Kagome raised a brow at the school uniforms presented to her, and then raised her gaze to the beings holding it before turning to the very daunting figure next to her on the sofa.

"You can't be serious."

Sesshoumaru raised his own brow to match the move she did just moments prior. Also something she had learned from him. Glancing at the various uniforms from various schools he had contemplated about sending her too. Though he had already chosen the school for her, it was still too easy to rile her up.

Various servants stood in a line presenting the different uniforms each school had to offer. While some were fashionable, others he questioned. Dresses of pinks and purples and far too frilly, even for Kagome's tastes from when she cringed or reared back from them. The uniform for the school she was to attend was also in the line, though she had only spent a total of 3 seconds on it before moving along, as far as he could tell.

"Is that all of them? Or do you plan on continuing the torture?"

He waved the servants away and had the last servant walk in, holding the last uniform, knowing it would please her with the mind set she had gained in the last few years she had spent traveling through time. Looking up from reading the latest news in business towards the last uniform, he recalled when all was settled with her school to send what they had to offer for uniforms in her size.

"It's not as offending as the others." with that said he went back to his reading.

A smirked played at the corners of his lips when he felt the irritation roll of his adopted sister. The visit with her old childhood friend did her some good. As soon as she got back, he had seen a certain light in her eyes that had been missing since she got back. The letters and calls the two friends had helped her, but this visit brought the old her back to just beneath the surface.

So, he used his resources to figure out where one Fujioka Haruhi attended school. He was surprised the girl was attending such a prestigious school on a scholarship and was able to maintain her top position while she was part of an after school club, a host club of all things. So, he got in contact with the chairman of the school and within the time Kagome was away to visit her friend, everything had been set up.

He wasn't about to tell her where she was now going for school, he would rather see her face after she comes back from her first day of school. Beside, a little chaos and unpredictability would do her some good. Well, at least safe unpredictability and chaos. It would be a good distraction in the beginning until it brought life back to her and made her alive and be able to live with the deeds and choices she had to make.

"Hmm, that's true. It doesn't upset you that I'll have to wear such a uniform?"

"As long as you are happy. Besides it is acceptable." he heard her sigh as he continued reading the papers.

Kagome nodded her head, signaling the servant to place the uniform in her room, along with any spares she had. She still wasn't sure or even used to having servants just waiting to do simple every day things she could and would do herself. But the first thing would be to getting used to the layout of this place.

"Well, I'm gonna go to my room and unpack..."

"The servants already saw to that. A list was also made of what you need."

Kagome froze midway in standing up for a moment before finishing the motion and sighed. Her head dropped forward, really wishing he had told them to not to and allow her to place her things where and how she wanted.

"I guess I could use this time to get used to the layout of this place then." stuffing her hands in her jeans pockets and began leaving the sitting room.

"A wise choice with your history of easily getting lost."

Kagome picked up a pillow from one of the closest chairs and tossed it at the male without pausing in leaving the room. She was marginally pleased to hear paper tearing, meaning she had struck true and managed to surprise Sesshoumaru.

"Kagome~"

She threw a smirk at him over her shoulder, and he couldn't help but smile in return at seeing the playful glint in her eyes. Dropping his smile, he sighed, folded the papers together and tossed the pillow back. His aim also happened to be true, striking her in the back of the head, causing her to stumble forward and let out a surprised yelp.

Reaching down, she picked the pillow up and place it in the next chair she walked by and then rubbed the back of her head. A small smirk on her lips. It was rare of Sesshoumaru to return any form of playful banter. As she reached the door, Sesshoumaru paused her one last time when he spoke up again.

"Your family and the others decided to come for supper tonight, which will be served at seven."

"Thank you. For everything."

"Anything for you, little sister." he stood up, carrying the torn paper and placed a kiss on the crown of her head before continuing on to his office.

Kagome wondered about the large estate, making sure to try and remember where everything was located. True, she didn't see the need to show off ones wealth with such exaggerated methods. But she would admit there was some perks, the library was one of them. The gardens that were on the grounds surrounded by a small forest was also something she loved, and the fact that Sesshoumaru told her that her room had it's own bathroom also pleased her.

To have such modern conveniences but also be surrounded by nature was something she was more than thankful for. She had grown to love nature in such a way, that it left her feeling put out when she would come back home after spending weeks in the past. But there were also some things that her modern senses would never give up. Indoor plumbing and feminine products were most likely the top two on her list of modern things she would not give up.

She was still on the move until she stumbled upon the dinning room just as the servants were setting it up for dinner. So going from there, she went to the main foyer and decided to sit on the front steps so she could be there to greet her family and the others when they arrived.

As she sat on the steps, she contemplated how her life came to be at this point. Her childhood had been rather normal, save for the loss of her father. After that she had to help with the chores around the house and shrine and taking care of Souta. Her Jii-chan at the time had just suffered a heart attack, and was told to take it easy while her mom was taking care of things involving her fathers funeral and setting them up to run the shrine and make sure they were all well set up. And she also helped put with Uncle Ryouji when Haruhi's mom started getting sick and then also died.

Then Jr. High started. For a while, things were going great, she didn't have to help all that much with taking care of Souta like when he was first born. She was making friends, even started a crush on Hojo. And while she and Haruhi went to different schools, they still kept in touch. Then she fell down the well.

Thus began her double life. A life where while at home, she was a modern day school girl worrying about her grades, keeping in contact with Haruhi and her other friends and whatnot. But while in the past, she was a mother, a warrior, a student. She was fighting, killing, burying the dead, dealing with disease, beatings, long periods of time without proper food or water. The amount of kidnappings, attempts on her life, how many times she had actually died and had been badly wounded were lost on her. And lets not forget her soul; stolen, ripped, possessed and whatever they had done to it. And Inuyasha didn't help with his verbal, emotional and mental abuse of her by comparing her to Kikyo.

Realizing where her thoughts were taking her, she decided to think other thoughts. Like where her life would be going from this point on, which school she would be going to pushed itself to the forefront of her thoughts. Just where did Sesshoumaru set her up to attend?

The sound of cars pulling up brought her to reality, and a small smile worked it's way on her face when she recognized her moms old car. Two others she didn't know were behind it, but she felt the auras within and knew who they were immediately. Standing up, she dusted off her backside and walked down the surprisingly few steps to greet her family.

Souta zoomed out, but thankfully he remembered that she was still healing, and hugged her as tightly as her wounds allowed him too. Their mom followed at a more sedate pace and took both of them into her arms and placed a kiss on her brow. Her Jii-chan was muttering about entering a demons domain and what not, and Kagome couldn't help but chuckle lightly as his old habit reared it's head.

"Demon! Be gone!"

Her hand snapped up unconsciously and grabbed the thrown ineffective paper that had been heading towards Shippo. Said demon could help but chuckle at the whole situation.

"Jii-chan! How could you, to your own grandson?" Shippo feigned a hurt look before he chuckled under his breath as the old man began to gripe about demons corrupting his only granddaughter.

Shaking her head, Kagome handed the slip of paper back to her Jii-chan. "Honestly Shippo, don't egg him on."

Souta and her son were already huddled together, thicker than thieves those two, most likely planning what pranks to pull and on whom to pull them off. Despite Souta being Shippo's Uncle, they acted more like brothers, which was fine, actually it pleased her greatly. Though Shippo was a prankster, playful and a seducer at heart, he treated Souta like an older brother would, helping him through any time of need, and just being there in general.

Inuyasha did do that, to an extent, but Shippo was just giddy to have Souta as an Uncle. The same couldn't be said for Souta, in the beginning. After a few trial and errors, the now grown demon was once again reduced to a childlike state whenever the two got together.

"Let us sit and eat our dinner. Kagome has a busy day tomorrow, and we can only stay for so long." a calm voice broke the little get together. All turned, Kagome's mother smiled softly at the lively scene of her teasing son and grandson as they fooled around lightly with one another.

"HEY! What are we, chopped liver?" Kouga's roguish voice interrupted the family scene.

"No Kouga, you aren't. It's good to see you again." Kagome softly replied as she hugged Ayame, to which the demoness happily returned.

"No kids today?" Kagome asked as Ayame looped their arms together and lead the rest into the mansion.

"No. We heard the big news and wanted it to be just us from the original group."

"Then what about Ginta and Hakkaku?"

"Watching the kids." Ayame had a little devious smile playing at her lips as she looked on ahead. Kagome had no wish to know what happened.

"Kouga was involved, wasn't he?"

"Oh, yes he was. And after tonight, he's getting his too."

Ayame paused their steps and looped her free arm with Kagome's mother, and the two began chatting happily about whatever mothers chatted about. That was the thing about the red head that Kagome still chuckled about. Ayame was a mother to... was it 15 or 25 now? All Kagome could say, 500 years left a lot of time to be a mother to many. Anyways, Ayame could and would talk like a grown adult and very experienced mother one moment, but she still acted like the demoness Kagome had met in the past.

Dinner was a lively affair. The room echoed with their laughter and chatter as stories and jokes were exchanged, it was truly a family dinner. And Nodoka smiled as she watched her daughter, finally smiling and had that old shine in her eyes that hadn't been there since she was first forced away from the past without even able to say goodbye to the others. Although it was small and a mere glimmer, it was there and growing, and she was thankful for that.

After dinner, Kagome took her family on a tour of the family wing of the mansion to her room as the others discussed whatever they did when they got together.

"So how are things fairing?"

Kagome plopped in one of the seats in her room. It was a mix of traditional Japanese furnishings and more modern influences.

"It's getting there. Still, all the servants is annoying." looking around her room, taking it in for the first time. It was tasteful, everything about this room screamed 'KAGOME'. The colors, the furniture, artwork. Although it was new, very different from what she was used to, it was very comfortable.

"That's their job Kagome."

"Yeah, but I'm not used or happy with others doing the simplest of jobs that I can and enjoy doing myself." she looked over to her brother, who seemed to be awed by the latest electronics that sat on the large corner desk.

At least they didn't try to bath her like the one time she was in Sesshoumaru's palace in the past. That was awkward and embarrassing for all parties. And the fact that the one who attempted said task was male... Let's just say there was a lot of screaming and slapping on her part, the rest of the male members of the Shard hunting group came running in to her aid. When they did, there was more screaming and slapping and miko blasts, none harmful ones mind you. Then Sango joined in helped her in removing the male parties and then laughed herself silly at Kagome.

"Mmm, well you are a part of this world now, no use but to get used to it all." she was just glad that despite whatever Kagome would be forced or freely become part of, she would stay the same at heart.

"Well, it's getting late, and you have your first day of school tomorrow. Do you at least know where you're going?"

"No, Sesshoumaru said it's a surprise. Something along the lines of not knowing being good for me. Or something like that." missing her mothers mischievous smile, one the set Souta on edge. He wasn't sure to join in on her fun or run and hide.

After that, Kagome walked her family to the front and bid them farewell. Watching until the vehicle it disappeared from her sight.

"Come Kagome, it's getting late and it's a busy day for you tomorrow."

The night was... warm for her. She felt safe and truly at home, something she hadn't felt back at the shrine since she first got back. She knew it would take a while before it would, instead of a tomb for all her memories and all the legends of her adventures in the past.

And she had slept peacefully, undisturbed by the nightmares that had once plagued her. Sesshoumaru and Shippo said it had something to do with being closer to members of a pack, that it strengthened the bond and thus the members. It allowed nothing that could be harmful to members of a pack near, including nightmares.

Kagome just shrugged it off as she got dressed, straightening the tie around her neck before her hands fixed her hair. She paused for a moment though. With her hair down, she honestly looked like a girl wearing a boys uniform, pulling it up and out of her face, she looked more like a feminine boy. It honestly didn't help that she had thick wrappings around her chest for her still healing ribs.

Letting out a sigh, she walked out of her room, grabbing her book bag along the way, a leather satchel. Making her way down to the den where she knew Sesshoumaru and Shippo to be, also wanting to grab a light snack, just in case. Old habits die hard.

"Looking good! Though, why are you wearing the male uniform instead of girls?"

"To constricting and it was... a little too poofy for my tastes." she grabbed and apple that was sitting in a bowl on the table and a couple of strawberries.

A mischievous smiled curled around her sons lips as he leaned closer.

"How about we make a bet." she stilled, knowing that there would be nothing but trouble should she agree or deny him. Letting out a sigh, she went along with him.

AN: So happy this is being well received with everyone, and all your reviews are well loved and keep me happy. And thanks for all your input on how to get over writers block. Very helpful, so let hope they work out!