Kagome blinked away her tears and ran over to the group of people in front of her. They looked different, but their auras were the same. "Inuyasha! Shippo! Sesshomaru! Rin! Kouga! Ayame!" She shouted running over and hugging her friends. Even Sesshomaru returned her hug. "You're alive!" She shouted again happily.
"Keh, get off me wench" Inuyasha said affectionately.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded laughing as she let them all go. "Shippo…You've grown up!" She exclaimed taking in his appearance. In fact she took in all of their appearances. Inuyasha now was as tall as Sesshomaru, Kouga and Shippo were right up there with him. Each male looked more mature then they had in the past as well. Sesshomaru had disguised his magenta strips and crescent moon, his hair was still silver however and tied in a ponytail at the base of his neck, still as long as she remembered it to be. His eyes remained their golden color, but they were softer than she remembered them being.
Inuyasha's own silver hair was in a braid falling down his back. It was actually longer then she remembered. His eyes were still golden, but his ears were gone. She wondered how he had been able to do that, but realized it probably came with time. Next she studied the kitsune she so fondly remembered. His green eyes had knowledge that not even she possessed. His face had hardened into that of a man's his body tone and lean. His hair was shorter than the others, cut in the modern 'skater boy' style. It was still the same orangey-red though. And Kouga, besides getting taller, looked pretty much the same, except in a suit. She turned to look at the two females she had known and loved in the past.
Rin was now as tall as she was, a good head shorter than Shippo. Her black hair was cut into a bob making her look professional and a lot older than Kagome did. And Rin's eyes had lost their childlike innocence, but they were still happy and eager. She smiled at the little girl she had once know and turned to study Ayame. The girl was the same height as Rin, and looked exactly the same as she had five hundred years ago, except her face seemed more mature, and adult-like than it had back in the past.
Kagome's observations had only taken a few seconds in that time Shippo had moved forward bringing Rin with him.
"Kagome…Rin and I are married, and mated" Shippo said quietly.
"Oh Shippo! That's wonderful!" Kagome exclaimed hugging the two happily. They were perfect for each other, if she thought about it. Both of them had lost their parents at a young age, and they were around the same age too.
Rin smiled "So what happened to you?" She asked and Kagome remembered she hadn't been able to go back.
"The well closed. I couldn't get back to you guys. Kami knows I tried. I thought I'd never see you guys again" She added tears flowing freely as she gave them another hug. "So I threw myself into my studies. I figured I'd do a bunch of homeschooling then apply for a high school next year and start late. But someone paid for me to go to Ouran in the middle of the term," she informed them smiling. "Thank-you!"
"Hn. Well considering we are going to have you help us run our company it's only natural you have the best education possible" Sesshomaru told her.
"WHAT? You guys have company…Together?"? Kagome asked surprised.
She couldn't believe they could work together, let alone run a successful company together.
"Keh… Have you heard of the Tashio-Akitsune Inc.?" Inuyasha asked smirking at Kagome.
"Er yeah…Why?" Kagome asked making all of them smirk at her.
"That would be our company!" Shippo told her proudly.
What?" Kagome asked looking at them blankly. "You want me to help run that? I could be a secretary maybe but, a partner…There's no way…" Kagome shouted.
"Hn. You were able to hold your own in the feudal era right?" Sesshomaru asked her smugly.
"Yeah I guess so. Wait…Does anyone else know about this?" Kagome asked.
"No. We have yet to announce it to the public. You see, many of our Kind still lurk in the shadows. It's only natural for us to have connections, just the same as it's natural for us to have enemies. Your file, if ever pulled up; will only bring the results that you are an average girl with no money or connections to speak of. It will show your tuition and your brother's tuition was paid in full by an anonymous person or persons, and many will simply assume it was a company or group trying to avoid a law suit or some such nonsense. In any case you will be safe from enemies, and scrutiny. We as a group0 can merely claim that you managed to catch our eye and we wanted you to help our company because you seemed to be a promising asset to us," Sesshomaru explained.
"Oh…So who are you connected to then?" Kagome asked.
"Many people, but the Ootori's actually helped us out this time. They were recently joined into our family when they married Kouga and Ayame's son. His youngest grandson is in your school actually. And then of course, they were descendants of Sango and Miroku. Only vaguely though…But We thought you should know…." Inuyasha told her gently.
"I thought his aura was powerful, It must be considering his lineage…." Kagome trailed off as Kouga smirked.
"You'll always be my woman Kagome!" He shouted, making all of them laugh as Ayame slapped him. "Just not in that way. But I swear, I will kill anyone who breaks your heart…" He warned.
"Speaking of love and things of that matter do you still have that rose I gave you?" Rin asked.
"Yeah. It's strange though it hasn't even begun to wilt yet" Kagome told them making the group sigh a collective sigh of relief.
"Good then you can still get rid of it!" Rin told the girl making Kagome look at her oddly.
"Why?" She asked knowing there had to be a reason behind this.
"Because if you keep that rose and it begins to wilt then you have only until the rose wilts to find your true love. And it has to be your soul mate you find, not just someone you fall in love with. Otherwise you'll be doomed to walk the earth and never fall in love. If you were to fall in love they'd die, slowly and painfully making you feel guilty for such…" Rin explained.
"So you want me to throw the rose out so some unsuspecting person finds it and falls victim to it! I don't think so! I can deal with the consequences if I have my family and friends with me. At least I'll be informed and have a chance to beat this thing! I know I can!" Kagome told them.
They all sighed again and rolled their eyes. "Keh, I was afraid you'd say that Kagome… But are you sure this is what you want?" he asked.
"I'm positive I'll be able to beat this," Kagome assured all her worried friends. They spent the rest of the night catching up and talking to each other lightly, plans made to do this again soon.
A/N And I'm soooo sorry for not updating sooner. My little cousin Nathan wants me to say hi to you all xD. Um, so yeah Inuyasha and Kagome will not be getting together, because a lot can happen in five hundred years… Yeah, so not a lot to say here. Thanks again for all the reviews and crap I really do appreciate them!