work?

"Don't!" screamed a woman. Her hands clasped in front of him. Her mighty pull caused him to stumble and almost topple backwards.

"Kagome?" InuYasha asked in disbelief

"You can't leave! The children need you! You can't just walk away from them!" replied the woman. Her voice was much older than Kagome's

"Mrs. Higuarshi?" he couldn't keep the disappointment from the words. He finally inhaled confirming it was indeed Kagome's mother. His hopes shattered. She released him and he turned to face her. "I… I wasn't going to leave. I was just looking." He turned away from her, leaning his elbows on lip of the well and staring down.

"Kagome has jumped many times down the well trying to go to you," said Mrs. Higuarshi. " It happened so often that I stopped counting. I would come home and she would be battered and bruised on the bottom, crying her little eyes out for you." InuYasha relief washed over him as he took a cautious breath in. Everything had been so different since he arrived. He had not been sure Kagome still wanted him.

"I did it too," replied InuYasha quietly.

"How'd you get through?" she asked.

"I just don't know. I don't know that I can get back. I may be stuck here forever," said InuYasha, but quickly added, "Not that here's bad. I mean…"

"It's alright. Come into the kitchen, let's talk. I have to catch you up on a lot."

"I know about Kishirou."

"There's a lot more to talk about that Kishirou."

"Won't Kagome be inside?" he asked sheepishly.

"Yes, but don't worry she won't come down from her room. She also won't sense that you are here. She just doesn't do much of anything anymore. Come inside, we'll talk, about Kagome and everything."

Mrs. Higuarshi stopped at the well house door. She was silhouetted by the outside light. She paused just to make certain he would follow, which he did. He entered through the kitchen's back door just like when he and Kagome had been younger.

Mrs. Higuarshi cooking was still fabulous, possibly even better. He hadn't ate in days. When he did eat, it was merely to survive. He didn't have money and there were not any animals to hunt in the city. He had consumed things he had found in the trash and rodents that were too slow. He didn't need much food if he conserved his strength. He was happy to quickly shove chicken and noodles into his mouth.

"When Kagome came home she was pregnant with Kishirou, as I am sure you have already guessed. She was horribly upset about you not knowing about your son. She slammed her body into that well over and over. She cried habitually, but tried to hide it from Kishirou. Even so, Kishirou knew how upset she was. I tried to protect him, but failed. It was hard for him." Mrs. Higuarshi sighed looking down at the table.

"Kagome tried hard to be a good mother, but she was a mother in grief and she never really let you go- which was the real problem. She couldn't let go of you to be a mother. When I was a single mother, I accepted my husband's absence because he had died. It was different for Kagome because you were alive, somewhere she couldn't get to."

"Toshi?" InuYasha asked.

"Toshi is Kishirou's sister."

"Yes, but whose the father?"

"You mustn't be mad InuYasha. I know how your temper can be."

"I'm not sure I have any temper left, I'm so exhausted from all this." He put his chopsticks down and lowered his head. He ran his fingers through his hair. Can I really take hearing that she's not mine, even though I can tell by her scent?

"Oh InuYasha. Toshi is a good girl. You would be a good father to her. She's wanted one so badly. Kagome went out of her mind with grief. She didn't know what she was doing. She thought it was you."

"How could she have thought someone else was me?!" He slammed his fist into the table.

"InuYasha, I know you are going to need some time to accept everything that has happened. But you just can't take this out on Kagome. I had to lock her in her room at one point because she was injuring herself so badly trying to get through to you-"

InuYasha stood and started pacing. He couldn't stand the though of Kagome hurting her self, and for what, for him. Fuck. He couldn't scream or take it out on anything, because Kagome would hear him. He couldn't abandon them either to work out the anger, because he didn't want to leave them unprotected. And even more so, he wasn't sure he had the energy for it. He stopped his furious pacing. He placed his hands on the table and stared over at the older woman.

"How is Kagome now?"

"She's worse I'm afraid. She never goes outside even to the well house. She hardly ever leaves her bedroom. She just sits. She'll check on the children sometimes at night, but I have to plead with her to shower, to get dressed, to eat, she's just given up. She's wasting away."

"I should go to her," InuYasha made it through the kitchen door before Mrs. Higuarshi caught a sleeve and pulled him back. "Why stop me? If she's that bad…" He made an effort to leave again but she pulled him back once more.

"We have to have a plan."

"A plan?" InuYasha's voice sounded shaky even to himself.

"A strategy. We have more than Kagome at stake here. There are children to consider. They need a father, but they also need their mother. They need something stable. They haven't had stable. I've tried, I really have, but I'm just Grandma, not mom. If you go up there and march right back into Kagome's life, I just don't know how she will take it. And if she gets upset, she will get the children upset."

"Then let's just tell the kids. They can just, just, stay with someone till we work it out." Maybe Sango, but the stupid well… maybe maybe Souta, how old is he now?

"Tell the kids what? That you are their father? Why didn't you come for them sooner?"

"Because of the fucking well!"

"They don't know about the well."

"What?! Where the hell do they think I was?" whispered InuYasha angrily and japed a thumb at his chest for emphasis.

"Kami, I don't know. We have told them so many things."

"What?"

"You have to realize they go to school. They have to have a good story about where their father is. A normal story, so kids leave them alone about it. Kishirou especially. If anyone finds out he is a part dog demon, they could take him away and-"

"I know." InuYasha slumped into a kitchen chair. Hiding is what my pup has to do in this world. Its worse than my time, worse. "What do you think you told him?"

"That you were working."

"Working?!"

"Far away, never anywhere specific." Mrs. Higuarshi replied. InuYasha growled in irritation. There was too much to undo, to put right.

"What's your idea then, for a plan?"

"Kagome has to tell the children you are their father. They won't believe it from anyone else."

"Ok, and Kagome?"

"She is going to need time to accept this. Time away from the children, just in case she gets hysterical. If she cries too much or is too iritic, the kids won't trust you. They need someone they can trust, that's a parent. They have a week long break from school coming up. I can ask Souta to take them, he's done it before. And if she still needs time they could go to Hojo's house for a month because he lives within the right school district."

"Hojo?" InuYasha fumed.

"Hojo he's a good man. He doesn't want Kagome like that anymore. He just wants to help because he sees how distressed the children have been. We'll need a place for the kids to go, where they can still attend school, and I can trust Hojo to take good care of them. That way Kagome and you can raise the kids together once they get back. Those poor children can't take any more of the screaming and crying and-"

"Alright," InuYasha conceded. Hojo must be the other man so Toshi was Hojo's anyway. And the other was Hojo's child's brother, Hojo would watch both of them like a parent. They would be safe, that's what mattered, that and Kagome. "The break is next week?"

"No, unfortunately about two months away."

"Then why not just send the kids to Hojo now and tell Kagome?" asked InuYasha. Mrs. Higuarshi frowned and sat down in a Kitchen chair.

"Kagome won't like that we 'took' her kids away. She won't understand why they are with Hojo. She'll become hysterical and she won't be able to recognize you in that state of mind. She's just not herself, right now. She can't be reasoned with.

She will understand them having a break and visiting Souta. She knows the fall break is coming up. Hopefully it will only take a week for her to accept that you have really come back, but if worse comes to worse, we will send the children to Hojo. Kagome has difficulty remembering what day it is, and so she'll just assume they are still with Souta.. That way she will never feel as though the children were taken away from her. She's delicate right now, InuYasha, you have to be gentle with her."

"Keh," he responded. His honey eyes were clouded with thought. "I'll come back then," he said standing.

"You won't go down the well?"

"Hell no! I've been trying to get back seven years! You think I'd just risk jumping down that well and not being able to come back? When I have ki… kagome and.. and.. well you know!" InuYasha fumed and stomped outside.

"Come back for breakfast tomorrow! Oh, if you want dinner maybe we can work something out when the kids aren't around!"

"Don't worry about it." InuYasha called back and leaped upon the roof. The children came home at their usual time, hand in hand, and went into the house. It was quiet for most of the day. InuYasha laid on his back and stared at the clouds. By nightfall, he had decided to sneak into Kagome's room. The main problem being he didn't know which one was now her bedroom.