Kagome tucked her kimono train underneath her as she sat at the base of a tree. She looked up, remembering how her half demon lover preferred trees as his sanctuary. They were where his peculiar bed and his runaway places when he needed time to be by himself and think. It would be strange to onlookers, but to Kagome, she understood as he had carried her up into the trees so they could talk in private.

She bit her bottom lip as her eyes tilted up to stare at the branchy halo above her. She rose slowly, coming to stand beside the tree. She always was a clumsy girl, a trademark behavior of hers that had perturbed Inuyasha. Kagome smiled to herself as thought that no matter how many times Inuyasha grew angry with her that he would call her callous names or yelled at her, she knew him enough to know he would be there to catch her if she fell.

Something inside her stirred and she felt, pained. Despair clutched her and her knees crumbled under her. She slid back down to the ground, expecting to curl herself into a feeble position and weep until the morning hours dawned on her. Astonishingly, the tears never came and she felt ashamed that she couldn't cry. Perhaps she wasted those tears on Sango when she initially believed she was home.

Where was home now anyway?

She recalled living inside a colossal shrine house with her brother, mother, and grandfather. She attended school where she bonded with three girls and a boy became fond of her. That was her home, the life she was living and that had been satisfying enough for her. She didn't ask for anything else, didn't pray for any other surreal incident to happen. On her fifteenth birthday, the only gift she wanted was either more clothes or a miracle to pass her exams and graduate a level, not be sucked down a well and most certainly not play hero priestess in the feudal era. It was a frightening, overwhelming experience, but it grew on her. She treasured those times so much that she deemed it her second home and the others an extended part of her family. In the end, she felt divided and had to choose which home she wanted permanently.

She gazed up into the sky, where millions of stars streamed across the blue canvas. The evergreen grass tickled her exposed legs and the trees continued to keep its beautiful color. This was home. It didn't matter that there wasn't any advanced technology such as cell phones, computers, or laptops. The people she grew to love and adore, were here and they made this place home. Inuyasha made this place her home. She belonged at his side.

"Kagome?" Kisho called.

Kagome looked at him, and he felt chilled by the vacancy in her eyes. "Hi, what are you doing out here?"

"I noticed you haven't eaten."

"Not hungry."

"That's surprising, considering you just came back from the dead." He chuckled to himself, but Kagome didn't detect any mirth behind his laugh. She smiled slightly to appease him, but it only served to make him stop laughing. "I'm sorry, that wasn't right."

"No, it wasn't." She said coldly. "But at least you're trying."

Kisho nodded, suddenly feeling very awkward. Here was the girl he pined for, the one he loved so much he spent days training with his master to win her over. He should be thrilled, ecstatic, and show off to her his newly, enhanced self. However, he couldn't be happy. This wasn't the same, cheery girl he came to love. Her smile wasn't the same as the one that had made his heart skip a beat. She was different… lonely…. and sad.

"I guess… it just wasn't meant to be."

"Huh?"

"Me and Inuyasha I mean. If it was, I wouldn't have died in the final battle and he wouldn't have died before I was resurrected." Kagome turned her head towards Kisho.

"Kisho, what was he like?"

"Huh? Why you asking me that? You're the one… who knew him well."

"No, I mean, how was he like… after I died I mean. Did he…" She paused, uncertain if she wanted to know the answer. "…meet someone new?"

Kisho shook his head. "No, his heart belonged to you and only you."

To know no one else had his heart, alleviated her pain slightly, but still… "Are you saying, he mourned for me until the very end of his life?"

Kisho looked away, unable to look at her tormented face. "Remember when he was brash, rude, and a jerk all around when I first met all of you? He just wasn't like that anymore. It was like… he was a broken, uncouth man living a life without meaning, living it without the one he loved."

Kagome looked down, seeing her hands clenched in fists. "Inuyasha…"

"I think he was so broken that it wasn't the demon who killed him, but his broken heart and lack of willpower to live."

Those words would've stabbed her in the heart like a cold dagger, if she had one. Instead, they seemed to just be an extension to the pain she was already feeling. This obstinate pain that refused to recede.

Kisho averted his gaze back to her, his heart dropping. There was no way he could woo her, not when her soul, body, and heart belonged to another man. He now realized the power and purity of their bond, a bond that was too strong it even repelled death from intervening. Inuyasha's heart remained loyal to Kagome even in her death, and now, hers will continue to stay true to him. He envied their romance, despising the fact that now was his chance to keep her to himself, but he didn't have the courage to do it. Those days of training were wasteful if they only served to make him stronger in the body, but not in the heart.

He looked back at Kagome, his stomach tightening painfully at the sight of her feebleness. She looked like she was going to cry, but the tears wouldn't come. It seemed she was crying in her own way and needed to be alone. He couldn't leave her alone though. He knew, and the thought pained him, that he couldn't take her as his lover, so he will just have to have her as a friend.

"If you need to cry, I'll be…" He trailed, unsure of how to complete that sentence. He didn't want to sound like a phony, cliché, guy but it was the only sincere thing that came to his mind.

Kagome stood, her eyes completely dry. She wanted to cry, anything to ebb away this penetrating grief that consumed her. She looked at Kisho and feigned a smile. "No, it's ok."

"You sure, because I'm-"

"I'm fine. I need to sleep anyway." A lie, but he didn't need to know that.

Kisho nodded. "Ok, I'll help you up." Before she could protest, he already had a firm grip on her hand. He pulled her up rather forcefully, and it wound up with her stumbling into his arms. He caught her, but was shocked by the cold that clung to her. "Oh my… you're freezing."

"It's kind of cold out here."

"C'mon, let's go inside."

Kagome nodded and pushed him gently to get his hands off her. He nodded, smiling to support his veneer. Kagome didn't glance once at him as she walked away, but if she did, she would've noticed the tears he was desperately trying to keep at bay.

Saigen and his entourage, with the exception of Akito, explored their new surroundings. The new scents made their noses crinkle in repulsion and their ears throbbed at the barbaric noises. It was nighttime, and so people should be asleep but he found it impossible that any living being could sleep through all this noise.

"So, what do we do now that we are here?" Saigen questioned.

Takeshi grunted. "I say we go and kill every little thing that keeps making such a racket. Argh… shut the hell up!"

Haruka nodded, her calm orange eyes beginning to redden slightly. Saigen turned to Akito. "You're the one who brought all of us, so start talking. What do we do?"

"We need to find a place to stay."

"What about that big temple there." Takeshi suggested, pointing the huge shrine house that was called Higurashi Shrine. "We'll just waste anybody who's living there."

Akito shrugged. "I suppose."

"Oh no you don't."

Saigen and everyone else went on the alert, scouring the area for the voice. It was Takeshi who found him, standing tall and proud on the sacred tree. Takeshi elbowed Saigen and indicated at the tree. Saigen's attempt to hide his shock failed as a gasp came out of his mouth. "But.. you… you're supposed to be dead!"

"Well, unfortunately for you I'm alive and ready to take you down!" Called the intruder as he sprung from the tree to attack them all.

"Who is he master?" Takeshi questioned.

"Inuyasha." Saigen responded, just as the figure clad in modern day attire landed a perfect punch on Saigen's nose.

"Keh, that's what you deserve." Inuyasha spat spitefully. "That's for trying to kill me."

"How is it possible for you to be alive? I thought I…" Saigen trailed off, his face becoming angry.

"Yeah, I don't know what kind of crazy power you have, but it wasn't enough to kill me. I survived your blast, not without wounds of course." Inuyasha held up his hand, cracking his knuckles. "Now, no more idle chit chat, I'm gonna kill you."

Inuyasha flexed his fingers, uncovering his lethal claws. Saigen moved to retaliate, but then Akito, Takeshi, and Haruka moved in front of him. Haruka held up her hands, releasing a mighty gust of wind that forced Inuyasha back into the tree. When Inuyasha rose to his feet, he found Saigen and his entourage vanished.

"Damn, almost had that bastard." Inuyasha replied. "Oh well, he'll be back and I'll be ready."

"Sota! What do you suppose that noise was!" Called a feminine voice from the Higurashi shrine.

"I'm not sure Hitomi, but I'll find out." A man replied and he sounded much like Sota Higurashi, Kagome's kid brother.

Inuyasha immediately leapt away from the shrine. It was too hazardous to mix them up into his mess. He came to check up on all of them once a week, just to ensure nothing terrible happens to them. He would ward off any tragedy that could be bestowed on them, but he couldn't do that if his enemies knew the ones he was trying to protect.

He bounded towards the east, away from the shrine and from the school. Even as he tried to suppress them, the memories formulated themselves in his mind. Every single memory that had attached itself to a certain location bombarded him as he ran. He scowled, willing this pain constant to leave him be. He had more important things to tend to than grieving over… her, who… left him.

He finally found the shrine he had been searching for, the Koishikawa shrine to be precise. He slipped through the open window and was immediately greeted by a vivacious young woman with long auburn curls and shimmering blue eyes. He froze, knowing he was just wasting time and energy to push the ecstatic girl off.

"Inuyasha, why did you leave in such a hurry? You didn't even wait for me to make you dinner." The woman pouted.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Never mind that, the jewel, where is it?"

"You worry too much cutie-pie." She said just as she reached into her pocket, procuring the Shikon jewel. "It's been with me the whole time, and I've been keeping it pure."

"Good. Saigen, the guy who attacked me is here. I smelled him out and that's why I took off wench."

The girl sighed, glaring at Inuyasha. "I do have a name other than wench, Inuyasha. It's Asuka, it's not that hard to pronounce."

"I'll call ya whatever I feel like calling ya!"

"Well now, that isn't fair. I call you by your name and you won't call me by my name except for disrespectful names. I guess I should call you whatever I feel like."

"Whatever, I don't give a damn."

"Really? So I can call you sweet cheeks?" She asked innocently, batting her eyelashes.

Inuyasha cringed at the name. "Whatever wench."

"You do know I'm not talking about the ones on your face right?" Asuka laughed as Inuyasha reddened in humiliation. "Relax, it's only a joke."

"Well it was stupid." Inuyasha retorted.

Asuka sighed. "Every thing is stupid in your eyes. You really do need to loosen up… sweet cheeks." She leant up and pressed a chaste kiss on his cheek.

Inuyasha growled at her, but she only smiled at him and walked into the kitchen. I hate that girl…