Inuyasha spent the rest of the night in the Sacred Tree. He found that from the one branch he got a really good, unobstructed view of Kagome's window. He felt much more comfortable knowing that he could watch over her and make sure she was safe. He got no sleep, but had plenty of time to think about all that had happened since the last time he was able to sit in a branch of a tree. He thought about Kikyo, and how he hadn't been there to protect her and didn't trust her enough to know that she would never betray him without significant cause. He thought about how he felt when Kagome's presence first awakened him after 550 years although it seemed like a blink of an eye. Maybe this was why he was here, to protect Kagome like he should have protected Kikyo. He was getting a second chance because he at first had failed. Then the thoughts of Kagome while she had read the history book to him came to the front of his thoughts. She had said that Kikyo was selfish, and should have accepted him the way he was. But no one had accepted half youkai, why would he have expected Kikyo to accept him. But Kagome accepted him... She saw no reason for him to change, and it seemed her family was OK with his mixed blood as well. And they were not accustomed to the presence of youkai at all. Inuyasha had heard Grandpa joke about youkai, on multiple occasions. So where did all the youkai go? There was obviously one other, the detective that was in the car: Shippo. Where had he heard that name before? It sounded familiar. Was that name in the stories that he had heard from Grandpa as he told them to his grandchildren? Or was that name in the history book that Kagome had read. He could not think of any Shippo before he had been sealed to the tree. What would they find at this "museum"? Were the ashes in the urn really those of Kikyo? Was the sacred jewel with the ashes? Inuyasha thought that if the jewel had been there, it certainly wouldn't still be there now.

He sat and thought about everything the detective, Shippo, had said. Could it be the same evil soul that killed Kikyo that was now going after Kagome and her family? What was the ultimate goal of the attacks and the collection of artifacts? He was still thinking about many things when the sun started to peak above the horizon. He waited to see any movement come from the house. His patience was never abundant, and after the sun was a little farther in the sky he could be patient no longer. He jumped from the tree and easily landed on the roof just outside of Kagome's window. He had no idea how to open it, so he tapped on it. He could smell Kagome's scent coming from the other side, and after a few more taps heard a very low mumbled "Buyo, stop it."

"Kagome, get up and let me in!"

"Huh, wha... Who said that?"

"Kagome, let me in!"

"Inuyasha? Where are you?"

"Outside where you left me."

"Hey, you told me to leave you out there!"

"I know, but I am ready to come in."

He soon heard a rustling, then seen her feet swing off the bed and her walk to the window. She made something click on the side of the window and then slid one part of it over to overlap the other. As soon as there was enough room he climbed in. She seemed a little nervous with his presence, and quickly turned around with a slight blush and covered up again with her bedding. He just shook his head and looked around the room. Her scent was overpowering in the small space. He caught Kagome looking at him with a puzzled expression, and he was wondering why she wasn't getting ready to go to the museum. She had said they had to go early, before "school".

"Aren't you going to get up? We have to go to the museum, how much time do we have before it opens?"

"Well, if I remember correctly from the school trip, it opens at 7. We should just have time to get there and look around a bit before I have to be at school." She gathered some clothes and a towel. "Let me take a shower and get changed. Mom should be up shortly to make breakfast."

"OK, well, let me know when you are ready." With that Inuyasha sat on the bed and waited for Kagome to get ready to leave. This seemed to make Kagome's cheeks get a little more red. She quickly left the room with her clothes in her hand. Inuyasha heard her close the door across the hall, and then he heard the sound of a small waterfall. A few minutes later the water stopped and he heard some rustling and mumbling. Kagome reentered the room with a towel on her head and...

"WHAT ARE YOU WEARING? I hope you are not going to the museum like that! You need to cover up better than that, that kimono is WAY too short!"

"Inuyasha, what are you talking about? This is the standard school uniform, all the girls at school wear this same uniform! I can't go dressed differently than everyone else just because YOU don't like it!"

"Well they are idiots for wearing something that revealing, it doesn't mean you have to go along with everything they do."

"I have worn this uniform since I started going to that school, why would I stop wearing it now?"

"Kagome?" Souta's voice came from the other side of the door, "Why are you being so loud, it isn't time to get up yet?"

"Sorry, Souta. I didn't mean to wake you. I had to get up early today so Inuyasha and I can stop at the museum before I go to school."

"Well, you don't have to wake up everyone else in the house, do you?" His footsteps faded away from the other side of the door and back to his own.

More footsteps were heard coming up the stairs. Mama's voice was the next one on the other side of the door. "Kagome? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, sorry Mama. Inuyasha woke me early so we can get to the museum, but he doesn't approve of my school uniform and is telling me I have to cover up better before going out in public."

"Oh..." The doorknob slowly turned and Mama looked in. She seemed like she didn't really want to see what was going on in the room, but after seeing Inuyasha sitting on the bed and Kagome standing on the other side of the room she seemed to relax a bit. "Inuyasha, dear, I know the skirt is a little short. But that is the uniform that Kagome's school requires. I know things were different five centuries ago, but times have changed. Why don't you come help me with breakfast while Kagome finishes getting ready for school?"

"Ummm, sure Mrs. Higurashi."

As he followed her out of the room, she told him what she had the night before. "We have talked about this, you can call me Mama." He followed her to the kitchen, where it seemed like she had already started on breakfast. She had him put the dishes on the table, and then gave him some eggs and bacon on one of those plates. He had gobbled it down while Mama cooked for everyone else, and by the time Kagome came down the stairs he was done eating and Mama was done with the cooking. While Kagome ate, Mama had asked Inuyasha to follow her. When they got to what was her bedroom, she looked at him with her hand under her chin, deep in thought. She went to the closet, got some clothes and handed them to him.

"Change into these clothes, they were my husband's. I kept them because I like to wear them as pajamas on colder nights. They will draw less attention than your own clothes, and then we will see what we can do about hiding your ears. I will be right outside the door, let me know when you are changed."

Inuyasha undressed, and put on the modern clothes. He then went to the door and told Mama that he was finished. She had somethings in her hand. "OK, let's see about hiding those ears..." She brought up a comb, and a few minutes and a few tugs of the hair later she placed something else over his head. She then led him to a mirror. It was uncomfortable to not be able to move his ears, almost like he was back in the vines again. It felt like she had combed his long hair over his ears, and to make sure that they stayed covered placed a red hat over them. The pants were not quite as baggy as his original ones were, but fairly comfortable. The shirt wasn't bad either, but left his arms exposed. He didn't have any sleeves to hide his hands into. The last thing that she handed him was a pair of sandals.

"I'm not wearing those..."

"Sorry dear, but you have to. Shoes are required in public places and they won't let you into the museum without them. Would you rather have a pair of sneakers?"

"What are sneakers?"

"A lot more shoe than those sandals, your whole foot will be inside and you would have to wear socks with them as well."

"Umm... Let's just go with the sandals..."

The first few steps with the sandals were a little odd, but he eventually got used to the feeling. He assumed that he wouldn't run too well in them, though. By the time Mama was done with him and he made it back to the kitchen, Kagome was ready to leave. They left the house and started walking towards the museum. While they were walking, Kagome asked him where the clothes were from, she called the pants "sweats" and the shirt was a "t-shirt". Inuyasha explained the makeover he had gotten from Mama, Kagome giggled at the blush on his cheeks.

This was the first time they had to just talk casually, and Inuyasha found it very easy to talk to Kagome. She had asked him about what it was like when he was sealed to the tree, and he said that she remembered more of that time than he did. He had only remembered the time she was close, she remembered the whole time whether she was close to him or not. "I remember smelling Kikyo's blood just as the arrow pierced my heart, the next thing I remember is when your parents brought you home for the very first time. I knew that things were different, nothing smelled the same and I couldn't even move my ears I was so wrapped up in those vines. It seemed like you learned to walk and talk in a matter of weeks, and your mother cried the first day you went to school. Then you had a brother, then lost your father. It all seemed to happen so fast."

"Hey, you have a brother too, don't you? I remember reading about him. He helped to defeat Naraku, and he took an orphaned girl in as his own daughter."

"Keh, I don't see that bastard doing anything to help anyone else."

"Don't, I mean didn't you and your brother get along?"

"I was worthless to him, he was full demon. I was nothing but a half-breed. Youkai didn't like me and neither did humans. I was all alone, until Kikyo... How much farther to this Museum of yours, anyway?"

"It isn't much farther. So about your parents, who was youkai and who was human?"

It had seemed so easy to talk to her, but now she wanted to know about his past and his family. He just couldn't bring himself to talk about it. There were no pleasant memories from his youth, the only two that had ever made him feel accepted had been killed, his mother trying to protect him and Kikyo by someone who had taken his form. He wasn't able to protect either of them, so maybe he was just a worthless half-breed.

"Inuyasha?"

"I don't want to talk about it!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up anything that might upset you. You don't have to tell me anything you don't feel comfortable telling me. I was just curious. Anyway, that is the museum." She pointed to a large building that was made entirely of stone. They walked up to the door and when they entered the building the scent of the past lightly floated on the air. The metallic and polluted smell seemed to not penetrate this building, and there were some small trees in the corners that allowed the smell of nature to mingle with the scent of old parchment and dust.

"The Sengoku Jidai exhibit is this way."

She took his hand and led the way. Her hand felt so warm, and so fragile in his. They went through a few doorways and up some steps, and she led him to a small case that contained some hand tools, cooking utensils, and a single urn. "This must be the urn that Grandpa was talking about, but it is in this case. How can you tell if it is Kikyo's ashes?"

He looked at the small urn, then got as close as he could to the seam at the edge of the case and took a deep breath. He felt a heaviness on his chest as he caught the scent of the ashes. They were indeed Kikyo's. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer to the priestess. 'I'm sorry I failed to protect you. I hope you found peace in the afterlife, and know that I was not the one responsible for spilling your blood. I would have tracked Naraku to the ends of the earth to avenge you.'

A small warm hand was placed on his arm. "Inuyasha, are you OK?"

"Yeah. It..., your grandfather was right. A new shrine should have been built for her and this urn should have been placed inside. She was very strong and very brave, and she deserves to be remembered."

Suddenly warmth was surrounding him. He opened his eyes and just gently returned the hug that Kagome was offering to console him. He didn't know how else to react. It was a good idea to come here when there were no other people around. There had been a few in the first room they entered, but as they got further from the main door they had seen no one else. He knew that he was blushing from the heat on his face, and wanted to avoid any embarrassment. He looked at the urn, and gently turned Kagome to face it. "Can you see or feel anything coming from the urn? You should be able to sense the jewel if it is with the ashes. You should either sense it or see a pink glow."

"Nothing."

"So either someone has already gotten it or it was never in the urn to start with."

"So where else could it be?"

"It should have gone with Kikyo to the next world, that was her plan. I don't know how anyone would find it, so why is someone looking for it at the shrine? If that is indeed what they are looking for..."

"Hey, do any of these people look familiar to you? This painting shows the group that defeated Naraku. Their names are under the portrait. Look at that one, he looks so young! Shippo, that is such a cute name!"

'Shippo, the detective? He's still alive?' The young kitsune in the painting had the same green eyes and the same reddish hair that the detective had after removing the charm from his ankle.

"I don't see your brother in here, though. Do you see him?" She gave him a quick glance and with a look of regret quickly added "I'm sorry! I know you said earlier that you didn't want to talk about your family, I had just forgotten for a second. You know, I have to be on my way to school. You can find your way back to the shrine on your own, can't you?"

"Yeah, I can follow our scent from the way here. It isn't that far anyway. How much farther do you have to go to school?"

"Just another block and a half, it will only take me a few minutes to get there." She turned to leave and he followed her. Once they left the building, she said to him that she would see him after school and started to walk away from the way they had come from the shrine. He did not want to let her out of his sight, and decided to walk with her.

"I can make it back to the shrine after I walk with you the rest of the way."

She smiled slightly and seemed to enjoy his company. He just then remembered the car he was supposed to point out to her on the way to the museum. She had brought up his family and he had gotten angry with her, and had forgotten the car. "Hey, I forgot. Last night while I was walking, I had followed that stranger's scent to a car that I was going to show you on the way to the museum. It was on one of the other roads, so we didn't pass it."

"Well, I can't go to look at it now. How about after school?"

"Sure. What time do you finish?"

"Just ask Mama to let you know, she will tell you when to leave the shrine and meet me here. You won't get lost on your way back here, right?"

"No, I would still be able to follow your scent. If it was going to rain I might lose the trail, but there is no rain coming."

"OK, well I'm here. See you later!"

She ran to the door of another large building, and she had been right. All of the other girls that were heading for the door were wearing that same short, green kimono.