The next day, he showed up with the gray shirt, cleaned and folded, and a small duffle bag. At her questioning look, he pushed the latter into her hands and told her to pack for a week.

'A week? In this?' she incredulously asked.

He shrugged lightly and added that she should wear sturdy pants. She threw him a bewildered look, but he only stared back, his infernal eyebrow raising, as if to question what she was waiting for. Pursing her lips when no further explanation seemed to be forthcoming, she trudged over to her closet. She managed to pack three sets of clothing into the small bag and, after checking that he wasn't looking, changed into her thickest jeans. She walked back into the hallway, threw him the bag and gestured at her jeans, silently asking if this was alright. He nodded and she made her way over to her coat rack.

'No need for a jacket,' he said and walked away, fully expecting her to just follow him.

Kagome balked at that, especially since he was right. She quickly locked her door and padded after him. As she exited her building, clarity dawned on her. Having stuffed the bag into the baggage compartment on the back of a motorbike, Sesshoumaru was now shrugging into a leather jacket. Over the bike hung another one, together with two helmets. She realized she was staring again as he offered her the second jacket.

'So… a bike?' she asked as she put it on.

'Cars are cramped,' he said and put on his helmet before handing her her own.

She stood with it in her hands, suddenly anxious. 'I've never ridden a bike,' she said.

He took the helmet from her hands and gently placed it on her head. As he adjusted it for her, she looked into his eyes, golden again under their contact. 'Just hold on to me,' he said softly.

The blush she felt creeping up from her toes did nothing to quench her nerves, but Kagome duly got in the seat behind him and fisted his jacket at his sides. As he slowly revved up and merged into traffic, however, she found it was not nearly steady enough. With a squeal of fright, she threw her arms around his waist and buried herself into his back. She swore she could hear him chuckle over the sound of the engine and promised herself to zap him for it later. For now she would hold off, however, as he was the only thing holding this infernal machine upright.

They wove through downtown Tokyo and soon got onto the expressway. The high speed did nothing for her anxiety, but there were fewer turns and corners, so that was nice. It took well over an hour before they were free of the city, and as they drove into more mountainous terrain, Kagome felt herself relaxing and enjoying the surroundings. As Mount Fuji came into view, Sesshoumaru steered the bike into a roadside station so they could stretch their legs. He filled up the bike as Kagome pursued sustenance in the little shop.

'So, where are we going?,' she asked him as she tossed him an onigiri, 'Are you kidnapping me to your old stronghold, away from prying human eyes and kept from the times by so many youkai spells?'

'I no longer possess any land, let alone a stronghold. My shiro was burned down during the war. The apartment is the only residence I require.'

'Right,' she nodded awkwardly,' so…. where are we going?'

'Grave visiting.'

They drove on in silence, Kagome lost in thought. She could guess whose grave they were heading for and was weary to touch on all the emotions this brought to the surface. She was surprised, when only about three hours after leaving the city, Sesshoumaru steered the bike off of the highway and into a small village, before driving onto a small mountain road and stopping at a traditional ryokan. She silently shadowed him as he checked them in. They were led to their rooms, shown to the baths and told that dinner would be served at their leisure.

Despite trudging all over Japan in the past, Kagome had no idea who would be laid to rest where they were now. She'd figured InuYasha, Sango, Miroku and Rin would have been buried in Tokyo, since that was what Kaede's village had eventually grown into. She'd assumed, therefore, that they would be heading to Hiroshima and pay their respects to Shippou, but here they were, in some nondescript village practically just outside the greater Tokyo area.

As Sesshoumaru settled their meager luggage and seemed to be preparing to go for a bath, she could no longer bite her tongue and voiced her thoughts.

'I thought we'd be traveling to Hiroshima?'

Sesshoumaru nodded. 'That is our final destination. On the way to the kit's final resting place, however, we will pass by the graves of your other companions.'

'Wouldn't those be in Tokyo?'

'No.'

She just about started pulling out her hair. 'Ok, well, care to elaborate?'

He merely righted himself and told her to follow him. They left the hotel grounds on foot, and followed the road that curved around their lodging, past a local cafe and eventually, he led them onto a footpath winding into the trees. Some ways up ahead, Kagome spied a small cluster of houses, surrounded by small patches of farmland. They were soon shrouded by the trees, and as they walked on, and the traces of civilization were swallowed up by the woods, Kagome fancied herself back in Feudal times. She was just about to remark on it when Sesshoumaru halted and gestured to two gravemarkers. Though they had been well cared for, the names had been worn down by the weather and she couldn't make them out. She helplessly looked at Sesshoumaru, feeling guilty she didn't know which of her friends she should be remembering here.

'The monk and slayer,' he stated simply, 'we are standing near what was the slayer village. They moved here after some years, when it was conjectured that you would not be returning.'

She sank to her knees and ran her fingers over what was left of the carving on the stones as tears leaked from her eyes. Distantly, she heard Sesshoumaru telling her that they had raised their children and extended family here, and that some of the residents of the houses they had passed were distantly related. She didn't know how long she sat there, but when she turned around she realized she was alone. As she made her way back to the ryokan, she briefly considered looking in on the descendants of her friends, but quickly decided against it. With a wry smile, she figured they would think her ripe for an institution if she told them she had known their great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great- great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother, and could she stay for dinner to reminisce?

Back at the inn, the okami told her her travel companion had gone to the baths and advised her to take one as well, before enjoying their dinner together. Kagome decided to take her up on her advice and picked up the provided yukata and towels before going down to the baths.

She lounged in one of the pools overlooking the mountains and valley the inn was situated in. Her thoughts ran from her first meeting with Sango, which must have been somewhere not too far from here, to all their adventures and the times in between, to the many handprints left on Miroku's face, to how happy they had been when Naraku had been defeated and how much happiness they must've shared after she had left their lives.

She wondered if they had ever bathed in the spring that fed its water to this bathhouse and wanted to believe that yes, they had, making her connection to them even more tangible in the moment.

There was a rush of water on the other side of the partition dividing the womens from the men's bath and with a blush that had nothing to do with the temperature of the water, she realized Sesshoumaru was getting out.

'Sesshoumaru?' she called softly, on the small chance that it was another of the inn's patrons.

'Yes?' came his equally subdued reply.

'Thank you for this trip.'

'Hn. Don't thank me yet.'

She heard him leave for the dressing room, and was left to ponder his reply.