Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha in any way, shape, or form.

Chapter 2: More Mystery

A small fire burned in the corner of a silent house. Flames cast dancing shadows on a subdued family and confused man.

"Are you sure?" Kagome asked, "I mean, are you sure the demon meant your name was Mouse?"

The newly named man nodded confidently. "What else could he mean? I was the only person falling down a well. He couldn't be calling anyone else."

Kagome shook her head; unchecked tears began to fall down her face. Inuyasha sighed before moving Taisho out of his lap in order to comfort his distressed wife.

"Are you sure your name isn't Souta?" Sakura asked, trying to confirm the man's identity.

"Yes," Mouse repeated, "the demon clearly said 'Goodbye, Mouse'. Why would he lie about my name right before killing me?"

"Why would an evil demon say goodbye to his victims?" Taisho piped up, momentarily forgotten by the adults.

Kagome gathered her self-control to answer. "That does make sense. The red-eyed demon must have known you, Mouse. Can you remember anything else?"

Mouse shook his head. "Everything else is blank. Why did you react so strongly to my name?"

Inuyasha answered to spare his wife the emotional response. "My wife has not seen her family in twenty years. We thought that you might be her younger brother named Souta. You look similar and are the right age."

"But how," asked Mouse. "She has to be younger than twenty while I could be over thirty. And how can your daughter look to be almost twenty?"

Sakura smiled at his confused expression. "Mother was a human when she met Father, a half-demon. I was born when Mother was nineteen, so I am a quarter-demon. A year later, on Mother's birthday, she was turned into a half-demon; that was seventeen years ago."

Inuyasha continued the family history. "Half-demons age like humans until they turn twenty, from then on, they age one year every fifty years. Kagome and I still look only twenty, even though we are almost forty. Sakura is eighteen and little Taisho is only five."

Taisho pouted at the little comment, but Kagome beamed proudly at her children. "Sakura is quarter-demon, so she will age one year every twenty-five years after her twentieth birthday. But Taisho was born after I was turned, so he is a half-demon and will age as such."

"Sakura is only quarter demon, so she doesn't get the cool dog ears." Taisho exclaimed. "Her priestess powers from Mommy make her look human."

Mouse's headache intensified at the confusing family conversation. "I think I need to lie down. No offense, but this is too much to handle now."

Kagome's smile vanished as she realized her guest needed rest. "Alright, everyone out. Take a bowl of soup and go eat outside." Sakura and Taisho shuffled outside after stopping by the fire, Inuyasha attempted to leave as well, but Kagome called him back.

"Mouse, I know you want to rest now, but we really need to fix your arm. Inuyasha will pull on your hand while I align the arm bones. We had wait for you to wake up because we need you to tell us if anything causes more pain."

Mouse grimaced but nodded at the instructions. Inuyasha pulled gently on the broken limb, careful to keep a steady grip. Kagome cautiously maneuvered the broken ends together. After a few moments of silent pain, Mouse slumped over in a dead faint.

Kagome finished her ministrations as quickly as she could. She braced the injured arm by binding it to two flat pieces of wood and wrapped it tightly with strips of cloth. "I hope the bones heal correctly." Kagome softly said, careful to not wake the sleeping patient. "That was a nasty break. I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did."

Inuyasha maneuvered Mouse into a comfortable sleeping position before gathering his wife in a much-needed embrace. "He will be fine, Kagome. He has the best healer as his hostess. You did a wonderful job; now we need to eat and make sure our darling children have not killed each other yet. It has been worryingly silent outside."

Kagome smiled at her husband's attempts to cheer her. "I guess. I just wanted it to be Souta. I really need any link to my family." Seeing Inuyasha's dismayed face, she quickly amended her statement. "My family in the future, I love my family here, too." The two gathered up the medicinal supplies before leaving the hut and its sleeping occupant.

Sakura glanced up from her stew to watch her parents exit their home. Taisho tired to run over to join them, but Sakura grabbed his arm in protest.

"Not right now, brat." Sakura warned. "Mother needs some time with Father to pull herself together."

"But why," questioned Taisho. "We already know the man is not Uncle Souta. What is the problem?"

"Mother was hoping to see her brother again. This means that the well is still sealed; she will not see her family for many centuries. Mother loves us, but she misses her other family."

"But why does Mouse smell so much like Mommy? I thought that meant they were related."

"Good question," murmured Sakura. "We need to talk to Mother and Father about that." She stood and gathered the meal's remains. "Come on, Taisho, family meeting time."

The two siblings made their way over to where Kagome and Inuyasha were eating. Taisho quickly claimed his mother's lap while Sakura sat down in a more dignified and graceful manner.

Inuyasha began the questioning. "What do we really know about Mouse? Is he going to endanger us or the village by remaining here?"

Kagome bristled at his choice of priorities. "Inuyasha, the man has just survived an attack on his life. Try to be a little more considerate. I am not about to throw Mouse out of the village in his condition."

Sakura attempted to pacify her warring parents. "Mother, I think Father was just trying to make sure we were in no danger. However, I am confident that Mouse comes from a different time period, so he probably has no enemies now."

"But when does he come from?" Taisho interrupted.

Kagome paused in her tirade to consider the query. "He is dressed as a shrine caretaker, not a temple guardian, so Mouse is from some time period close to modern times."

"He smells like a close relative, only a few generations gap at most from you, Mother." Sakura added.

Kagome nodded at the information. "My family has lived in the well's shrine for centuries. He must be some kind of ancestor."

Inuyasha snorted at the assumption. "The well could be running faster at one end again, like when you returned, Kagome. He could be from even farther in the future than you."

"But Mouse said that the well-house had lit lanterns. If it was the future, then they would use electric lights." Kagome paused in her lecture and amended it to a simple, "Lanterns are used in the past. Mouse is from the past."

"My head is starting to hurt, Mommy." Taisho whined. "Why is this so hard?"

Kagome smiled down at him. "Sorry, sweetie, time-travel is always confusing. Mouse is probably here temporarily. To him, I haven't been born yet; so that means he has to go back home in order so that I can be born and come back here in order to take care of him, so that he can get back. Now I have a headache."

Sakura shook her head. "I doubt that he is directly related to you, Mother. Too many things could go wrong with that loop. Mouse is probably a distant uncle or cousin. Besides, your childhood stories would have included this adventure. More likely, Mouse disappeared one day from the shrine and your family wrote it off as the black sheep trying to follow his obscure dream."

"So we still have no clue to the identity of the man currently sleeping in our home?" Inuyasha recapped.

"He is Mouse." Taisho answered honestly. "He needs us to protect him until he finds his family again."

Kagome smiled at his innocence. "Well said, sweetie. I guess all we need to do now is sleeping arrangements. I'm afraid you're going to have to share with Sakura, Taisho. And no fighting early in the morning." Her firm tone was ruined by a gentle smile, until screams began echoing throughout the village.

The family quickly took off for the village. Their hut was not part of the village proper; it was closer to the forest than other dwellings, the distance of a short walk or a few demon leaps. Kagome questioned her husband on the way. "Inuyasha, what is going on? The wards around the village have not been disturbed. What could cause such panic without being a demon?"

Inuyasha cautiously sniffed the air. "I don't smell a demon," he confirmed; his eyes suddenly widened. "I smell smoke, a lot of smoke. Something caused a lot of fires in the village."

The center of the village was barely controlled chaos. Burning houses quickly lit neighboring homes furthering the fires. People ran in every direction attempting to rescue family members unfortunate enough to be trapped inside. New fires formed every moment due to fireballs falling from the sky.

"Hawk demons!" screamed a terrified housewife. "They are trying to burn us alive!"

Kagome quickly assumed her authoritative persona. "Inuyasha, gather everyone that can use a bow in the center of town. Shoot down every demon possible. Sakura, organize everyone else around the main drinking well. Drench blankets with water and use them to smother the smaller fires. Taisho, you need to lead the younger children back to our house. The wards are stronger there, but you will need to protect them until you get there."

"What are you going to do?" Taisho asked, a faint quiver in his voice.

"I am going to get everyone out of the houses, then help Daddy with the archers. Taisho, I need you to be brave, sweetie."

Taisho nodded and dashed off to fulfill his part of the plan. Sakura and her troops had already contained the smaller fires and prevented the larger ones from spreading. Inuyasha and the archers ripped through the demon flanks. Kagome managed to rescue the remaining indoor villagers, before summoning her own bow.

A light drizzle announced the village's victory. The surviving hawk demons slowly flew back to the forest after being defeated by a human village and its demon protectors. Kagome wearily sighed before squinting through the falling ash to find her family members. She managed to spot Inuyasha, but her legs gave out beneath her.

Inuyasha caught his exhausted wife before she fell. "You used up too much energy," he scolded. "Jumping through multiple fires and then using your energy arrows has drained you. Kagome, you need to be more careful."

"But it was worth it." Sakura commented from her place with the villagers. "The only fatalities were to the hawk demons. Our worst injuries were due to being trapped in the burning buildings."

Kagome smiled at her daughter's success. "Nice job putting out the fires, Sakura." Suddenly, her face paled. "Inuyasha, what direction did they retreat?"

"Back towards the forest. Why?"

"Because that path goes right over our house, where the children are."

Inuyasha quickly secured Kagome in his arms and took off towards the forest. Visions of horror came to mind, including Taisho being hurt by the demons. Inuyasha sprinted the remaining distance to see Mouse standing guard in front of the house, the children and Taisho inside. Inuyasha tried to help, but could only watch as a lone hawk demon shoot a fireball at the already injured Mouse.

"No!" Inuyasha called. Kagome was unceremoniously dropped to the ground as Inuyasha ran forward to destroy the demon that dared to hurt his family, but he stopped short a few paces as the demon burst into flames.

"Huh?" Kagome tried to form a coherent response. "What just happened?"

Mouse grimaced, but did not respond, his robes were smoking but not burned. Small faces appeared in the hut windows to make it was safe to come out. Taisho giggled as he pounced on his stunned Father. "I did what you said, Mommy, I brought everyone here safe, and Mouse made sure to keep the fire away."

Mouse smiled at the exuberant child. Cradling his wounded arm, Mouse slowly walked over to pick up his discarded hostess. "I apologize for worrying you, but I felt the children needed someone other than young Taisho as protection."

"But what did you do?" Inuyasha asked as he walked over to join them, Taisho firmly latched onto his back.

Taisho smirked at their stunned expressions. "Mouse made the fire go away. Whenever a flying demon tried to hit us, the fireballs burned up before coming close. And that last demon was so cool; Mouse caught the fireball and threw it right back. The demons weren't expecting that to happen."

"An elemental," Kagome murmured, "you have a fire affinity, Mouse. That is one of the most rare spiritual powers. No wonder the demons of your time attacked you."

That wording surprised Mouse. "What do you mean, 'the demons of my time'?"

"You are in Feudal Japan, most likely four or five hundred years in the past. We aren't sure what time period you are from." Inuyasha answered. "Don't worry, this kind of thing happens around here. Kagome was from five hundred years in the future; she traveled through the well for two years before it blocked her. You'll be home as soon as you do whatever you need to do."

"The well brings people to accomplish certain tasks; once we figure out your role, and you do it, the well will bring you home." Kagome added.

"But until then, you get to stay with us." Taisho piped up. "Can you teach me how to do that fireball trick?"

"Taisho, you need to be born with an affinity, it cannot be taught." Kagome reprimanded. "I guess this means Mouse really isn't from my family. Even with a large generation gap, family stories would have included any affinities." She turned to look at Mouse. "And your level of experience indicates you must have received training, that means your family knows about your abilities."

At Mouse's confused expression, Inuyasha attempted to explain. "Kagome's family is from the shrine near the well, that is, the same shrine you vaguely remember. Our guess is that you are a distant cousin or uncle."

The stunned Mouse could only stare silently as Sakura and the rest of the villagers arrived on the scene. "What happened?" Sakura called. The small clearing looked unusually peaceful with a still smoking demon carcass; the villagers quickly claimed their children before departing for the village.

Inuyasha smirked before responding. "Everything is fine. It seems Mouse is not as useless as he appears." Inuyasha continued smirking until a glare from his wife warned him of repercussions.