Chapter 3: Chance

"Are they beautiful
The lines left from suffering
Scars of emptiness"

-Tyler Knott Gregson

"I don't understand why you just don't tell her how you feel."

A beat passed, the only sounds in the conversing pair's sphere of conversation being the stirring of the speaker's coffee.

"I don't understand why you think that's even a possibility."

After a few moments of tense eye contact, the duo was interrupted by the waitress arriving with their meals. With a quick word of thanks, they were both digging in, happily munching on their usual order, conversation pushed aside to focus on the deliciously greasy food in front of them.

Kagome looked over at Daichi stuffing his face with toast and couldn't help but shake her head. Of all the people at her university, she ended up being friends with this idiot. It was Saturday, and so they were having brunch on the patio of their favorite restaurant, taking the time to enjoy the spring weather before it grew too hot. Finals were in a week, and in two weeks she would officially be a college graduate.

Not for the first time, Kagome wished she could just slow things down a little and relish in the moment.

Valentine's Day turned out to be just what she needed; a harsh reintroduction to the reality that this was the life she was living and needed to do it. For so long, she'd spent her time just doing what she thought she should be doing, ignoring all that was going on around her with the goal of just getting through this date or that event. What she should have been doing was making the most of what she had.

Daichi wasn't solely responsible for that, just the final affirmation she needed to just stop pretending and start doing.

Kagome remembers waking up the day after the party to a too bright room and a too loud alarm. After snoozing it, quite a few times, she ended up getting a phone call from Daichi and was somehow coaxed out of her bed with the promise of food. Daichi picked her up from her dorm just 30 minutes later, and they grabbed a late breakfast at their, now, usual spot. She had felt like absolute shit, hiding under some large shades as they sat on the patio near a heat lamp. But, after some food and a lot of coffee, she was up to conversation and the rest is history. It turns out, Daichi was also a business major, and they spent the rest of the day studying for her online exam, which she went on to ace that afternoon.

It wasn't until they were eating pizza in her dorm later that night that she realized his uncle had mentioned seeing her that day.

As Daichi quickly explained, apparently their family did some international business, and his uncle had to return to Berlin unexpectedly that morning to handle some fiasco. It was "no big deal," and he reassured her that if they stayed friendly she'd see him again. Maya finally coming home interrupted the conversation, and soon it was mostly forgotten.

And so, they spent the better part of the semester attached at the hip. Their daily routines altered to accommodate each other, sharing each meal together and spending their down time studying in the library or at each other's place. The only time they were separated was over Spring Break, when Kagome went home to the shrine and Daichi went to Paris to see his grandfather. Most weekends, they'd assemble a sort of group and go out, only to be the first ones to leave and usually quite sober. But that was quickly remedied when they returned, typically, to Daichi's apartment and played two person drinking games, which involved a lot of creativity.

Kagome wasn't sure what happened exactly, as Daichi wasn't too keen to discuss it, but she was fairly sure his uncle had threatened his life after he collected them from N2U. Which probably wasn't the best parenting method, but to his benefit they did caution themselves to only drinking heavily in the safety of Daichi's apartment. And even then, they always planned for Kagome to stay over, and she would have a safe, clean space to be hungover in the next morning.

Daichi was backed financially by his family, so he had a 3 bedroom flat to himself. It was actually a really nice place, and Kagome had all but moved in after the third weekend she crashed there. It was in a building his family apparently owned and located in the business district closest to school. It wasn't the lap of luxury, but it was really nice regardless.

The kitchen was a little small, but the appliances were newer and with some careful storage solutions, it was easily workable. The living room was roomy, a comfy couch and ottoman against one wall and a large TV directly across. The dining space was large enough for a six-person table, and two more could sit at the bar that separated the living and dining areas from the kitchen. The main living space separated the bedrooms, two rooms on one side with a bathroom between and the master on the other. Daichi, clearly, lived in the master, but one of the spare rooms was set up for guests and the other was a messy office with a futon couch against one wall. It was faux hardwood throughout and Kagome was fairly impressed with the overall design of the place, everything seeming masculine and modern without being offensive.

Off the main living area was a screened in balcony only large enough for two patio type couches on each side and a table between them. They had recently hung privacy curtains and string lights that made it cozy and intimate, and it had made for an excellent source of frustration. It took the two of them hours of finagling with cords and curtain rods and electric drills to get it altogether, but the end result was worth it. They did most of their drinking there, and sometimes most of their eating as well. But most importantly, it was where all their talks happened. Talks of Kira, the girl Daichi was so enamored with, talks of his family, Kagome's family, but rarely any talks about Inuyasha, or of her recent past. She was vague when she was forced to discuss either, deciding to keep most of the details to herself, usually redirecting the conversation back towards a more neutral topic. How do you tell someone you're just getting to know about time travel without them getting all panicky, anyway?

"We haven't talked about what comes after." Kagome looked up then, brought out of her musing, a bit confused by Daichi's statement, and her expression must have given away her thoughts. "We haven't talked about what happens after graduation." Ah, that makes sense.

"Well," Kagome began, setting down her fork, "you've got that internship in Beijing, and then you're going to grad school, right?" Daichi nodded in response. "Okay, then what's the question?"

"I've had my future planned for me since I was a kid, and this internship has been lined up since I started university. What are you going to do without my charming companionship?" Daichi's smile, as always, was lopsided and self-assured.

"Worried I'll find someone to replace you?" Kagome laughed a little at Daichi's expense, but soon realized she needed to address his real question. "To be honest, I'm not sure. I'm leaning towards getting my real estate license and applying to some firms. I could use that income to help pay for grad school." Kagome shrugged, as if it didn't matter. "In all fairness, I chose a business degree because I thought I would have more choices, but I feel like the opposite has happened, you know?" Daichi nodded, thinking over anything he could do to help her, but coming up short.

"I think that sounds like a good place to start. You've got a great GPA, so that'll probably get you in to any grad school you want, and the business degree would help land you a position at a lucrative real estate firm. You could take the real estate classes over the summer and it'd be like you never missed a beat." Daichi nodded, more to himself than to her. "I could talk to my family and see if you could stay in the apartment over the summer, I'm sure they wouldn't mind. They're leaving it as is until I come home, anyway."

"I can't accept that, Daichi. It's too much. Besides," Kagome smiled softly, "I need to be near my family. I'm going to stay at home for a while until I can afford my own place. And that's hours away from here. I couldn't do that and feel right about it." Daichi seemed to accept that answer and conversation turned back to grad school and careers.

Soon, the waitress came with the check, and Daichi and Kagome grabbed a taxi back to his apartment, retreating to the balcony with some homemade mimosas. There was some music playing low on the radio, whatever the pop station was airing, and there was a calm lull over the pair. Nothing beat the beauty of a lazy Saturday.

Until Kagome had to go and break it.

"I think you should tell Kira how you feel before you leave for Beijing." The statement was followed by a sip of the drink in her hand, and her companion simultaneously groaning and running a hand down his face.

"Not this again, Kagome, really? I've told you over and ov-"

"You love this girl, Daichi, and I'm convinced she might actually pay attention if you told her that!" Daichi leaned back and covered his eyes with an arm.

"Kags, please don't push this." Kagome harrumphed and refilled her empty glass from the carafe they'd brought out with them.

"Just hear me out! Just this once!" The sigh that followed was all Kagome needed to keep going. "What's the worst that could happen? She rejects you, you go to China and have the whole summer to get over it? She says she loves you too, you spend the whole summer planning your return to her, getting a chance to build up the anticipation of the actual relationship?" Kagome shrugged. "Or even if she says she's not sure, and you spend the whole summer waiting on her answer, do you know what you get?"

Kagome assessed Daichi to see if he was listening, and he could have been asleep for all she knew, but she kept on going.

"You get freedom, Daichi. You won't have to spend all of your time wondering 'what if.'" Kagome watched as one gold eye peeked out from under his arm.

"And let's say I do this, let's say I ruin this friendship with Kira for a summer of freedom, what then? How do I live with myself knowing I could have had this great friendship for the rest of our long lives and I ruined it because of a crush?"

"Daichi, don't pretend that spending however many years pining after her and wondering what a life with her would be like justifies a friendship with her. Every moment you're with her, does your heart ache? Do you ever find yourself staring at her and picturing how your children would look, how she would look on your wedding day?" Silence met her questions. "Unless you spend all your time undressing her mentally, it is worth the risk to just say something. You don't even have to tell her you love her! You can say you care deeply and would like to explore a relationship with her, or however you want to spin it, it doesn't really matter. All that matters is that you give yourself this chance." Kagome sighed and placed her empty glass on the table.

"If she's really your friend, Daichi, this wouldn't be the end of your friendship. It might be awkward for a while if she rejects you, but it'll pass. I think you understand me well enough at this point to know that I think a chance at love, true love, is worth a little awkwardness every now and then." Kagome was up and at the door in just a moment, turning back to look at him briefly.

"I'm going in to study for a while. I'll let you know when it's time to find some dinner, okay?" Silence was her answer, and she shut the sliding door behind her.

"I hate it when she makes sense." Daichi groaned, and then lifted himself off of the two-person sofa, following Kagome in to order dinner.

"What are your intentions with my sister?"

Surprised, Daichi looked over at the shorter male next to him, both watching Kagome's mom taking a million pictures of said young woman. Two weeks had passed before they knew it, and now here they were, officially done with this part of their lives. Kagome had completely moved out of her dorm the week after finals, and it'd been a couple of days since Daichi had seen her. She'd been staying in Tokyo with her family, and he'd spent the better part of the last two days entertaining his own family that was in town. He was trying to make plans with Kagome for later that weekend, knowing her family was staying in the area or a few days.

"I don't have any intentions with your sister." Souta Higuarshi was everything Kagome described him to be, young, athletic and a bit of a budding lady killer. He knew Souta was on the kendo team at his high school, and already doing well competitively. What surprised him was how much Kagome and Souta looked alike, the only difference being the blue sheen Kagome had to her black hair, while Souta's was more of a black-brown.

"You shouldn't lie." Daichi was a bit perturbed by how protective the kid was of Kagome. From the moment he'd met the 16-year-old, he'd been the recipient of a death glare, and had to endure 10 minutes of absolute silence until now.

"I'm not lying!" Souta was looking at Daichi with his arms crossed over his chest, one eyebrow raised, and his mouth set in a stern frown.

"Look, Daichi, I'm not an idiot, you're clearly interested in her in some way. Kagome's been hurt before, and we don't have a dad, an uncle or a grandpa to look out for her. It's just me. So, if you could just be honest and tell me what you really see with my sister, I'd appreciate it." Daichi sighed and turned to give the kid the full command of his attention.

"Look, I'm not saying your sister isn't amazing and beautiful, because she is. She's just shy of perfect, I swear, but she's my friend. I could never be what she needs in a partner, just like she could never be what I need in a partner. What we have, as friends, is perfect the way it is."

A few tense moments passed as gold eyes locked with brown, both young men staring each other down over the little patch of grass they were standing on. Souta was looking him over, then, appraising him, before nodding and looking back towards his sister and mother. With a sigh of relief, Daichi too relaxed and refocused his attention.

Kagome looked stunning most of the time, in Daichi's opinion, but today she looked radiant. She, like many of the other young women, had chosen to wear a white dress for the ceremony. It was a classic cut, form fitting and sleeveless, with a modest neck line. The fabric was a crisp cotton, looking clean and proper but also cool and comfortable. Kagome's figure was on full display in the well-fitting garment, the hem of the dress long enough to maintain modesty somehow still managed to show off her shapely legs. She'd chosen to wear matte nude heels and had stayed away from any flashy jewelry. Instead, she wore simple gold chain earrings she'd picked up at a random store the weekend before. Her hair had been curled, and her makeup applied in such a way that seemed both natural yet breath taking. Her own joy was what really put the icing on the cake, radiating from her pores as she posed for pictures with her degree.

Sometimes, Kagome's natural beauty caused Daichi to pause and wonder how any sane man could walk away from her. He didn't know much about the guy who hurt her, much to his annoyance, but he thought he was an absolute idiot.

"You should know," Souta's slightly hushed voice began, "that you look a lot like this guy she really cared about." Daichi turned to look at Souta then.

"Yeah," Daichi sighed, "I figured that out a while ago, but I never got around to asking how." Souta looked at him again, his eyes darting over Daichi's features.

"Well, physically it's your eyes." Daichi jumped a little at that, not expecting anyone Kagome had ever known to have gold eyes, as it was so abnormal. The only other people he'd known to carry the trait was his own family, which really got him thinking. Could Kagome's mystery man be a demon? "But your mannerisms are like his too." Souta looked back at him, and down at himself, only then realizing that both young men were standing with their arms crossed over their chests. "Then again...so are mine."

Daichi and Souta both let out a laugh before Souta continued. "Look, I'm just saying...be careful with her."

"Duly noted, I promise." Daichi was hoping Kagome would have been done with the photos by now, but her mom was requesting her to pose in so many ways it was ridiculous. To his chagrin, he could see his family congregating a little way off, and realized he needed to get to them before they spotted him and barged over. He was forced to put the thoughts of Kagome's past on the back burner, instead redirecting his attention. His grandfather was known to be a bit stern at times, and he didn't want to put Kagome in the middle of that. Turning to Souta, he bowed a politely.

"I need to get to my family, but would you mind letting Kagome know I need her to contact me? She can just call or text me later, no biggie." Souta nodded, a smile on his face.

"No problem. It was nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well, little dude." With a backwards wave, Daichi started making his way towards his own family, dodging groups of other excited families along the way, pausing every now and then to avoid ruining photos.

His family was large, and it would have been impossible for all of them to come at the same time for the celebration. So, instead, this weekend was meant to be more relaxed, just an opportunity for him to see his parents and grandparents, while the whole of the family would celebrate together in Beijing later that summer. Daichi was fine with that; the lack of extended family allowed for him to sneak in some of his own plans for the weekend.

Daichi's family was an old one, his grandfather and great uncle being the only sons of the legendary Inu no Taisho, the rulers of the west. They were demons, well hidden within the fold of society. They did it easily, wearing bits of jewelry that produced masks called 'glamours' that not only hid their typical appearance, but also their demonic auras. The latter was something Daichi saw as unnecessary, as no one of adequate spiritual prowess even existed anymore, but nonetheless, the demon world's elders saw it fit to continue producing the charms with that added security.

Daichi's father, Tensho, was the first son of Sesshomaru, born almost 500 years ago. His grandmother, Rin, had been concerned about having an heir while she still could, so it was within the first year of his grandparent's marriage that his father was born. From what his great uncle had told him, his grandmother had gone crazy right after Tensho was born, aiming to get pregnant just a few months later, seducing his grandfather when she knew she knew she was fertile, even going as far as to deny him unless she was able to get pregnant. It was born of fear that if something where to happen to Daichi's father, who would take over (his great uncle flat out refused and said he would let it go to waste)? To his grandfather's relief, they'd found an old demon who showed them how to bind his human grandmother's life force with his grandfathers, which helped Sesshomaru in convincing Rin to wait at least another century before having a baby. Ultimately, his grandparents had three children, Tensho, Tenzin and Misana. It also helped that his great uncle had started spending more time with the little family, and had also assured Rin that he'd take over if he absolutely had to, but he was sure he wouldn't have to.

His Uncle Tenzin ran a branch of the family business based in France, and his Aunt Misana had married into a wolf demon tribe just a few decades ago. Daichi didn't expect them to be there, and he was right. He was greeted by the family members he was closest too: his parents, his grandparents and his Uncle Yash.

Daichi's Uncle Yash was sort of amazing. He was really his great uncle, brother to his grandfather, but Inuyasha had made a point to be close with all of Sesshomaru's children and grandchildren, as well as the children of his good friend Shippo. When Daichi was growing up, his Uncle Yash had been his first friend, and he'd taken on a "I'm your friend, but I'll also cut your ass if you step out of line" attitude. His apartment was actually his Uncle Yash's, and when he'd first started college in Kyoto, they lived there together. It wasn't until the last year that he'd been alone, his uncle having moved to Berlin for work. He was hopeful Yash would be moving back to Kyoto for the long term soon, but it'd probably be into his own place.

But man, was it awesome when they still lived together. No one ever grows up thinking their uncle would be their number one drinking partner, but Daichi and Inuyasha had lived that reality for a while. It was strange, how well they meshed together, but he wouldn't change it for the world.

The only thing wrong with his uncle was his stories. Well, more like his decision to tell Daichi only vague parts of his most interesting stories, saying he would get the full story when he was old enough, which he totally was, but his uncle just seemed incredibly sure about keeping parts of the story a secret.

To Daichi, the way his uncle described defeating Naraku was a little threadbare. He knew that Shippo, his grandfather, a demon slayer and a monk were part of it. Daichi knew from retellings and rumors that there was a miko involved as well, some stories even saying there were two girls, but Yash seemed extremely reluctant to discuss it. All Daichi got out of his uncle is that it was the most important journey of his life, and that despite the many years and many other battles and wars he had fought, that one had caused the most immediate and important changes in him.

Daichi was hoping to get the truth out of him soon.

Before Daichi knew it, he had gotten to his family, greeted with a large, teary hug from his mother, and a strong slap on the shoulder from his old man. After another teary hug from his grandmother, a nod of approval from his grandfather, and another slap on the shoulder from his Uncle Yash, Daichi found himself being forced to pose for photo after photo as his mother clicked away, directing him to stand "just so" as she snapped the "perfect shot."

His mom, Kari, was human, and it made him a quarter demon, which is why he aged faster than his father or uncle had. He still looked a tad young to be graduating college, but so did Kagome and she was fully human, so he didn't think it was too obvious. It was funny, looking over at his family, thinking they could all pass for his slightly older siblings, even his grandfather who was close to a millennium old.

Daichi had worked his way through the requisite family photos, his mom even enticing a stranger to grab a shot of all of them together when he saw Kagome walking their way, cap on her head and gown thrown over one of her arms.

He was positive she hadn't noticed them, too preoccupied with being annoyed at Maya, who was walking beside her. It was only then that he remembered why Kagome had been bent on avoiding Maya that day. The girl had some crazy idea for their usual group of people to climb onto the branches of this huge tree on campus whilst in their cap and gowns. It was a bit of a tradition for graduates to do so, but Daichi and Kagome both wanted to leave without their family members having to meet the entire friend group, which meant they were completely against doing this picture the day of graduation. The problem was Maya. She wasn't giving in to them. Maya had completely ignored their disapproval, and had gone as far as to tell them which branches they were to be on, what poses she expected them to do, and had been sending them shots from other years to give them the "idea."

Kagome looked pissed. Daichi had been on the receiving end of that expression only a few times, and each one was enough for him to pray it was at least a month before he felt her wrath to that degree again. At least Maya knew she wouldn't see Kagome for a while, Daichi thought, she wouldn't have to deal with the fallout later.

It was only in that moment that he realized he would be the one to deal with the fallout later because he had kind of already made plans with Kagome for the next few days.

"DAICHI!"

The sudden scream had caused Inuyasha to jump, before looking sharply to where it had come from. It was a girl, dressed in a cap and gown, with chin length black hair. Anger radiated from her entire being, and her hand was wrapped around a wrist that belonged to an all too familiar young woman.

He should have been surprised to see Kagome being dragged along by the banshee, but he wasn't. Why would fate take a break from tormenting him today?

Kagome had looked a bit different the last time he'd seen her, which happened to be Valentine's Day. He was in town, hoping to spend some time with Daichi, when Daichi suddenly announced a group of people from school were going out together, and he himself had gotten an email about a conference call needing to take place around the same time. Instead, he ended up playing chauffeur to the pup, and had almost turned into a volcano when he saw Daichi's new friend was a very drunk Kagome. He'd nearly shit himself when he saw what she was dressed in, and it took all of his self-control to not sweep her out of there with no notice to Daichi.

She been wearing this ridiculously tight burgundy dress, which was long sleeved and low v necked, made from a fabric so thin that even a human could discern the slight bumps of lace from her bra and panties (Inuyasha was not proud that he'd seen a peak of said lacy bra when he'd been settling her into his car). Despite the cold air, she'd worn fishnet tights, which did nothing to keep her warm. The only sensible thing she'd worn were these velvet black boots that came up past her knees. They'd lost all points in his book for having a tall, slender heel, which had caused him to have to half carry the poor girl to his car, and then fully carry her to her room.

Maybe they gained a few points for that- he'd felt rather pleased with the way she settled against him that night.

Her hair had been straight as silk, and just as soft, left to just fall back over her shoulder blades, ending at the small of her back, much longer than he'd previously remembered it being. Her makeup was perhaps the most radical thing- dark, smoky eyes and a dark red lipstick being her choice that evening. He'd been pleased to find it was the sort of lipstick that wouldn't just rub off on everything, and it seemed to have stayed in place despite the amount of drinking and dancing she'd been doing. He really didn't want red lipstick stains all over his jacket.

In short, she was not the representation of the sweet, innocent girl he'd come to associate Kagome with. She looked like a vixen, dressed and made up to catch the attention of men.

It was stark reminder that she had lived 7 years since she had first met him, and he didn't really know this Kagome.

But she also wouldn't know this version of him either.

He'd been so angry with Daichi that night for putting her at risk, leaving her alone in that state for a few moments was a terrible idea, which was only reinforced by that cretin reaching for her as soon as he noticed Daichi wasn't around. Explaining to Daichi why he was so angry was hard, especially when he couldn't tell him who Kagome was. It wasn't the right time, and she needed to meet him, for real, before getting acquainted, in truth, with the rest of the pack.

His decision was reinforced when she'd mumbled out a " 'yasha?" as he was leaving, a question at the end as if she had finally put two and two together, the gears in her mind working out what she'd been ignoring in the club. She'd seemed so vulnerable, so hopeful in that moment. But, he could tell she was still far gone, forcing him to once again employ mounds of self-control and just lock the door, collect his jacket from the back of her chair and climb out of the window (which he shut from outside). He was sure she didn't remember that bit of their exchange, which was a great relief. His jacket still had traces of her scent on it, much to his detriment. He'd smell it and have to convince himself now was not the right time to approach her, too much having occurred in her absence for them to be able to be anything more than friends. They needed to get to know each other.

To be honest, Inuyasha had spent the first 100 years being pretty much the same person, looking after Sango and Miroku, and then their children, and their children's children, while also taking to spending more time with his brother and his pack. It wasn't until he'd gotten more involved with the political affairs of the west that he became...active, so to speak. There had been many women, few of which he'd carried on a relationship past one night with, all of which he made sure never had his children. None called to him the way he remembered Kagome calling to him, but he still didn't want to immediately trust that thought. One year out of the 657 that he had lived wasn't enough for him to go off, so he lived his life as normal. He wasn't under the impression that she was the only woman he'd ever love, and she wasn't. There had been other women who captured his heart over the course of time.

Kagome, to him, was a warm, fuzzy memory of a pivotal moment in his life for the last 100 years. But it was a memory that held meaning, and promise, as he knew he would one day see her again. He'd always planned to meet her, to try to start a friendship with her again. He didn't think he'd meet her and magically fall back in love with a girl he'd spent less than 1% of his life traveling with. But nostalgia still argued that he seek her out, protect her, have her in his life.

Once he'd met her again in that hospital, her scent had lifted the dust off his memories and renewed in him a conviction to do this the right way. His plan was to let her grow up, let her establish herself, have some...experiences without him, and then when he thought she was ready, approach her and explain things. He at least owed her that. He'd done everything he could to keep her presence quiet from everyone else, first under the excuse to protect her from demons that would want the shikon, then under the excuse that she was too young. 15 was still a child, and Shippo had agreed with him. Being that they were the only two that knew about it, that was enough for the decision to be made and for her to be left alone.

Which now his plans were all fucked because here she was with Daichi again, mouthing apologies to his nephew as she was roughly dragged along by another girl. He didn't think their friendship would stick, but here she was proving him wrong.

He watched as Kagome and said girl made their way to Daichi, the angrier of the two chewing both Daichi and Kagome out the entire way. He was a bit confused by all of it, Daichi not having mentioned taking some pictures with friends today-least of all mentioned Kagome being one of his "core friends," as the girl (he overheard Daichi call her Maya) identified the three of them as being.

The cacophony was over before he even had time to really process it, and the girl had dropped Kagome's wrist, instructing both her and Daichi to make their way to a tree in ten minutes. Kagome looked an odd mix of relieved and depressed at the same time, and he watched as he nephew quickly comforted the girl.

"Daichi, is this a friend of yours?"

Of course, Kari had to go and be interested in the girl. Kagome was stunning, in any state, in any attire, but here she was, beautifully done up with curls and a tasteful white dress, looking like the perfect girl to bring home from college. Kari didn't know about Kagome, and Tensho only knew the bare bones of the truth, so he shouldn't have been surprised when they both looked at her as a potential daughter in law. He'd have to have been blind to miss the twinkle in Kari's eye, and the appraisal Tensho was conducting.

"Mom, Dad, this is Kagome Higurashi. Kags, these are my parents." Kagome flushed, and then bowed, mumbling out at "it's so nice to meet you," before flashing them a killer smile.

He'd also have to be blind to miss the glare Rin was darting over at him, and the eyebrow his brother raised in his direction. They'd spent the better part of the last 100 years discretely having their guards protect the Higurashi shrine under the concept that Kagome would one day live there. When she'd been born, Inuyasha had gone to great lengths to make sure the guards would never know her name . He and Shippo had deliberately screwed up the rotations and swapped out some of the men loyal to them directly for his brothers when he and Kagome had been popping in and out of the well so frequently. The less people that knew about her, the better. At least that's what he'd told himself at the time. But even they could put two and two together and realize who she was.

Now everyone knew, and he was so fucked.

A/N:

Hey there! I could have continued writing this one forever, but I really wanted to post it and had spent so much time agonizing over how to handle this.

Thanks for taking the time to read, I really do this because it's a nice stress relief, but I appreciate anyone who takes the time to page through these. I realize I'm still warming back up to writing like this, so I do apologize if these are rocky. I kept pouring back over this one, trying to catch any mistakes, but I'm sorry if I missed any!

Until next time.

-K

Revised 3/14/2018 for clarity and grammatical errors.

3/21/2018, more grammatical errors corrected. Slight change to wording in a few spots.