It seemed that Seshoumaru was wary of humans, even the old miko, who looked startled on seeing him, "Another stray orphan, Kagome?"

Kagome smiled at the old woman, "Look carefully Kaede."

After studying the shy child, Kaede let out a whoosh of breath, "Blessed be, child! How did Lord Seshoumaru land in your grasp?"

Kagome laughed as Inuyasha chuckled, "He didn't land in my grasp, Kaede. He fell down the well in his time."

Kaede shook her head, muttering something about the world going haywire and stirred the steaming pot in front of her. She then eyed them, "Shouldn't you be going off now? I thought you two had to meet the monk and Sango halfway through."

Kagome nodded, "Yeah. We just dropped by to say goodbye, and Kaede…" The old woman looked at the young miko, raising her brows, "Would you somehow inform us if you notice anything strange about the well? We need to get Seshoumaru back home before any encounters with his older self or Naraku."

Kaede nodded and waved them goodbye as the three departed on their journey. To Kagome's amusement and Inuyasha's irritation, Seshoumaru had decided that he quite liked holding Kagome's hand while walking. Kagome thought it adorable, while Inuyasha muttered something about perverted assholes.

He didn't know where they were going, but Seshoumaru knew instinctively that he was safe as long as he was with Kagome, and young he may be, but he wasn't stupid. He planned to stick very close to Kagome. And also, he looked at the dusty road, she was different. Not only from the few humans he had encountered today, but from inuyoukai as well. His parents were so cold and harsh. They were nothing like this soft, affectionate girl. A faint blush dusted his cheeks. He liked the way she held on to him and patted his head.

The other man however. Seshoumaru narrowed his eyes. He was a demon but not completely. He had heard of hanyous from his sensei, but they were supposedly hunted down and killed while very young by bigger demons or they were in hiding. Was this Inuyasha a hanyou? He smelled like an inuyoukai and smelled familiar, but it was strange.

Kagome tighted her hand around his and he looked up, startled. Her concern was warm and comforting, "What are you thinking about?"

Seshoumaru looked at her face. She had blue eyes and he wondered. His sensei had taught him about humans to an intensity. However, he had never heard of a human having blue eyes.

"Why are your eyes blue?"

Kagome looked startled, "Um, I don't really know. My father was American and he had blue eyes, so I probably got them from him."

"What is Am-er-ica?"

Kagome tapped her finger against her chin thoughtfully, "Hm. How do I explain it? Well, you know where we are standing, right? This is Japan, a country which houses a lot of people and youkai, both. Well, America is more or less the same thing, but it's far off and its customs are different from those here. People dress differently, and talk in a different language."

Seshoumaru's golden eyes were wide, "Have you been to America?"

Kagome chuckled, "I wanted to go to a university there but then I fell down the well, and my studies started getting worse." She forced herself to laugh, "It's like an untouchable dream now."

Inuyasha's shoulder's slumped with guilt as he heard her words. He knew she didn't blame him for having no future, but he knew that her lost dreams hurt her.

Seshoumaru tightened his grip on the young miko's hand, as he scented the sadness tainting her fresh scent. His voice was serious, and yet childish, as he studied her with a childlike intensity, "Are you unhappy?"

Kagome looked around herself and finally settled her gaze on her hanyou friend who was walking in front of her. Her voice was soft and light, "I don't think so. I think I'm very happy. I found a lot of friends who care about me, and now this is home. A place is only as good as the people you know in it. I am happy here."

Inuyasha felt her last statement warm him, and he hid a small smile. She was home. Wherever Kagome was, it was home for him.

"So what's a university?"

Kagome laughed as Inuyasha hollered, "Shut up, you brat! You're giving me a damn headache!"

Her giggles increased as both inuyoukai growled at each other. This was sure to be an interesting journey.

To say that Sango was surprised was an understatement. She actually held on to the houshi for dear life as Kagome finished explaining who the child was and where he had come from.

Shippou however stared at Seshoumaru and his eyes narrowed at the way Seshoumaru was holding Kagome's hand, possessively. Then a thought struck him, "How old are you?"

Seshoumaru looked at the fox youkai, and answered his voice proud and firm, "I am five years old."

Shippou looked at him curiously and then to everyone's surprise, he went and hopped onto Inuyasha's shoulder, turning his back on everyone. Inuyasha seemed shocked but understood the boy's irritation and didn't say anything.

"So are we going or what?"

Kagome rolled her eyes and turned around, bumping her hip into Seshoumaru who fell on the ground with a thump. Without a word, he stood back up, dusted himself and stood next to her as if nothing had happened, ignoring Inuyasha and Shippou's snickering. However Kagome didn't let that go.

She scowled at both of them, "Behave you two or no pocky or ramen for a week."

Both of them paled and shut up, shooting dirty glances at Seshoumaru, who didn't seem to care about the scolding the two had gotten. All he seemed to be focused on was Kagome.

Sango walked next to Kagome and looked at the silent child holding Kagome's hand. His head reached Kagome's hips, and although he looked like a mini Seshoumaru, he was so different in personality.

"He's nothing like Seshoumaru, is he?"

Kagome shook her head, "He's just a child. Honestly, I'm ashamed of Shippou. Instead of being more welcoming, he's trying to shun Seshoumaru out. He knows best of all, how it feels to be seaparated from his parents. Look at him. Does he look like a cold killer to you."

Sango nodded, "I see your point, Kagome. But it's strange, you know."

Kagome laughed wryly, "Believe me, I know. But he's just so adorable!"

The woman were talking in hushed whispers, but Seshoumaru could hear every words, although he pretended not to. His cheeks turned red when Kagome called him adorable. He told himself firmly that he was the heir to the Western throne. Calling him adorable should be insulting, but he couldn't make himself feel that level of insult.

He looked at the white haired demon and the smaller youkai sitting on his shoulder. He knew they didn't like him, and they were trying to make him feel unwelcome, but he didn't care. In the palace grounds, all the inuyoukai pups would ignore him or be scared of him. Nobody ever played with him, and he had understood from a young age, that he was destined to be alone. It still stung but it was something he was used to, so he didn't take any personal offense to the actions of the two youkai in front of him.

"Kilala! What are you…?"

The small neko youkai, had jumped to her feet, and walked over to stand at the feet of the young inuyoukai. Seshoumaru stared at her and Kilala stared right back. As everyone watched with bated breath, she jumped and landed on the boy's shoulder, settling herself down and closing her eyes.

Everyone was shocked, including Kagome. As Sango made to remove her fiend and protector, Kagome stopped her, "I think they're both comfortable with this arrangement, Sango. Let's leave her be."

Sango looked uncertainly at the neko and then sighed, "Fine."

Miroku, however, found this situation weird. Coming up behind the two ladies, he asked, "If Seshoumaru-sama is a dog demon and Kilala is a cat demon, shouldn't they hate each other?"

Kagome and Sango looked at each other and shrugged, "As long as no one is getting killed, who cares."

"Lady Kagome?"

Kagome looked at the monk. His eyes were violet, often twinkling with mischief, but right now they were serious, "What if Lord Seshoumaru comes upon us? Have you thought of any way to avoid such a situation?"

Kagome looked worried and cast a nervous gaze at the silver haired head next to her, "I think, in that case, before he arrives here, I'll take Seshoumaru up on Kilala, out of range. We don't know what Seshoumaru would do to him or us, if he finds out."

The group now looked really worried and they should have been for a quite a distance off, Seshoumaru was travelling towards Inuyasha's group with a hurtling speed.

A.N: Review please….too depressed to say more, except that I'm depressed for no reason