-On a Trip of Destiny-

"My girl," Mr. Taisho called; sweat dripping from his exposed forehead. "Do you have it?" He watched breathlessly as Rin rummaged through her deep pockets. The small leather box lay open flat on her trembling hands.

"I'm terribly sorry sir," she mumbled. "I apologize for keeping you waiting. I ran into some trouble at the—"

"I trust that you're not hurt?" Inu Taisho interrupted, grabbing the dangling silver key that hung on his wall. Quickly and with shaking hands, he breathed a sigh of relief to see the familiar smooth pink surface of the sacred jewel surrounded by layers of soft red velvet. "Finally, it's here." He turned his attention back to Rin and Sesshomaru and waved them away. "You have done more than enough today, Rin. You may now go home."

She bowed, unsure of what to say to such an excited man, and decided to silently exit the room. Sesshomaru turned to follow, but was suddenly stopped by his father's booming voice. "Sesshomaru, where do you think you're going?"

"To ensure Rin's safety as she returns home," he snapped, grinding his teeth. "What else?"

"Rin is a young woman, son, not a little girl. I'm sure she can manage on her own for today. And besides, I need to have an important discussion with you about this jewel." He closed the lid shut and carefully placed it on his desk. "Well?" he raised a silver eyebrow.

Rin noticed her Sensei's fingers start to curl up into fists. "It's alright, Sensei," she blurted out. "I want to walk home by myself today anyways. I have a lot of…thinking to do." She forced a smile.

"Shippo will drive you," Sesshomaru insisted. It was more of a demand than an offer by a long shot.

"No, I don't want to bother him anymore today. Please, talk with your father. I'll see you tomorrow morning anyways." That is, if he even wants me to keep working here…

"That is quite right," Taisho shrugged. "I am going to need your services here from now on." He nodded for her to leave and she obeyed. As the great silver elevator doors slowly shut on her, the last image of the great dog demon she saw was his face plastered with guilt and worry.

-Evil Demon. Naraku-

She must be the one. She's the only human that has come out of that building all day… Kagura stood in the dark shadow of a nearby restaurant wall. She carefully watched Rin walk a good distance away from the Taisho building. With a flick of her pale wrist, her red and white fan revealed its papered beauty and masked her face. "What an ugly human wench…" Now. She extended her arm with great power as an enormous wind formed at the edge of her fan.

It snaked its way through the streets, hitting Rin like a herd of invisible bulls. In a short instant, she was knocked over, hitting her head against the cement of the sidewalk and losing consciousness.

"Quick! Somebody call the ambulance! There's a girl over here and she looks pretty hurt!" a passing pedestrian shouted towards the busy streets.

"Excuse me," a smooth female voice appeared from behind the man. "There is no need for an ambulance. I will take her to the hospital myself."

"You will? You're such a wonderful creature Miss… Miss…"

"Kagura," she answered with a smile. Kagura proceeded to kneel down and pick Rin up with her own strength. "Thank you for trying to help."

With that, the man watched her take the injured girl into the darkness of an alley. "What a strange woman she is…" Another gust of wind appeared from where the two had just disappeared and in the air, hovering above his very head was an enormous white feather that took off with sudden incredible speed.

-From the Sealed Well to the Feudal Age-

"Ugh," Rin grumbled, rubbing the ache on her head. "What on earth happened to me?" When she realized she was surrounded by complete darkness, she started to panic. "Where am I? Hello?" Her voice left her feeling even emptier as it hit against the stony walls of the room she was in and bounced back at her face.

Protectively, she brought her knees to her chin and rocked herself back and forth until her memories slowly came back to her. That's right… I was walking home from work when there was a powerful wind storm. And then after that… nothing.

Tired of straining her eyes to see, she pulled out her cell phone and flashed the faint blue light around. She appeared to be in a cold, cellar like place with no windows or doors. "Am I dreaming?" Through the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a strange mass lying near her left foot. She screamed with terror and scurried away from the thing as far as she could, only to bump into another soft thing.

She stood in a hurry and looked down with caution. There, lying before her feet was an unconscious girl.

She had long black hair and was dressed in a green and white school uniform that had been dirtied with blood and dust. Rin kneeled down and examined the girl's face. From the looks of it, this girl was around Rin's age and had suffered blows to her face. "Excuse me?" Rin choked out, more scared than she ever imagined possible. It was useless; this girl was out cold.

"If she's just a human school girl… then who was the other body over there?" She talked herself into exploring further, helplessly imaging the face of Sesshomaru as she did so. Every step she took towards the soft lump on the ground seemed to become louder with the intermingling of the uncontrollable beating of her heart. She didn't know where she was… she didn't even know if she was alive. But there was a compelling force which drew her hand to the body's shoulder and turned it over.

The face belonged to Sesshomaru. No, it was the face of a different man with silver hair for this one had no markings on his bruised face. He dressed in bloody red robes and when Rin saw the perk of two silver ears on the man's head, she automatically knew. The words screamed in her head: Half Breed, Inuyasha.

(a/n): sorry for the short chapter! I just got home from a band concert and now I have to study for a bio test D: but i wanted to update so i did. review please!