The little girl's exclamation hit the room like a bucket of ice water. Sango and Miroku, suddenly very aware of two sets of adolescent eyes burning into them, separated rapidly, cheeks decorated with a deep shade of scarlet. Kagome held onto Shippo as though she was drowning and he was a life vest. She attempted to rub his little kitsune ears for comfort, but when she met nothing but hair, she realized the implication.
"Shippo! Your ears! They're not… You're not…" she stammered incoherently.
His eyes widened as he reached quickly for the spot where his tail was supposed to be. He separated himself from her grip and jumped to the ground. Pulling a pebble from his pocket, he launched it down the hallway, releasing a command.
"Foxfire!" The pebble skipped off of the floor, bouncing a handful of times before coming to rest near the wall. Nothing else happened and he turned to her in shame and confusion.
She gathered him back into her arms, cuddling him close. Just when she thought everything was starting to make sense, it was all falling apart.
'Oh Ship, it's okay. I don't know what happened, but the important thing is I've found you. We can figure the rest out later. One day at a time, okay?" She spoke softly, soothing the child who had just discovered that he was no longer a kitsune.
Sango flicked her eyes over to Rin, who was sitting on the floor stroking a purring feline as she tried in vain not to cry. Her heart went out to the little girl and she rushed to her side.
"Oh sweetheart, don't cry. Everything will be alright. I know this is very strange for you."
Rin sniffled and nodded her head. She looked up at the woman she had believed was her mother and her tears returned with a vengeance. She wailed and threw herself into Sango's waiting arms, displacing the cat for the second time that day.
"Sango! I know you're not really my mommy, but where will I go? I'm so scared! Don't leave me!" the small girl was distraught.
Kagome and Shippo rushed over and embraced the child and the ex-slayer. Miroku looked on, unsure what he should do to help. Noticing that Kirara had escaped from the office, he collected the feline and approached the huddle.
"Rin, we're your family, even if it's not by blood. We all love you very much and we would never abandon you. This is a strange and confusing time for all of us, but we'll get through it together." he reassured, his eyes meeting Sango's.
"Woah, am I interrupting something?" Came a loud voice from down the hall in the direction of the gym. Inuyasha had come to the spa for his morning training. It was something he decided was a good idea to maintain, even if he was completely human now. Maintaining a few of his old habits helped with the transition into his new life and kept the crushing depression at bay.
Kagome glanced up, instantly on alert. Fear spread through her like a wildfire when she spotted Yash heading their direction. Somehow, he'd found her. She fought the urge to flee, taking strength from the friends that surrounded her.
"Sango! That's the stalker!" She cried out and turned to the interloper, "You're freaking me out! Stop following me!"
"Oi, wench! I ain't stalking anybody! Being in the same room…" he trailed off as a warm, electric feeling buzzed in the air enveloping all of those present. It grew unnaturally silent and still. Like a clap of thunder, the life returned to the room and everyone began talking over one another as they realized who was standing in front of them. He looked strange with his black hair and human eyes.
Even without his demon hearing, his head was starting to hurt from all of the noise.
"Enough!" he shouted, stunning them all into silence, "Lemme guess? Your memories just came back? Good. Now that's out of the way and things can go back to normal."
"Inuyasha, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize it was you! You look so much different and every time you were near me, it made my head hurt! I was afraid you were just a creepy weirdo, especially after that comment about my lessons." Kagome was beyond apologetic and bordering on frantic. She couldn't believe she'd been thinking those things about the half-demon boy that had been her best friend.
"Yeah, well now you know I'm not, so don't worry about it. Besides, I had a reason for mentioning the field trip and it wasn't just because of your lessons. There's someone there you should probably go see. I'm guessing you still have some holes to fill in and I think they'll be able to help." The fact that she called him a creep stung a bit more than he'd care to admit, but it didn't matter as much now that she had her memories and knew that he was never going to hurt her.
The chaos settled around them and it was decided that they would follow Inuyasha to the sanctuary. There was still an impending feeling of emptiness in her heart and Kagome decided that maybe she'd been fooling herself into believing her quiet, empty life was all she'd had to look forward to. With a renewed sense of purpose, she set out towards a new adventure with the best friends she could ever ask for. Boring and safe was overrated and there were bigger and better things out there waiting for her. She could almost taste it.