Kagome stared at the white blue sky through the treetop as dappled rays of sunshine permeated the boughs, casting spotted shadows across her skin. Looking up through the fine, green mesh of leaves and filtered light, she contemplated the inadequacy of the word warm in reference to the current temperature. It was beyond just warm, straight into uncomfortably hot. Sweltering. Yes, that was a good word. It was sweltering.

She stared mutely at the bleached sky, as if asking it for an explanation. It gave none, instead, it merely commiserated with her and she wondered if it was so devoid of color because of the heat. She closed her eyes as she felt a slight breeze brush against her skin and for a moment, she forgot the sticky heat surrounding her. The sensation was too quick to be enjoyed and her eyes languidly opened to gaze out on a dull world that was slowly baking in the mid-day sun. This had to be some kind of sick record. In her short life, she'd never remembered a day in June being this sticky and uncomfortable. It was unheard of. Unnatural and wrong, and if she could, she'd kill the sun for spite. If only for a few minutes. Sweat trailed down her forehead to her temple and she idly wiped it away.

For an off day. This really sucked.

She turned her head slowly and regarded Shippou, who was just as dazed by the heat as she was. It was probably worse for him, as he stuck to wearing his traditional clothing, while she did not. Besides being a demon. He was more sensitive to changes in temperature and other such nonsense that rarely bothered humans. The week before had been cool and mild and now, it felt like they were picnicking on the surface of the sun itself. It had to be nothing short of torture for him. She looked over at the little kit and gave a small half smile. He lay next to her, completely flat on his back and spread eagled, eyes half-lidded as he panted quietly.

"Poor kid..." she thought, her mind resting in a comfortable heat-induced haze.

She shifted her eyes to her pack, which lay just in front of her. They could go swimming as they'd planned but the hike up here had been more exhausting than they'd thought it'd be. And so they'd spent the last ten minutes recovering. It wasn't really doing them any good and Kagome did NOT feel better. She made a frustrated growl, knocking her head against the tree holding her up. This was stupid and only added to her current feeling of helpless dissatisfaction.

Shard hunting had not gone well lately. In fact, it had been an unqualified disaster in her opinion but that was just her being negative again. Another long, heavy sigh escaped her lips. They'd only encountered a few demons in the last week, none of them bearing anything but trouble. And more than they were worth, that was for sure. Her knees were bruised and scraped...again...and she wondered if there would ever come a day when she could wear a skirt without fear of showing her scarred legs. Their most recent escapade had involved a rather nasty demon head that had possessed a princess and nearly killed Miroku. How many times would he have to be nearly killed by pretty demons in disguise before he got it through his thick head. Sango had muttered darkly that if the wind tunnel's curse didn't kill him, his lechery would. That night, at camp, she had berated him very loudly and walloped him a good one when he tried to sooth her ire by squeezing an ass cheek. At least some things were back to normal and it was good.

They still had no word on Naraku's whereabouts but they did figure out that he'd left parts of his body behind. Those unwanted demons that didn't pass his litmus test of near invincibility were left to fend for themselves, alone and mutilated. It was almost sad and unequivocally gross. To make things worse, these cast offs were all on the look out for shards. They were desperate for the things and shambled after them with a fervent devotion that was terrifying to behold. Kagome let out a dull sigh. Just when things seemed to get easy enough to build a routine, then something came along to screw it all up.

It made a girl wonder was there really a point to shard hunting? Naraku seemed to be a step ahead of them at every turn, even when they caught him unawares. He had plans within plans and just wandering around the countryside looking for shards was doing no good. It was ridiculous. They should have some kind of plan. It didn't have to be perfect but any attempt to think things through, to try and outwit Naraku...it was better than wandering aimlessly, that was for sure. But Kagome was loathe to speak of her current discontent with their plan. After all, she wasn't the leader. That was Inuyasha's job. She was the shard detector and unaccustomed to taking a leadership role. Being in the spotlight wasn't something she was good at anyway. Anyone who witnessed her third grade piano recital could tell you that.

Even still, it was something she longed to discuss and she'd tried to think of a way to broach the subject with Inuyasha. But he was so damned impatient and thickheaded, that she hadn't dared. She was being all avoidy because she knew that what she had to say would be met with resistance. Okay, not just resistance, out and out scorn. There would be a big ol' fashioned fight that would just end in Inuyasha eating dirt and her continued frustration. It wasn't like she disagreed with traveling the country helping folks. Yes, they did good. Lots of good. They killed harmful demons and saved innocent humans but they were making little progress in accomplishing their most important goal. Destroying Naraku.

Then there was the question of what to do with the jewel. It was ever present and hung on her mind like an uncomfortable fog. Lately, she'd hoped to perhaps find something that gave greater insight into its power. There had to be some information, somewhere on the jewel and maybe, just maybe if she found it...Well, she wasn't really sure what went from there, but it had to help. She'd gone home for a short time afterward and done some checking. Her grandfather had some old records and scrolls in the shrine's reliquary and she'd done some digging in the hopes of finding something. Anything. A scroll or a book, even if it was insignificant as a phrase...a word even. Something, just something for her to hold onto, something that'd give her insight into the conundrum that was the jewel. She hoped it'd help her understand what she'd have to do a little better, maybe even give a hint as to how to control her power. Kaede had helped a bit, but there was only so much she could do. So, Kagome searched for a scrap of something that most likely did not exist in desperate hope that she'd find something to soothe the searing restlessness in her soul.

To her eternal disappointment, she found very little in the way of actual, useful information. There were lots and lots of books that described its fabled power. They weren't really helpful. Either telling her things she knew already or worse, causing her to have more questions that needed answering. Questions were really not what she need right now. So she kept looking. There was one scroll that had a rather vague history of the jewel. It mentioned Midoriko and Kikyo, though the latter wasn't mentioned by name. The text pretty much read, Midoriko created it by sealing herself and some demons inside the jewel. It was really evil. An unnamed priestess lost her life to it. It was destroyed. The End! Yep, pretty much extremely not helpful. There were also a couple of spells that involved the jewel, which all in all was pretty scary. They were contained on a set of four very dirty, very old looking scrolls, which she'd read at her leisure.

Apparently the jewel itself had been used for other things before it became evil which was odd because she'd always been under the impression Midoriko created it. That's what all the other texts said, all except for these ones and it left her wondering which ones were right. According to the older texts, the jewel was used in a ceremonial exorcism rite and there were hints that along the way that it had been used in a particularly dark and unnamed ritual. One that perhaps was the reason it had been so easily tainted when Midoriko had sealed herself within in it. She was the most powerful priestess of her time and once her power had been freed from her body, no unholy taint should have sullied it. It was the habitual usage of the jewel for exorcism and the ritual that caused the taint. That allowed the demons entrapped within such easy sway over the powerful mystical energy within the jewel. Those words were enough to stun her into a half hour long silence. It had been weeks since she'd read it and she still wasn't over the shock. There was more to the shikon than what they knew and Kagome felt herself feeling anxious to find out more. As the weeks dragged by, her lack of answers had thoroughly frustrated her. There was so much she didn't know and all she ever got back was the same story or worse, more damn questions.

It was...disappointing.

She hadn't told Inuyasha about her sudden interest in research, much less what she was doing said research on. It was odd to keep something from him, as she was a poor liar and it just seemed natural to tell him everything. She couldn't hide from him anymore than she could hide from her own friends, which in and of itself was a bald-faced lie. Over the last year her tendency to tell little half truths had improved by leaps and bounds. She was by no means an expert liar, but she was getting better and it disturbed her. First her bestest friends in all the world, now Inuyasha. It wasn't like what she was doing was all that important and she was sure Inuyasha wouldn't be upset by it. It was just...well, he wouldn't be interested for one and he'd also be annoyed that it had kept her in her time longer, which was never to be tolerated. She could just imagine telling him what little she learned. He'd give her one of his patented 'You wasted my time for that nonsense' looks. At the time, she could almost hear his voice inside her head the moment she told him.

"Keh! Who cares what a bunch of old, dead people have to say. Useless."

Mixed up in there would be a boast about how powerful he was compared to humans and then it'd be followed by an insult aimed in her direction. Then she'd have to sit him, and no good would come of that. Well, except for the slight satisfaction she derived from hearing his skull meet the earth, which was then followed by guilt. Because no matter how big a jerk he could be, she'd never liked to see someone in pain. Even if they really deserved it. Finally, to top off the day, he'd probably confuse her completely by showing her some minor affection after insulting her. Like protecting her from an attack or giving her his cloak and...and she was just sick of it all. Her feelings for him yo-yoed back and forth between love and something resembling deep annoyance. It was never a constant thing. Never comfortable or sure. It was always dangling over a precipice, just waiting for a bird to land on the wrong edge of her heart. It would perch there, looking at her blankly as everything she thought and felt tipped over and fell into the bottomless chasm below.

Why did loving someone have to hurt like this? In all the books she'd read and movies she'd seen, she'd never imagined the emotion to be this confoundingly painful. Kagome wasn't a listless dreamer. She didn't believe in being swept away or finding love at first sight. Love to her was always a more stable thing. It was a foundation you built your life upon that was sometimes exciting and unpredictable, but grounding all the same. Never, never did she think that being in love would be like the kind of sadistic roller coaster ride that seemed to never end. It felt like she was being torn apart inside, as if something within her was scraping the walls of her heart, tearing them down with relentless zeal. She was a rock in the middle of a stream. Standing tall and proud amongst the crashing waves, not realizing that as time passed, the water was slowly eating away at her. It pushed and formed the hard stone into a shape it wanted. And she was just waiting for the day that the persistent efforts of the river would finally overwhelm her and she'd become just one more pebble at the bottom of the bed.

Staring quietly into space, she wondered how it'd all end. Would he ever feel for her what she felt for him? Would it be true love or heartbreak? Maybe it wouldn't be that simple at all. Maybe they'd fall in love like the fondest fairytale hope that she held onto with clinging desperateness. Where she'd run at him through an open field and they'd finally admit their feelings and live happily ever after. Maybe it'd be an explosive betrayal. Where she'd find him in the arms of his dead lover and vow her own revenge. Maybe it would be neither of those things. Maybe it'd be worse. Maybe it'd be a slow and painful process, where she fell out of love with him or he with her or both. They'd agree to be friends or not...and either way, they'd see each other occasionally and things would be uncomfortable and there'd always be that tainted longing for what might have been. All in all, she wasn't sure if any of them were good and as time passed, her hope faded and she found herself hating the pain in her heart all the more.

Things looked even bleaker after she had a long heart to heart with Yuka, Ayumi and Eri. She knew it wasn't supposed to be like this and had tried to lie to herself. Being in love with someone wasn't a contest. It shouldn't hurt and it shouldn't be a fight to see who'd crack first. It was awkward and weird, but she'd always been convinced that it should have been a pleasant experience. Nerve-wracking, yes. Painful, no. Butterflies weren't meant to hurt. That tickle in her stomach shouldn't be accompanied by a sharp intake of agony as you realize that you can't have what you want. Love should be a gentle meeting of the minds. Like the gradual tide of warming friendship as it followed the current that lead to something more. It was the delightful hide and seek of finding out what you had in common and what you didn't, and how you worked through it all. Love was a dance, slow and seductive. What love was NOT was a vicious fight to the pain, where both parties were left feeling exhausted and all out of love. And that was exactly what her relationship was like with Inuyasha. It was like sparring in her personal defense class. Sweaty, uncomfortable and highly unsatisfying.

It was all Yuka's fault. She was the one who got her really thinking about all this. With one damn question. She'd been complaining about Inuyasha again and Yuka asked her a very simple question. One she should have been able to answer without pause.

"What do you two have in common, Kagome?"

All she could hear was the emphasis her friend had put on the word 'do'. What DO you have in common? What DO you...What did they have in common? She tried to brush it off with a nervous laugh and a wave of her hand. But it remained. Long after she had left her friends, it pursued her into the night. Followed her the next day and hadn't left her alone for awhile until she finally did forget. And they'd remained forgotten for the better part of two weeks. She suddenly remembered them at the start of this week. It was on Monday, her first day back to the feudal era. She'd been studying, sort of. It was for a class, which also happened to be her hardest besides math. Except she actually liked to study English as opposed to math which she loathed with a vicious passion.

Despite her constant struggle with the subject, she managed to make pretty good marks. Mostly because of her dogged determination not to fail and her steadfast effort did not go unrewarded. She didn't consider herself all that good at the language. There were so many rules that were made and broken. The odd rules for spelling alone were enough to give the most patient person a headache but there was something oddly fascinating about the language. A vibrant quirkiness that drew her in and made her want to learn more. Her teacher agreed and had recommended her for the advanced classes, which she took. She struggled but she kind of enjoyed it. Her teacher thought her such a promising student that special concessions were made because of her "illnesses". Still, she wasn't doing as well as she'd liked and had complained about it when she had lunch with her friends. Eri had teased her for being an overachiever but was it really so odd to want to be perfect in at least one area?

She was inadequate everywhere else, after all.

Kagome's eyes darkened as she tried not to feel the bitter tang of disappointment. Yes, it was okay to want that and she had come close to perfection in her English studies. Privately, she could admit that. It'd take only a tiny bit more effort to attain just that. She'd been well on her way to doing it Monday night, until Inuyasha interrupted her efforts by being rude.

Because of her frequent absences and her teacher's opinion of her talent, she'd been granted a rare exception. Her teacher would allow her to make up her missed time by taking an extra class, which didn't seem like much of a gift until she learned what kind of class it was. They'd convinced one of the smaller, community colleges to allow her to take one of their Western Literature classes for no credit. The best part was that attendance was optional. She could show up when she wanted and boy, she had wanted to. It was hoped that the extra work and the immersion into English literature would help keep her on her toes.

Perfect her English and help her play catch up with the rest of her class. The best part was it was taught by an adjunct professor from an American university. So the entire class would be taught in English about English literature. And it was wonderful! Really the best thing that had ever happened to her and she tried so hard to go to as many classes as possible. In fact, she'd insisted upon it. Inuyasha was not pleased. That was, in fact, an incredible understatement. Kagome plainly did not care. It was once a week, on Saturdays, and only an hour long. She had put her foot down and made it clear that she would NOT miss this class, at least, not as often as she'd miss her other classes. It wasn't like it was a huge deal anyway. But Inuyasha was being an ass about it. Making snide little comments when she'd ask to go back.

She'd tired of the argument, as it only went in endless circles. They'd had a huge blow out about it on Monday and she was still a bit miffed. It was over a book given to her by her teacher.

They'd just finished with the Canterbury tales the week before and this week they were starting Shakespeare finally. She'd never read any of his work prior to this but she had always kind of wanted to check it out. As it was she was a huge Kurosawa fan and she'd heard that Ran was his adaptation of a Shakespeare play. MacBeth, if she was correct. She liked Ran, so she figured the source material had to be aces. Kagome blushed a bit, realizing what a huge literature nerd she was.

Her mother had instilled in her a deep love of words. From the time she was a baby, she'd had all the classics read to her. She remembered very keenly, nights when she was younger when her mother would read from the Tale of the Genji. It would always be held amongst her most cherished memories, those magical moments between dusk and true night when her mother's voice would floating liltingly on the wind.

The moment she began to read her first play, she fell in love with Shakespeare's words. They way the language was spoken reminded her of the way Kaede spoke and the strange, courtly language in Murasaki's masterwork, only in English and written hundreds of years later. Never in her life had she come across writing that was as eloquent and down to earth as this. And to think, she'd always thought spoken English sounded like quacking ducks. Except when reciting Shakespeare verse. There was a vast array of music in the words that was lacking in anything else she'd come across.

Sometimes the meaning wasn't always clear to her, as Elizabethan English was very different from modern English. She always had lots of questions about the text or a random observation about the story and she found herself staying after to speak with the professor on more than one occasion. He was a nice old man. One of the American exchange students referred to him as a hippy. Whatever that meant. To Kagome, he was like a younger version of her grandfather, except with more interesting stories that didn't involve obscure legends that were most likely not true. In any event, he'd taken a liking to her and had let her borrow his copy of the Riverside Shakespeare. It was a large compilation of his work and a first edition! She was beyond ecstatic and truly honored he'd trust her with something so valuable.

One night she had been reading it and was completely oblivious to the world around her. Her mind was too wrapped up in the story, pushing her towards the end with fretful zeal. That is until Inuyasha decided it was his sworn duty to investigate that which was taking attention away from him. He snatched the large, heavy book from her hands easily and began to examine it. Holding the voluminous tome by his fingers before sniffing it curiously, as if he could glean the hold it had on her that way. Then he turned it upside down, skimming the contents briefly before giving her a disgruntled look. Kagome returned the favor, frowning at him with her arms crossed. She was fairly tempted to point out that to read the book, he'd have to turn it right side up. He wouldn't care, so she didn't.

"Why do you read this stuff."

It was more of a statement than a question. Kagome refused to answer him on the grounds that she'd done it before. Many, many times before and she wasn't going to explain it ever again. If he couldn't understand the answer the first fifty times, what made him think he'd get it this time, much less any time after that. Kagome scowled at him and attempted to grab it back but he pulled it away from her before she could.

"Give it back, Inuyasha." She said, trying to sound menacing and failing miserably.

"Feh!" Why!"

"Because...it's mine and I want to finish reading it!" She snapped back, making another play for the book.

He grinned and switched hands quickly, seeing that a game could be played. If there was one thing Inuyasha loved, it was playing with her like this. She had the most interesting reactions.

"Why do you read this stuff anyway?" he asked, turning the book around and reading it briefly, "It's boring...a waste of time..."

Her eyes went wide at that comment and she lunged for the book. He held it up and away, switching hands again when she tried to maneuver herself into a better position.

"It is not..." she grunted,"...a waste..." grab and a miss, "...of..." she dug her feet in and prepared to lunge,"...of time..." Her hands flew out and brushed against the spine, before she crashed face first on the ground. Pushing herself up, she shouted as she punched the ground, "...GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT BACK OR SO HELP ME..."

"What? You'll sit me. As if I care. You're always complaining about those test things and school...For hatin' something so much, you do it a lot."

"I don't hate it...okay, sometimes I do. BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" she yelled, feeling her frustration overwhelm her, she calmed herself down a bit. Someone had to be the reasonable one, "...Inuyasha, I'm asking you nicely. Give me back my book."

"Why? The way I see it, you should just quit school if you hate it so much. Then you could go shard hunting full time."

"I don't hate school all the time and I can't quit. Give it back."

"No."

"Give it."

"Why won't you quit?"

"Because I don't want to..."

"Why?"

"Because I like learning new things and I don't want to be an uninformed idiot...like certain people I could name..."

"Keh! You're too late for that."

"WHAT!"

"You're already an idiot. Books can only do so much..."

"Oh! That tears it!"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously and would have looked menacing on anyone else. But on her it only looked cute, which at the moment wasn't helping her. Inuyasha merely grinned at the look of enraged shock on her face. She closed her eyes as was just about to sit him into the next century when a demon took the opportunity to attack. Before it struck her, Inuyasha kindly knocked her out of the way, taking the brunt of the attack. The giant centipede hit him in the stomach and sent him sailing backwards through several trees...with her book still clutched in one hand.

A vicious battle ensued and they were victorious in the end. It was only a low level demon, pathetic in terms of pure competition. Inuyasha was hurt but not that badly. He had been thrown through around five to six trees. He was irritable and sore, but with no lasting damage. Kagome tended the light cuts and bruises that graced his back and arms. He accepted with his typical reluctance, but he did accept it, which made her happy. The argument was forgotten as was the book. That is, until yesterday when she suddenly remembered that she had to give the book back at the end of the week.

It wasn't a rare edition and she was sure she'd be able to find a copy on Ebay. If she was lucky, maybe she could find a copy of it at her local bookstore. It wouldn't be a prized first edition but it was better than nothing. That was the first, best option. She could check Tokyo Random Walk. It was a good store with a nice selection of foreign books. And maybe she'd stop by Bibliophile. It had lots of rare volumes and she might just get lucky. It was off her routes when she went back home and would require a bit of leg work, but it was worth it. Plus it had been ages since she'd visited the Tokyo Tower.

She sighed heavily. While a trip back home was just what she needed, the fact that she'd have to spend her entire allowance on a book made her very sad. She was going to spend it on Utada Hikaru's latest album. Actually, she already had the Japanese version but she'd planned to get her hands on a copy of the American release. But imports like that cost so much, so she'd been saving it for awhile...and now this happened.

For the last hour she'd been going over what she'd tell her teacher. It occurred to her that she could technically say the dog destroyed it. It wasn't really a total lie but it wasn't all that believable. She could blame Souta, say he lost it or something but that wasn't fair. Besides, she was the flaky, disorganized one. He'd never lost anything in his entire life and had spent most of his time making sure she didn't forget things. Kagome pouted, realizing it would be best for her to take all the blame. After all, she was the idiot who took the book into the feudal era in the first place. She should have known better but really, she couldn't help it. She was on pins and needles and she really wanted to know how the play would end! Would Beatrice and Benedict finally stop being asses and admit they love each other! Would Don Jon's evil plot be discovered? Would Claudio repent for being so unforgivably cruel to Hero? Would Dogberry finally take a bath!

This was where her curiosity led her. Now she would have to wait until she could buy her own copy. Well, there was that page she found lying in a bush but it wasn't from the play she was reading. That was all that was left. And the kicker was, she couldn't really stay mad at Inuyasha. Yes, he'd been a jerk but he had saved her life. So things kind of evened out. There was nothing she could do about it anyway and continuing to be cheezed off about it helped no one.

And anyway, the story had to end happily It was a comedy for crying out loud!

The entire incident had highlighted the fact that other than their desire to find the shikon jewel before Naraku, she had little in common with Inuyasha. She was lyrical, poetic and a hopeless romantic, where he was brusque, blunt and without imagination, and far too practical for her liking sometimes. Yet she loved him all the same. When she looked at him, her heart skipped a beat. On the rare occasions when he let his defenses down and he'd hold her, she swore she'd melt right on the spot. She ached for him as a parched plant yearns for water. Reaching and desperate.

He was her only reason for being here. Her future, past, and present all wrapped into one. Without him, she was lost, weak and afraid. She hated depending on him like that. It made her feel like a stupid, clinging wraith. As mean as it sounded, she sounded like her friend Ayumi. Who always seemed to fall for unfeeling bad boys and had encouraged her. To Eri and Yuka's horror. She'd curtly told Ayumi that if she really wanted a bad boy, she'd date his emotionless older brother. No, no, she didn't like this dependence. She hated being useless and just once, she wanted to prove herself to him. To show Inuyasha she wasn't just a worthless human girl, good for only shard detecting. She wanted him to know she was strong, as strong as him. Kagome had never been a weak person. Fear was something she knew, but it wasn't something that stopped her. And she never got to show that side of her to him.

She had always prided herself on being self-sufficient. Flaky, yes, but she'd always been an independent girl. Being the oldest child in a single parent family did that to you. She had to be the replacement support for both her mother and her brother. Kagome was the built in babysitter when her mom needed a break. The shoulder to cry on when missing their father became too much for Souta to handle. She was the rock, she'd always been the rock. The foundation of whatever group she was in. This included her little circle in the feudal era. But being the rock got you no accolades. Kagome heaved another sigh. She would never say it, never acknowledge it, but...she had grown up too fast. No kid her age thought like this.

A tiny voice broke through her reverie.

"Kaaaaaaaaaaagome..."

"Yeah, what is it?" She asked, her voice thick with exhaustion.

"D'ya think maybe we oughta get with the swimming...like we planned?" Shippou inquired, tiredly.

She snickered, idly musing that he'd spent waaaay too much time with her. He'd begun picking up more modern vernacular and speech patterns.

"I suppose..." She replied with a little grunt as she reluctantly sat up.

Kagome wiped the sweat from her forehead while she cursed the continued existence of the sun. Why did it have to be so damned hot? Blearily, she dug through the contents of her pack until she found everything she needed. Pulling them out with a satisfied sigh, she arranged them on the ground neatly. Two towels, sunscreen, Shippou's favorite inner tube, and a pair of precautionary swimmees. It wasn't good to leave a kid afloat with just an inner tube. Last but not least were a pair of swim trunks she'd modified especially for Shippou. When she showed the little fox demon his gift, he practically danced for joy. It was beyond cute. She watched with a smile as he quickly slipped into them, making a little cry of delight as he poked his tail out the hole she made for him.

"Now I'm just like you, Kagome!"

Kagome repressed the urge to point out the obvious but she didn't. She knew what he meant by it and was flattered that he admired her so much.

"Yep! You're a regular boy from the future!" She quipped, wanting to slap a hand to her forehead for sounding like such an idiot.

This apparently pleased Shippou, who grinned at her widely. "Aren't you gonna change?"

"Nope. I already did."

She ruffled his hair affectionately. They chatted amiably after that. Actually, it was really Shippou doing all the chatting while she blew up the inner tube. It had to be around one o'clock. The sun had moved higher into the sky and she could plainly hear the cicadas chirping. She'd moved on to the swimmees and had her lips positioned over the intake valve, when she felt a curious twitch in her senses. There was a demon nearby. Kagome frowned and tried to sense who it might be, friend or foe. It didn't feel like anyone she knew and it was near enough for her to worry.

She shrugged, unable to sense who it was, much less their intent. Unconcerned, she blew into the intake valve with methodically slow breaths. This was going to take a long time. She was getting a lot of resistance, the swimmee was being troublesome and not blowing up properly. Her lungs ached a bit and she cursed herself for forgetting the bicycle pump she usually brought for her tires. It'd come in handy right about now. She took another long breath and pushed the air into the swimmee, smiling a bit as it finally began to take shape.

It was then, mid-breath, her lips still secured to the swimmee's synthetic surface that she noticed the demon staring at her with bright golden eyes. Her face paled and her eyes widened to saucers. She was left staring in dumb shock at Sesshoumaru, the swimmee still clenched firmly between her teeth. Kagome looked the perfect picture of a complete and total idiot.

Fumblingly, she pulled the swimmee out of her mouth and tried to arrange herself to look somewhat dignified. Not that it mattered. The demon said nothing, did nothing as he had before. Just stared at her and she stared back. A million questions battered her mind. Why was he here? Why hadn't he attacked? How is it that he looks so damn cool and collected on a miserable day like this? None she dared to actually ask him but she did keep her eyes firmly trained on his, not breaking her gaze even once. His eyebrow quirked up and his eyes slightly narrowed, the color in them shifting like molten glass. Her heart beat a million miles a minute and she was pretty sure that at any moment, it might explode. Despite her nervousness, she held her ground and didn't flinch, even though she was terrified.

The demon moved and she resisted the urge to shriek in surprise. He turned, though his gaze stayed with her. As he moved away, she saw what his form had been hiding. Behind him was the two headed dragon, An-Un, and atop the unusual mount was Rin. Kagome hadn't noticed, she was too busy staring Sesshoumaru down. Shippou, however, had taken note and forgetting to be afraid, he called out to his friend. The sudden sound of her ward shouting Rin's name awoke her to the reality of the situation. She had forgotten about meeting his ward and the promise she made to the little girl so many weeks ago. It had disappeared amongst the flurry of other, more pressing matters in her life.

The two children ignored the silent adults and their odd staring contest. Shippou had gotten up from his place and began to shout loudly, jumping up and down in excitement. The girl had spurred her mount faster and once she got near enough, she clumsily jumped off it and ran towards them. With cries of joy, the two children greeted each other with an excited conversation that merged into a single, high speed blur of words. They hugged and giggled and the entire time, Kagome didn't partake in the joy. She was still warily regarding the demon and he was glaring at her and he wouldn't stop. And it was very, very unnerving. Something bumped into her chest. There were arms around her neck and she could vaguely hear Rin babble something about being happy to see her. But she neither felt nor heard them. She just watched as Sesshoumaru gave her one last pointed glare before he gathered his aura around him and floated away, to parts unknown.

"Kagome? Kagome, are you all right?"

She shook herself and gazed at Rin's questioning face, "Yeah. Just a little dazed is all. How are you?"

"I'm good! I'm so, SO glad to see you Kagome-sama! What are you doing today? Can we play more games?"

"Yeah. We were going to go swimming. Wanna come?" Shippou answered for her, excited at the prospect of finally being able to play Marco Polo. Kagome had always talked about it...but they'd never had enough players.

"Swimming?...I don't know how to swim..." The little girl answered, sounding a bit shamed and disappointed at not being able to participate.

"Yep." Kagome nodded, knowing that most people in the feudal era didn't know how to, "Don't worry. We'll teach you."

The girl looked even more dejected and a bit worried.

"Yeah! Don't worry, Rin! It's easy!" Shippou chirped, picking up the half inflated swimmee, "You can borrow these! They help you swim...and Kagome's a really great teacher. So don't worry, okay?"

The girl gave a timid smile when she looked over at her friend, who was bristling with confidence. She looked over at Kagome and seeing the same look in her eyes, she knew she could trust her friends. Her smiled widened and she nodded. Kagome finished blowing up the swimmees and made a makeshift suit for Rin out of her t-shirt. The girl couldn't go in the kimono she wore. It was much too nice and she was afraid the heavy fabric would weigh her down too much. The little girl had asked about a hundred questions about the swimmees and where Kagome was from. All were skillfully avoided, which is to say, it was handled with an evasive awkwardness. Her trademark. Not like the little girl cared all that much. She gladly donned the strange garments and followed Shippou into the nearby stream. They held hands and Kagome almost cried out at the cuteness of it all.

The afternoon passed uneventfully. Rin was timid at first. Not trusting the contraptions on her arms, quite sure she was going to drown any moment now. But she didn't. The swimmees held her up without fail and her friend's unflagging confidence helped boost her ego. After a bit, Kagome began to show her a few basic strokes and how to kick her feet to propel herself. Everything was explained with the same kind of precise calm she expected from her lord and it made Rin happy to know there was someone else besides Sesshoumaru-sama that was unafraid of the world. She felt safe with Kagome and Shippou, and for Rin, feeling safe was a rare thing. Kagome had promised to teach her more later on. allowing her and Shippou some time to play.

As the day wore on, the children swam happily. Laughing and splashing with not a care in the world. Kagome joined in as much as she felt like it. Occasionally she'd slip underwater when their antics go to be too much for her. And after a bit, she felt herself tiring, so she got out but not before instructing the children to swim closer to the riverbank. From there she watched them silently near the water edge as she dried out. The sun moved slowly across the sky and she began to notice that both children had quieted somewhat. Upon closer examination, she could see they were both tired and cold, but too stubborn to listen to their own bodies.

She ushered them out of the water, chiding them both for not getting out sooner. Both had given half-assed excuses through their shiver, blue lips. Kagome shook her head and set her hands on her hips in a movement that was scarily reminiscent of her mother. They only had two towels and hers was already used. She was pondering this problem when Shippou solved it for her. He stated he didn't need a towel and proceeded to shake himself off, all over them. After the all the invectives and screaming died down, Kagome grabbed the other towel and handed it over to Rin. She helped the little girl dry off and back into her clothing. Shippou had already gone back to the tree they'd previously occupied to sleep.

There was an odd moment of tranquility that enveloped Kagome at that moment. She remembered when she was little and her mom would tend to her like this. Tying the sash on the little girl's obi, she wondered how long would it be before she got to do this with her own daughter. Would she even have time for such things? She'd always wanted a family at some point...and had never really full understood why, until this moment. There was simple peace in tending to another person, especially someone you knew needed you. Maybe that's what she was missing with Inuyasha. She didn't feel needed. With Shippou and Rin, she felt as if she had a place. A purpose. It was a nice feeling and she indulged in a wistful smile as she combed through the little girl's hair. Silently, she separated her hair into three separate pieces and began to absently braid her hair. Rin didn't seem to object and had held still, waiting until she was finished. There was a quiet pause as the little girl turned to look at her. Kagome smiled softly and the little girl smiled back shyly, a look of fleeting hope reflecting in her features. What did she hope for? And those questions she'd forgotten long ago surfaced.

"Rin...may I ask you something?"

The little girl looked a bit worried now that her friend had suddenly turned so serious but she nodded despite this.

"How did you come to be with Sesshoumaru...where is your family?"

Rin blanched at the question that she knew was coming, but she was also awed that the young woman referred to him so informally. She'd gotten the feeling before that they knew each other from somewhere and whatever feelings were between her lord and this girl were less than comfortable. Rin looked down at her fingers, because she really didn't want to answer that question. Kagome instantly understood. Her family had to be dead and that was how she came into the lord's service. It was most likely willingly, because if she were under duress, there was no way she'd be that comfortable with Sesshoumaru, who was a disagreeable person at his best. And whatever had happened, it was difficult to talk about. The little girl opened her mouth to say something but Kagome pressed a finger to her lips and shook her head.

"Don't...whatever happened, it must be painful. You can tell me when you're ready, okay?"

Rin nodded gratefully, her eyes welling with tears as a bright smile crossed her face. Only her lord treated her like that.

"Kagome...can I...can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"How come...when you see Sesshoumaru-sama...how come you and Shippou act so scared? Is it 'cause he's a demon?"

Kagome was taken aback but managed a near calm reply, "No...no, honey. It's not that." She paused, trying to think of the best way to say what she wanted to, "We're not scared...we're just...well. You see...We're friends with his half-brother, Inuyasha..."

"You mean the loud man in red that I saw with you when we met? The one that looked like Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"Yeah...Him." She replied, adding a pause to keep herself from laughing at the girl's innocent comments," Well, they aren't exactly friends...and so..."

"Oh."

The little girl nodded her understanding. It was odd to be trapped in the middle of such sibling rivalry but that's the way it was. At least her lord let her see the nice lady she now regarded as a friend.

"Wull, can I still see you and stuff, Kagome-sama? Is it okay...is it okay for us to be friends..."

Kagome smiled warmly. The only real reassurance she needed.

"Of course we can. And it's just Kagome...we're friends, after all!"

"You swear!"

"Mmmhmm."

Kagome held out her pinkie, gently instructing Rin to do the same and they shook on it, a promise of friendship solidified with a pinkie swear. Kagome saw the joy and hope in the young girl's eyes. She also saw the sorrow and the pain. All this time she'd been preoccupied with her own petty life, the stupid crush she had on a certain hanyou. She'd been hung up on her own pain and in the face of this girl's raw longing, it seemed so ridiculous. Rin had no one in the world that cared for her, except for one cold and silent demon. As good as his company did her, it wasn't enough. She needed human contact. Someone to talk to. And suddenly, just as Sesshoumaru appeared in the clearing once more, Kagome realized that she'd found her purpose.

She was a mother and a sister to Shippou, just as she was for Souta, and now...there was Rin. What was one more surrogate child? Nothing. She smiled softly as she watched the little girl rejoin her lord. Their eyes locked and between them there was a silent moment of understanding. She would be a companion for his ward whenever he saw fit to leave the girl in her care. And with this unspoken oath, the demon disappeared, leaving Kagome to ponder the silent afternoon. Her eyes straying to the sinking sun as she sighed, and got up to wake her sleeping companion.

The world is a strange place sometimes...

WOOT! Sorry I updated this one first. Purgatory is coming. Just really, really slowly. Um. I hope ya liked this. BTW-Those bookshops I mentioned in Tokyo are real. Yes, I did more research. I am a silly, silly girl.

I sleep now.