Before we leave my room a bit later, I try my best to fix my tousled-up appearance – fixing my hair is nightmarish, and the red flush won't leave my cheeks or my lips. I mean…that was also a look in and of itself…but totally not appropriate for a family dinner. And neither are these hickies. I have to put cover-up on them and that takes some time, too.

"You look fine," Inuyasha mutters at me, lingering in the open doorway. What was he hurrying for? I wanted to take as long as possible and maybe, just maybe, we'd be too late for dinner to join them and I wouldn't have to endure those awkward stares!

"How are you not embarrassed?!" I cry out at him, running my brush through my long hair one last time, forcing myself to give it up. We hadn't even had sex and I still totally had sex hair. Ugh. How was his still looking completely perfect and untouched?! I'm so mad and jealous about that…

"W-who said I wasn't!" He snaps back at me, harrumphing and turning away. "Tch! Maybe I shouldn't have said I would, but—"

His stomach suddenly growls. How self-explanatory. He just frowns and glares at me like he's blaming me for the opportune invitation to dinner, and I feel so helpless. I let out a long sigh, walking past him.

"Let's just act like nothing happened," I say quietly, feeling a little bitter we had to get caught for this to even be an issue in the first place. I look over my shoulder at him as we start to go down the stairs, and he's just watching me with so much restrained longing, so much desire to touch me again, and that same gentle expression as earlier, I can't bear it – I have to turn away...

I go to sit down at the table when Souta sees Inuyasha, and his eyes sparkle. "Inu-no-nii-chan…?! Woww, it's been sooo long!"

I find it sort of odd that I lost my memory when whatever had happened on the other side of the well sent everyone into this world…but my family hadn't, clearly.

"And in normal clothes, too?" Jii-chan adds. "What happened to those robes of yours?"

"It's…a long story," Inuyasha replies unsurely, and sits down beside me. He glances at me briefly, and I blush, still a bit overwhelmed to really look back. Yeah…it really was a long story…I almost feel guilty for wanting to fool around with him so much, when we really needed to be focusing on how to return back to the other world…

I have a feeling we should return to the well itself, to look for any sort of clue, especially since that day I approached it and it lit up – but I had been too scared to go near it again ever since then. Even if that was before I got my memory back, it still felt really eerie whenever I passed it.

"So like, do you live in this world now?!" Souta asks Inuyasha excitedly.

"Yeah," He replies, sort of laughing at my little brother's ecstatic attitude. "Not too far from here, actually."

He gasps in reply. "That's sooo cool! You should come over more and play games with me from now on!"

They start talking about video games all of a sudden and I roll my eyes, forgetting that was a thing he did now in this day and age…jeez, I start to think I prefer him how he was 500 years ago. Jii-chan just looks confused, and before I can say anything to either of them, Mama comes up to the table with a big, broiling hot pot – holding it up above us and setting it down onto the burner on the table with a big grin.

"I made Kagome's favorite!" She says happily, and sits down. "Let's eat!"


After dinner, Souta tries to get Inuyasha to stay for a bit longer, to play, but I make up an excuse about having school tomorrow making that a bad idea.

"Please come back soon, Inu-no-nii-chan!" Souta grins, waving to us as we walk out my front door.

The sun is just finishing setting, and there's a pretty lilac-y glow about the last of its rays disappearing beyond the trees. We're both staring at the last few seconds it's suspended in the sky, and then we look at each other as it finally leaves, on its way to greet the other side of the world, now.

"Thank god my mama didn't mention anything," I exhale, bonking my forehead on his shoulder.

"For real," He agrees, petting my hair. "Hey, how about I sneak back up into your room again and we can continue?"

I laugh while groaning, pulling away from him. He's just smirking at me, but I almost can't tell if he's joking or not. "Inuyasha, I'm too tired now," I say, stifling a well-timed yawn.

"Keh! Humans…and your lack of energy…"

Christ…was he trying to imply he could go at it all night? Probably…even just the idea, much less preventing the mental image from popping into my mind, exhausts me. But really, I think he was just bragging about his powers in general. How typical.

"I'll walk with you to the bottom of the stairs," I say, smiling. He smiles back and takes my fingers in his, as we walk. But when we pass the bone-eaters well, I get that same old chilled feeling I'd gotten before, even from prior to regaining my memories.

"You felt that too?" He murmurs, glancing over at it as we walk by.

"…Yeah, I always do," I sigh out. "I mean, that's how I got to the sengoku jidai in the first placeit's not too surprising I'd feel something from walking past it, but still, it's…unsettling."

He frowns a bit but says nothing. I can tell he's remembering that time the light shot out of it, thinking about coming back here, most likely immediately after I go back inside, to check it out…that's just how he is, I guess. Impatient as ever.

We get to the bottom of the stairs. We linger there for a few moments, and I'm hoping for a goodnight kiss, but then, suddenly, a car comes screeching up to the side of the road we're standing next to, and we cough as we get drowned in grey smoke.

"What the hell…?" Inuyasha snarls, standing like he's ready to drag out and fight whoever's in the truck.

The smoke clears and I gasp when I see who's behind the wheel. It's Sesshoumaru…!

"Get in," He commands, glaring at the two of us.

"W-what?!" His younger brother growls. "Since when did you think you could tell me what to do!"

"….I said get in," The older one just utters again, sounding pretty scary. "Before I break your legs and put you in the backseat myself!"

"W-we should just get in," I stutter, reaching for the handle of the door, really not wanting to cause any unnecessary trouble. Inuyasha smacks my hand away.

"No! Not until we figure out what this bastard wants," He tells me.

Sesshoumaru rolls his eyes. "I guess you don't want to figure out how to get back to our time, dumbass," He glowers at Inuyasha briefly before starting to accelerate away – Inuyasha gasps at those words, and launches himself at the vehicle, grabbing the rear end of the truck, literally holding it back with his brute strength. Thank goodness there was no one else outside, how crazy would it be if someone saw that?! The wheels scream and scrape on the asphalt before the driver finally stops again. Inuyasha and I hop into the back seat immediately.

Sesshoumaru speeds off. I start to worry about cops pulling him over, and then I worry about how I'll explain to my mama that I just disappeared after walking out with Inuyasha…she trusts him, but still…! How sketchy!

"Tell me what's going on, Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha demands, gripping the back of the driver's seat.

"….You know what? Now I don't know if I should anymore, since you wasted my precious time in not getting in right away."

"The fuck? Then why did you bother picking us up?"

"Maybe I came to tell you I found something out. Or maybe I'll be driving you two to your deaths? Hmm. Who knows?"

My lower lip quavers and my eyes fill up with tears at those words. Was he just messing around in his sadistic way, or should I actually fear for my life?! You can never be too sure with this kind of guy…

Inuyasha whips his head around to catch my facial expression, his anger fading into concern for me, then back into rage again as he slams his fists on the back of Sesshoumaru's seat. "Dude! What the fuck! I could whoop your ass any day, but don't you dare threaten Kagome!"

"…Hmph," Is all Sesshoumaru responds with. We're all silent for a bit, and Inuyasha's sulking. There's some rock music playing quietly on the radio, and still, I'm wondering where the girl Rin is. And how this demon even got a car in the first place? And how he knows how to drive it?! As for his comment earlier…I guess it was just a joke, after all.

I watch out the window as he drives deep into the city, and then parallel parks expertly alongside what appears to be a really fancy bar. We get out and I wonder how he's hiding those long ears of his – they seem to just disappear underneath his hair, like normal human ears. But I know for sure I saw them looking like they normally did back at the apartment the other day. Some weird magic, or good self-control, I suppose. I didn't see where Inuyasha had kept that beanie he wears, but he had put it back on since we hopped out of the car.

I feel self-conscious in my short skirt and t-shirt, noticing all the guys outside the building staring at me. Inuyasha glares at all of them, putting an arm around my shoulder, and I blush really hard, not only at his protectiveness…but at how tall and handsome he looks doing it as it makes the other men look away…

We step into the bar. Someone at the front notices Inuyasha and I following Sesshoumaru, and makes a disappointed face. "Erm, I'm sorry, sir, I don't think your guests are also of age—"

"They're with me," Sesshoumaru states simply, but the terrifyingly cold undertone shuts up the employee, and we're allowed to slide by. Ahh…going to Miroku's parties with the beer and all was one thing, but this was totally something else.

Sesshoumaru walks ahead of us, past the restaurant and booth area, over to the actual bar-bar. He approaches a gorgeous woman sitting by herself at the bar, sipping something that looks very expensive. He stands beside her, leaning his elbow on the ledge as she notices him with a vaguely interested expression—

"Kagura!" Inuyasha hisses, recognizing her face. My jaw drops. How did she get here, too?! It really seems like…everyone got sent over…I thought it had just been some sort of mistake with only a few people getting mixed into Naraku's evil plot, but really, it's just like…our entire worlds got flipped upside down…with everything still in place.

She glances over at us, looking unhappy. "Oh? You brought that couple of brats with you, too? Darling. I'm disappointed."

I almost wouldn't have recognized her. Her hair is still up, but she's wearing a very tight and long pencil dress instead of her kimono, and it's in a rich, deep burgundy shade, wearing lipstick that matches, and plenty of cleavage to set the look off. The ensemble makes her auburn eyes look even redder. All the men here are looking at her lustfully, totally ignoring me now, and I feel like a childish baby in front of such a woman.

And all the women are staring at Sesshoumaru…wow, they're the center of attention.

Ah…and she called Sesshoumaru darling…my mind spins at the thought of a pairing like this. I could've never conceived it myself. But it's possible she means it like a slur, too – knowing her attitude.

"Explain what's going on," Inuyasha growls, crossing his arms.

"Naraku made a mistake," She gives a soft little smile. "For whatever reason…I'm not under his control anymore. But me telling you the other circumstances could endanger my life even more. So why should I?"

"I-it would be selfish to keep it to yourself," I interject. "We all want to go back! And stop him for good!"

"Yeah, you can just stay here in this world if you like it so much," Inuyasha grumbles. "We have a right to know why we are where we don't belong."

Kagura grins again, sipping her drink. I notice how Sesshoumaru is looking at her…it's weird, his face is as emotionless as ever, but the way his eyes follow her…hmm…

"Alright. Fair enough," She shrugs. "The completed shikon no tama sent everyone here, when Naraku made the wish on it to banish everyone to this time. It wasn't supposed to make everyone appear in the same city, much less the same century…the point was to punish everybody…" She takes another swig from her glass. "…I guess he couldn't control even that much. But we are all without our powers…except the priestess."

Inuyasha's mouth gapes open, and I feel a sharp pain throb in my chest at knowing his mind is suddenly full of Kikyou, at the mere mention of her. Especially after how we'd spent our afternoon. I'm full of selfishness out of nowhere…and I resent it.

"I think that the jewel she's been carrying around is a fake," Kagura says with a shrug, clearly not caring. "Naraku has the real one, still. With such an impure wish on it, it obviously didn't disappear."

"We have to get it back," I tell him, tugging at his sleeve. "We have to go find her and tell her."

Inuyasha looks at me with a really uncomfortable expression on his face. "Kagome…"

I can't be worrying about my insecurities now. "This is a massive problem…but shouldn't Kikyou know it's not the real jewel?"

Inuyasha, beside me, is bristling and ready for action – but we still don't know quite enough yet.

I'm recalling that time we were in the bedroom at Miroku's house, when he showed me the jewel he'd supposedly taken from Kikyou. I can't believe that was a fake. I guess…since that was before I'd regained my memory, I wouldn't have known any better anyways…I can't blame myself.

"Where is Naraku, then?" He demands. "He can't stay in hiding forever…!"

"Sorry, pup, I can't answer that," Kagura responds, still sounding like she doesn't care. I guess if she's finally free…why should she?

Inuyasha growls at being called a pup, but lets it slide. "Sesshoumaru. What are you going to do then?!"

"Hmph. I still intend to kill him myself. I just figured it'd be interesting to see which one of us gets to him first."

"But if none of us have our powers, just what can we do?" I muse, feeling anxiety creep into my body rapidly. An idea pops into my head that I should just go and find Kikyou myself – but like how I am with approaching the well…I'm just too scared.

"We'll get them back, of course," Inuyasha declares. "Come on, Kagome. Sesshoumaru wouldn't help us any more anyway."

"I guess he's done more than enough already," I sigh, following him as he stalks away.


As we leave, Inuyasha purposely goes out into the woods so he can carry me on his back and glide through the trees. I hug his shoulders tightly, clinging hard to this new closeness I feel being forged between us.

But the pervasive thoughts of Kikyou keep disturbing my happiness. Thinking about her fate just has me sad all over again.

"What's the matter?" Inuyasha asks me. "You keep sighing."

"We have to go find Kikyou," I tell him. "We have to talk to her. Or at least you do. She didn't listen to me last time."

He's silent for a while. "Kagome…I mean…I knew I had to do that at some point…but it's unlike you to actually tell me to…"

"It's happened before, and it'll happen again," I tell him, shutting my eyes tight. "I've accepted that. We can't help it this time, now that we know about the jewel she has."

"I have a really bad feeling about this," He replies, and I hate how we both sound choked up.

"Let's just get it over with now," I exhale, burying my face into his shoulder. I breathe in the soft light scent of cotton from his shirt, the slight musk of sweat, and his own scent itself. It calms me, at least a little.

"…Okay," He tells me back, understanding. He changes his course, and with a different determination, I know now we're on our way to see her – for real.