Responses to reviews:

GuardianGirl24: Thank you! :D

Random: Well, thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoy this story that much! :)

Timewriter: But of course I know who this is! :P I'm glad you decided to reread it. It makes me happy. :3 Thanks again, Twin! :D

Fanficqueen306: I am not going to say that he is in love with her. He cares for her, but he hadn't gotten to know her all that well, so no. He is not and will not be in love with Kagome. This story does take place after episode 31. They hadn't been together all that long. :P Thank you for asking though!

TheDoctorsTimeLady: I'm glad that you enjoyed this story! Well, this chapter didn't come out very quickly after the first chapter, but now you can read what happens next! :D

YaoiLovinKitsune: I'm sorry that you're dying, hopefully this revives you! XD

Thank you everyone for your reviews, and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

The stare-off between Inuyasha and her mother lasted for what seemed like an eternity to Saya. Finally, the silence was broken with a single word, though the tension only seemed to increase: "Kagome." The way Inuyasha had spoken her mother's name made Saya slightly uncomfortable.

Saya was about to speak to (hopefully) break the tension when movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning her head, Saya saw her friend's, Hikari, head peaking over the top of the stairs. Her black hair was twisted into a knot at the back of her head like usual. Her bright, blue highlights stood out and made her distinguishable no matter the setting. Once her head breached the top of the stairs and into Saya's sight completely, Hikari's bright blue eyes smiled warmly upon sighting her. With one last quick glance at her mother and Inuyasha, Saya jogged up to greet Hikari as she finished climbing the stairs toward the shrine.

"Hey, Hikari-chan. What brings you here today?" Hikari's eyes flickered to Kagome and Inuyasha standing together a distance away before turning her full attention onto her friend and smiling.

"You weren't at school today, so I came by to check on you. Well, Ayano-chan and I did, but she's still far behind me." Saya glanced down the stairs to see Ayano a little ways down, just standing and continuing her trek up the stairs once again. Saya chuckled a little at her friend's expense.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Something came up suddenly, and I found that I just couldn't make it to school." Saya sent a grateful smile Hikari's way. "Thanks for coming to check on me." Ayano finally managed to make her way up to the top of the stairs; she then proceeded to sit on the ground to recover her breath. Saya chuckled and walked up to her. "You okay, Ayano-chan?"

The girl nodded, her chestnut colored hair shifting with the movement. When she lifted her head, her blue-green eyes possessed a look of exasperation within them. "I'm all for working out, but that," she indicated the stairs that lie behind her, "was way too much cardio." The other girls laughed at their friend's despair. Saya invited the girls to come into her room (Kagome's old room) to give the girls—mainly Ayano—a chance to sit down and recover before having to descend the stairs ("you mean hell" chimed in Ayano) once again; doing so would also give her mother and Inuyasha space to talk without too much attention being drawn their way.

The three girls made their way into Saya's room and started to chat about how school was and what all Saya had missed. The time was passed with laughter, teasing, embarrassment, and intrigue.

~x~

Inuyasha stared at Kagome for a while after the girl left. His mind was slow to process the fact that the woman standing before him was Kagome. She looked like her mother. Kagome's hair seemed to be about the same length, though he could not be certain, as her hair was piled onto her head in a bun. Her face looked older; though, now that he looked at her closely, he could easily distinguish that she was Kagome. Time had passed, that much he could tell.

"Inuyasha?" Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he looked at her with curiosity. "Shall we head inside? I think you might want to sit down when we talk about all that has happened and what should happen next." Her voice held small amounts of caution and wariness as she spoke to him, but still hospitable.

Once settled, Inuyasha looked at her and asked what was going on. A small, sad smile passed over her face. He noticed that she wasn't as expressive with her emotions as she once had been. "Forgive me if I don't seem happy to see you. I am simply surprised that you are here now. I haven't seen you in thirty years, and I thought I never would again."

"Is that girl really your daughter?" He had blurt out the question; he had to know, without a doubt, that the girl had not been lying and was Kagome's daughter. He realized after the question had been asked that he could have been more tactful or at least waited a bit to ask, but he had to know. Kagome nodded the affirmative.

"Yes, Saya is my daughter. I am now a happily married woman with two, beautiful children."

"Two?!"

Another sad smile. "Yes, I have a son as well, Daichi. He should be home with my husband here shortly," she added after a quick glance at the clock that rested upon the wall. She stared at him for a short while; he shifted uncomfortably. When she spoke at last, his ears nearly pinned themselves to his head. Her voice held so many emotions: hurt, confusion, loneliness, and a desperate need to understand. "Where have you been all these years? I tried to return that day, but I couldn't. What happened?"

He was silent for a moment to gather his thoughts. "I really don't understand it much myself. We were standing there one second fighting against Naraku, miasma surrounded us, and then we found ourselves thirty years in the future." He shrugged.

Kagome hummed in thought. "I wonder why I wasn't able to return just because you all were gone." She hummed in thought once again. The question was left unanswered. Noise was heard, causing Inuyasha's ears to twitch. Both shifted their attention to the three younger females descending the stairs.

~x~

Saya laughed at Ayano's embarrassment as said girl spoke, "I still can't believe he did that. Doesn't he have enough commonsense or couth to wait until we were alone to do that sort of thing?" Her face was slightly flushed with embarrassment. According to Hikari, a guy that really liked Ayano for a while got it in his head that he wanted to profess his undying love for her—in front of a hallway full of students. Ayano was still mortified thinking about it. Saya had to snicker at her friend's expense.

"It appears not," Hikari said soothingly. Ayano asked why these sort of things had to happen to her. A similar situation happened the year before with another guy. Another time, a female had professed, though that had been in private.

"It's because you're so physically attractive, and your personality is charming as well," said Saya as they walked down the stairs. Ayano proceeded to curse her attractiveness. Hikari and Saya laughed at her antics. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Ayano seemed to remember something and began to dig around in her bag.

"Here, these are for you." Ayano handed Saya a small stack of notebooks and papers. "The homework you missed and the notes from today. You can copy mine and then give them back to me later." Saya thanked her friend and crushed her in a hug, causing the chestnut-haired girl to laugh. The girls continued outside, and Saya stuck a quick glance at her mother and Inuyasha, who were, thankfully, partially blocked from view. Ayano turned to Hikari. "Shall we, Hikari-chan?"

Hikari smiled a little before saying, "Why don't you go on ahead? I have something that I would like to talk to Saya about quickly, and by the time I finish, we should end up descending the stairs at the same time." Ayano stuck her tongue out at her friend, but did not contradict her.

Once Ayano was far enough away, Hikari looked at Saya with concern. "Are you sure you are alright?"

Saya smiled reassuringly. "Yes, I'm fine now. I wasn't earlier, but now I am. Thank you for checking." Hikari nodded after a pause and then bid Saya farewell. "I'll see you tomorrow!" Saya turned away to enter the main house once Hikari had disappeared under the line of stairs.

Upon entering, Kagome motioned for her to take a seat. "We all need to talk about what needs to happen from here." Nodding her head slowly, Saya took a seat nearest her mother; she still did not know what to think of Inuyasha. Saya questioned what there was to talk about. "Well, I'm sure you are confused as to what happened with the well. I think it is time that I explained everything to you, and about a bit of my past that now seems to be your future.

"When I was around the age of fourteen, I was pulled into the shrine's well and transported through time into the Feudal Era. Please, don't interrupt me, Saya," Kagome said as Saya opened her mouth. "I will explain everything to you if you are quiet and listen to what I have to say." Saya nodded her head and sank back into the chair with her arms crossed. Smiling at her daughter's behavior, Kagome continued her story. "The well behind this house acts as a portal between this time and the Feudal Era of Japan. It is there that I met and released Inuyasha from his imprisonment. The story behind that is too long so it will have to wait for another time.

"Anyway, while I was in Feudal Japan, I found that there was a jewel embedded within my body—the Shikon no Tama. Shards of which are currently within your possession. The reason behind the jewel shattering was because of me. Long story short: I shattered the jewel with an arrow.

"The Shikon no Tama was then scattered across the country, and it was my mission to collect the shards before they were used for malicious purposes by those seeking to abuse the power of the Shikon no Tama—mainly from one demon in particular named Naraku.

"Naraku is the demon behind the majority, if not all, the trouble and pain that has happened within our group of companions. We are all united in the common goal of defeating Naraku and enacting revenge upon him for what he's done to everyone and those closest to us. However, not long after we began and collected some shards, everyone disappeared and I could not return to the Feudal Era.

"Thirty years have passed since then, and now the burden of collecting and purifying the Shikon no Tama falls onto your shoulders, Saya. I am sorry that my burden is now yours to bear, but I know that you will not be alone. There is Inuyasha, who will help you. There are also others to help as well: Sango, a demon slayer that joined our group because her brother was controlled by Naraku and forced to kill her family; Kirara, Sango's two-tailed cat demon; Miroku, a lecher of a monk whose ancestors have been cursed with a sort of black hole in their right hand by Naraku; and Shippo, a young fox demon who tagged along with us because his family was killed by two demons who had possessed some Shikon no Tama fragments. Kaede is the final person who—Inuyasha, is Kaede still alive?"

Inuyasha nodded. "Yeah, the old hag hasn't died yet. I don't know how, but she's still around."

Nodding, Kagome resumed her explanation, "Kaede is the miko that will more than likely help train you in ways that I have not and could not because of my ignorance of the subjects. You must be able to work with everyone to collect the remaining shards and stop Naraku from essentially destroying the world as we know it."

Saya was about to speak when the door slid open, and her father walked in with Daichi in tow. "I'm home!" Hojo looked in the sitting area and was surprised to see his wife, daughter, and a strange boy in even stranger clothing. "Oh, there you are." His surprise quickly vanished as he smiled at his wife before walking up to her and gently kissing her cheek.

Saya smiled at the small display of affection from her father. She had always thought the two were cute and longed for a relationship like theirs. Daichi walked up to his sister and proceeded to climb into her lap without care or permission. He was a cute little boy with wild, dark brown hair and dark blue eyes like his father. Saya took after her mother with looks: long, wavy black hair and bright blue eyes.

Hojo turned to Inuyasha. "Are you a friend of Saya's?" He seemed to be around the same age as their daughter, so that had to be the only answer for his presence in the oldest Hojo's mind.

Before either Inuyasha or her mother could respond, Saya spoke up. "Yeah, he's from a group at school—really into cosplay and anime, which is why he's dressed the way he is."

Hojo nodded his head, accepting the explanation, before redirecting his attention to his wife. "Have you started on dinner yet?" Kagome shook her head. "Okay, I'll take care of it." He turned to Inuyasha, who was still silently glaring at Saya. "Will you be staying for dinner?" This surprised him, and he sat there for a second unsure what to say. He glanced at Kagome.

"I do believe he's going to be leaving soon, but thank you, dear." Nodding, the head of the house left the room to begin with his task. Kagome turned to her son where he sat in his sister's lap. "Why don't you go help Papa in the kitchen?" The young child grinned and hopped down before dashing into the kitchen.

Silence hung in the air for a short while before Saya cleared her throat. "So, I have to travel and collect and purify the shards. When do I need to begin this?"

"Right now! Naraku can't get—"

"Inuyasha." He fell silent and looked at Kagome when she had spoken calmly. He appeared to be awaiting a brutal storm. Saya failed at the half-hearted attempt of hiding her amused smile but quickly returned her attention to her mother when she resumed speaking. "The hunt has waited thirty years, and while I'm sure that Naraku has gotten unbelievably strong, he cannot complete the jewel so long as Saya possesses the remaining pieces and keeps them here. Therefore, we can wait for Saya to graduate to begin the search for any remaining fragments." Inuyasha opened his mouth angrily to argue, but Kagome spoke before he could. "Until then, do what you must."

Inuyasha narrowed his golden eyes before gritting out, "When will that happen?"

"In a couple of weeks," spoke Saya, gaining Inuyasha's narrowed gaze. After a tense silence, the inu demon nodded stiffly before standing and taking his leave.

Saya walked into her room after dinner with her family. Inuyasha had returned to his time through the well, and Saya struggled to complete her homework and copy notes as memories continuously assaulted her mind and overtook the majority of her thought process. She would begin a journey that would last for only the gods knew how long, and she would have to work with strangers to accomplish the goal. The only good thing she saw from this was the fact that she would not have to worry about the journey and graduating from school at the same time. She was infinitely grateful for her mother for that very reason. Determination consumed the fear and unease in her eyes as she looked at the homework before her; she would not worry about her journey just yet. Right now, she had to focus on graduating!

She completed her homework in record time and decided to turn in for the night. Once her head hit the pillow, all thoughts, fears, or images of the day's events faded from her mind, and she was pulled into a blissful, dreamless sleep.

Author's Note:

Thanks guys for reading! Let me know what you thought of this chapter via review! :3 Thanks ~Saph