Author's Note: Hey there everyone. Thanks for all your reviews, and I hope whoever read this enjoys it.

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Hugging her knees to her chest, Kagome sniffed and tried not to let any more tears come. Kaede had mentioned that she was soon to meet some people of her own age. Kagome hoped they were human; with what she had recently been told she wasn't sure if being human was normal anymore.

For now, she was left alone in the hut, as Kaede had been called out to oversee a troubled birth. She picked at a lump of dirt that had been traipsed through the hut. 'I guess that's what mikos spend a lot of their time doing…' She scowled, flinging the dirt as far away from her as possible. 'Stupid old woman…if I'm supposed to be a miko, then why can't I do anything to protect myself?'

She bit her lip to try and stop the tears that were threatening to spill. 'I want to go home…Mama, Souta, Grandpa…I miss you.' She sighed and stretched her legs out. They were aching from being in the same position for too long. 'Maybe I could go for a walk or something, to see wherever the hell I am.'

The usual nagging at the back of Kagome's mind told her not to go, to stay in a place she knew, a place that was safe. She would have laughed at that if she wasn't so upset. Safe? Nothing in this time was safe. Not even a deranged old miko. Since she was going to be staying here for a while, she may as well see what the place was like.

But first of all, she needed to get changed out of her pyjamas. She may not know the people of this village, but she didn't want them to take her for a weirdo. Even if they didn't know what Hello Kitty PJ's were.

Looking around, Kagome spotted a bag she hadn't noticed before propped up against the table. On closer inspection, she found that it was her trusty yellow backpack, filled with so much stuff it was nearly bursting. In it were her hairbrush, toiletries, first aid kit, food, kitchen items and some bottles of water.

Kagome nodded, impressed. Kaede had done well in packing everything up. She also found her school uniform. 'Is this the only piece of clothing she brought?' Dismayed, she sighed and pulled it out. 'I guess it'll have to do.'

After putting it on, and dragging a brush through her hair – the air in this era was so dry it made hair notoriously hard to manage – Kagome pushed open the flap to Kaede's hut and stepped out.

The first thing she noticed was how bright it was. The sunlight pricked at her eyes, sending pinpoints of multi-coloured lights darting across her vision. Screwing her eyes shut, Kagome rubbed at them to try and rid herself of the pain.

When her vision cleared, she caught sight of a bunch of small children playing a stick game nearby, all dressed in traditional kimonos. At the familiar sight, Kagome smiled. Maybe this place wasn't so bad. So far, she hadn't seen anything too disturbing, such as the presence of youkai. And the children looked human enough.

Wandering through the village, Kagome found that there were quite a few of the feudal-style dwellings huddled together, although Kaede's was the largest. A river ran alongside of the village, feeding water via irrigation to the rice paddies and farms on its opposite bank.

At the far end, past all of the huts, was a forest. Kagome rather liked forests, as they didn't have too many of them back in Tokyo, and she needed a good walk, so it was only natural for her to want to go and have a look at it. Perhaps, if she was feeling rather adventurous, she would even go and have a walk in it. But only on the off chance.

Forty-five minutes and several blisters later, Kagome realised just how huge the forest actually was. 'I should have brought a drink with me…' She sighed, brushing her hair out of her eyes. 'I figured I'd be at the other side by now.' She came to a halt, frowning as a familiar sight came to her eyes.

'Is that the…Goshinboku?' Before her stood a giant tree, its sturdy trunk worn from years of harsh weather. A mass of tangled roots was at its base, stretching out along the grass like giant wooden tentacles grappling for their prey. A complete replica, if somewhat smaller, of the tree that stood on the ground of her family's shrine.

'It's here…even so long ago.' The sight of something so familiar in such an alien place was comforting to Kagome. She smiled, resting a hand on the Goshinboku's gnarled trunk.

So caught up in the familiar tree was Kagome that to that point she hadn't realised anyone else was around, let alone watching her.

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Inuyasha, one the other hand, was well aware. While he made no movements to show he knew of the girl's presence, his ears had locked onto her whereabouts and he had picked up her scent as soon as she entered his forest. His injured ear made no difference; it didn't affect his hearing, and his sense of smell remained intact.

Inuyasha was slightly annoyed by the intrusion, actually. His stomach was satisfyingly full after a nice breakfast he had acquired from a man of the nearby village. The villagers were ignorant, and kept all their food in an unguarded storehouse, so it was rather simple for him to get in, grab something to eat and get out again.

He had returned to his tree to eat his meal in peace, and had just settled down to nurse his torn ear or maybe have a nice nap when she came along. The funny girl with the strange kimono.

But what bothered Inuyasha more was the fact that she smelt and looked so familiar. 'Kikyo…' He felt a sharp pain in his heart at the memory of the miko, but he knew she was dead. He had seen her body burn.

No, this girl was different. But she was still a miko, he could tell that much. And apparently not a very good one, because as of yet she hadn't been able to sense his youki.

It was then that, by chance, Kagome happened to give a fleeting glimpse skywards, where a dash of red and silver caught her eye. On her second glance, she managed to gather that by the looks of it, it was a boy with long silver hair wearing a red haori. With a squeak or surprise, she also noted that he was staring back at her.

Forgetting her manners, she glared up at him. "What do you think you're staring at? It's rude to scare people like that!"

Inuyasha arched an eyebrow. He would have been amused, but he had long since forgotten what amusement was, so he was content to let her off with a look of pure contempt and a flattening of his ears. Which, he thought, was worthy of any glare of his brother's.

"I'm only staring at you, wench. Who the hell wouldn't, with you looking as weird as you do?"

"Well – well I'll have you know that – huh?" Kagome had noticed the movement on top of the boy's head, and the source of it: two fuzzy-white ears that resembled those of a dog.

"Are those…dog ears?" Staring up at them in awe, she found herself itching to touch them, just to see if they were real. "Hey, come down here, will you?"

Inuyasha frowned. "And why the hell would I want to do that? So I can get your filthy human scent all over me?"

Kagome took a deep breath, fighting back the urge to yell some more. "No, so I can see what your ears feel like. I'm sorry for shouting at you." She said softly, smiling up at him.

"Er…" Taken aback, Inuyasha shuffled closer to the Goshinboku's trunk. There was something definitely odd, but slightly endearing about this girl, and he was fascinated by her. Something about her aura reached out to him, drew him in. It was probably worth taking a look at. Jumping down, he landed lightly in front of Kagome, arms folded defensively across his chest.

"What do you want?" He asked roughly, ears still pinned against his head.

"I just wanted to see…" Kagome's voice trailed off, her gaze still fixed on the ears atop Inuyasha's head. "Do you mind if I touch them?" She didn't really like this obnoxious silver-haired boy, but she was curious about his ears, so consequently believed she could put up with anything for the sake of furry appendages.

"Er…" Inuyasha said again, narrowing his eyes, which Kagome found to be an unearthly shade of gold. The hanyou uncertainly shifted from one foot to another, then tilted his head slightly in Kagome's direction.

She tentatively reached up first one hand, then the other, to gently tug on the tips of the ears. She gently ran a finger down inner part until she reached the base. "They're soft," Kagome said, giggling.

"Okay, that's enough!" Inuyasha snapped, pushing her away. "You're weird, even for a human." The sudden movement of his head allowed Kagome to see the back of his ears, and the cut and bloodied mess that his right one was. Because she had only felt the front of his ears she had missed noticing the injured part.

"Oh, your ear." She whispered. "What happened to it? Let me see."

"No! It's fine. Just leave me alone."

Kagome stepped back. "Fine. But excuse me for trying to be helpful."

"Yeah, well I don't want or need your help." Without intending to, a growl formed deep within his chest, growing louder until it blatantly declared itself to the world with a rather loud and obvious rumble.

Kagome blinked. "Was that…thunder?"

"Er…"

"Er" seemed to be Inuyasha's favourite word at that point in time. It was short and to the point, conveying all manner of emotions in just one quick breath. It could be an unknowing, drawn out "er", a suggestive "er", a happy, satisfied "er" or any other "er" known to man or youkai kind. The list goes on.

"Kagome!" A faint cry was heard from the other side of the forest, coming from the village. Kagome turned her head in the direction the sound came from. "That sounds liked Kaede…" She murmured. She looked back towards Inuyasha. "I have to go now. But I'll see you later, okay?"

"Keh." Inuyasha leaned back, crossing his arms again. "Don't count on it."

"Well, whatever! See you!" She turned and headed back in the direction of the village.

'So that's her name…' Inuyasha thought, rocking back on his heels. 'Kagome…'

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