Summary: One small thought, an action, and suddenly history has been changed. Consequence: The jewel was never destroyed and Kagome has to get used to her new position. AU. Blend of both manga and anime.

Authors note: I will probably focus more on my CaaT fanfiction rather than this one because of its popularity, but I'm planning to develop this beauty until the end. So no worries there! The syntax in this story is a bit strange though, but bear with me. I'm trying to write this in a sort of manga style while still keeping it realistic to Kagome. It's surprisingly hard to grasp.

Hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 3

Morning shined bright and early as Kagome groaned under her blanket. Or, at least, that was what she thought. Hearing crickets she knew didn't like the light; she peeked out from under the blanket. The chilly night immediately bit her nose, and she resisted the urge to burrow inside again.

Under normal circumstances she would have probably done just that; turning and muttering about evil homework, but a flash of her family clenched her throat uncomfortably and reminded her of where she was.

She couldn't sleep with the knowledge that there might be a way home waiting for her to try.

Carefully, as she didn't want to wake Kaede, she folded the blanket neatly where her pillow was and lightly stepped to go outside. Kagome didn't curse when she bumped into something on her way, but it was close. Waving her arms to regain her balance, she looked suspiciously at the object. Poking it with her foot showed it was warm and –

The body muttered something unintelligible as it shifted and rolled over to the other side.

She froze, looking with new eyes at the dark shadows littering the floor. She could see several sleeping forms barring her way, and a part of her wondered how the former thugs had even managed to squeeze themselves inside, let alone lie down, but her more sensible part worried that the risk for someone to wake had just increased.

Biting her tongue in concentration, she stepped over the body that lied closest. Considering that she still wore the school uniform, she was grateful that it was dark. If he woke and happened to look up, he wouldn't see anything.

… She hoped.

With renewed vigor, she avoided, crossed over, taking a detour from a particularly large blob of shadows, and almost making it look like a dance as she focused on her goal. Kagome twisted, stopped in comical pose with one hand outstretched waiting for one of the men to begin snoring again, and then she stepped over the last hinder.

Stepping into the moonlight, she cheered silently to herself.

She had done it!

Then she let out a muffled shriek as a hand landed on her shoulder.

"Hush," the voice behind her said. "Ye do not want to wake them."

Kagome calmed down when she recognized the voice of Kaede and turned around to meet her face, sheepishly smiling at the stern look she got. "Sorry," she whispered, though determination boiled under her skin. "I have to go. Even if there is only a slim possibility that the well might work the other way..." She trailed off, biting her lip in an effort to not cry. If it didn't work, she didn't know what she would do.

"Aye," Kaede agreed quietly, "ye have to try."

She perked up. "So you won't tell?"

"I will inform them," she raised a hand to forestall any protests, "though, I will only say ye have left for home." She sighed suddenly, a gusty breath that sounded bone-deep tired. "I hope ye come back, Kagome-sama. We need ye."

Kagome could only smile to that. She probably wouldn't, not if she had a choice, but she hadn't expected to be transported to another place and time either, so who knew?

Waving good bye, she continued her trek to the well, stopping to stare at the dark hole she knew contained bones. If this didn't work, and she jumped to land on one of those... She didn't know what would be worse; the probability of snapping her neck or that she would be unable to go home. They were pretty equal to her at this moment.

Breathing in deeply, she crawled to sit on top of the well, her legs dangling without support.

Taking one last look behind her to where she knew the village laid, she smiled. "Good bye Kaede. Good bye Inuyasha. Good bye my former kidnappers." She laughed humorlessly. "We might see each other again. We might not."

And with that said, she released her grip and fell into the darkness with barely a cry. A squeezing sensation, lights flashing by faster than she could see, and then she landed on the ground. Taking a deep breath to prepare her for the sight, she looked up and was overjoyed to not see any stars, for it could only mean something overhead was blocking them.

"It worked," she said in reverence and not a little shock. "It really worked." She was back home.

Before she even had the time to worry about climbing out, a small and hesitant voice came from above. "... Hello? Anybody there?" Light flashed directly into her eyes and she cried out and tried to shield them.

"Souta, take away the infernal flashlight!" She shouted without thinking, agitated for her poor eyes.

Her brother didn't obey. "Kagome-nee! You're back!" Raising his voice slightly, he shouted to their mother to come.

She must have been close by, for it didn't take long after that for Kagome to be hoisted from the well with a ladder and several helping hands. She got a crushing hug from Souta, a shaking one from her grandfather, and it was only in her mother's warm one that she finally broke down and cried.

Fat tears, almost bordering on hysteric, rolled down her cheeks as she hugged her mom tighter. "I've missed you!"

It had certainly been a very long day.

Home. It was a word that was almost too sweet to be true, but true it was. The houses that littered the scenery as far as she could view; the constant hum and noise of cars in the city; and the shrine where it was supposed to be instead of the grass and trees she had feared she would have to get used to was all the answer she would ever need. She couldn't deny it.

Kagome was home.

She was near euphoria over that fact. How she had longed for her own bed, the long awaited warm bath, change of clothes, and her family. It all made her so happy she could burst into tears all over again.

Quite predictably, it made the male part of her family very uncomfortable and her mother worried.

It didn't really get better when she answered their question of where she had been and how she had gotten some of the visible scrapes, quickly hiding the bigger ones like the one on her stomach. She had downplayed it greatly about how dangerous it was when she saw the horror in their eyes, but they were still uneasy about it. Youkai they could accept, but Kagome meeting them and almost getting killed by them? No, not quite on their agenda.

A slight creak from her bedroom door snapped her out of her musings, and she sat up, trying to peer into the darkness. "Hello?"

Kagome heard a relieved sigh and the door closed again, a small figure shuffled into the small sliver of moonlight that evaded the curtains. She blinked in confusion when she saw her younger brother shifting on his feet. Souta? Why was he here?

After a slight hesitance, he softly padded to her side and she scooted over so that he could sit on the bed. "What is it?" She asked softly, faintly worried about his silence.

She could feel him fidget beside her. "Ne, shouldn't you be asleep?" He said at last.

An eyebrow was raised, but she nodded slowly, deciding to humor his question. "Yes, I suppose I should. There is just too much to think about and… well, it has been a busy month." She said weakly, evading the details. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Aha ha," he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I just wanted to – I mean, I was –" He abruptly stopped and instead flung himself into her arms that she narrowly managed to open, having suspected something like this to happen. "I missed you! When you just disappeared I feared the worst, and then you didn't come back, and it was me that wanted you to– because I was so scared and didn't man up– I am so sorry!" He wailed quietly into her pajama shirt, face pressed against the crook of her neck.

She hugged him close to her, stunned by his action. Kagome knew her brother enough that a hug was inevitable. Though he liked to pretend he was all manly, with his sister he sort of reverted into the kid he was to the utter relief of their mother. But she had no idea he would have missed her this much. Kagome had, of course, thought about him every day, but she didn't know he replicated her feelings and more. She would have thought he felt too old for those cuddly sibling things.

For him to have exploded like that… It had to have been something stewing inside his mind for quite some time.

She shook her head minutely. He had nothing to be guilty about. He probably knew, but what should she say to get it into his thick skull? Frowning, she decided that she should take out the big guns.

Rocking slightly like the way she used to when he was four, she hugged him back. "It wasn't your fault, Otouto-san," she whispered, and he startled by her use of the endearment. "No one could have foreseen it. And I'm home now; your very own Onee-chan."

He slackened his arms enough to peer up at her in suspicion, and she rolled her eyes at his antics. "I'm here. Promise," she teased. When his doubtful look didn't falter, she rolled her eyes again and poked his side. As expected, he gave out a muffled unmanly squeal and tried to twist away from the offending digit. With an evil grin, she poked him again where she knew he was ticklish and he laughed in delight and horror as he twisted again.

She poked again; and it soon evolved into tickling him without mercy, and her brother laughed breathlessly from the effort of evading. He was completely at her mercy, and even his weak attempts at revenge couldn't stop her from grinning like a loon. She noted happily that he wasn't sad anymore, so she didn't protest when he yawned and crawled under the covers with her some minutes afterwards.

"Good to be home," she whispered, smiling gently. With one last ruffle of his hair, she yawned and she too fell asleep without preamble.

Her amused mother woke the two of them up in the morning, having knocked beforehand but not getting an answer. "Alright sleepyheads, breakfast is done. If you want it warm, you two better get down now." Knowing at least one would wake by the magic word of food; she closed the door behind her again.

Souta stirred, a huge yawn slipping out from behind his hand. Almost automatically, he turned and shook his sister's shoulder. He knew she liked her sleep, after all, and tended to ignore the first wake-up call.

"Just… a little more." Kagome mumbled.

Souta shook his head sleepily. Trust his sister to talk in her sleep.

He shook her a bit more.

"Onee-chan," he whined. "Breakfast!" As if on cue, his stomach gave a rumble that pinched his face in hunger.

Kagome sat up reluctantly, yawning and stretching leisurely. "What time is it?"

Bleary blue eyes that matched his sister's own looked at her alarm clock. "About… nine? Huh, we slept in."

"Nine." She repeated, nodding solemnly. "That would explain why I'm not that tir– Did you say nine?!" She flew up from the bed, almost knocking over Souta in the process. "Why didn't you tell me?! Argh!" She exclaimed in frustration as she dug through her wardrobe. "I'm so late!"

Her little brother blinked slowly, trying to understand her shouting. "Late for what?"

"Late for school, Souta! Do you know where my uniform is?!"

He blinked again, tilting his head to the side. "But it's Sunday. Why would you go to school on a Sunday?"

She froze. Slowly, almost mechanically, she turned to him. "Sunday?"

"Yeah. Maybe you don't know since you've been gone for so long, but it's the weekend."

"It's…" She slumped to the floor, breathing out a huge sigh. "It's the weekend," she repeated in relief. Now that the panic had left her, she was completely awake thanks to it and the memories of the last month were brought to the forefront of her mind. She winced inwardly. Kagome felt like such a crook for just leaving them like that, but what could she have done? She didn't belong there! She couldn't pretend to be something she wasn't! Kagome wasn't blind; she saw the way they would look at her. Those men and their loyal eyes, the way Inuyasha's would sometimes glaze with a foreign emotion and the small glimmer of hope in Kaede's eyes weren't anything she could live up to! They all saw something that she would bet all her good grades on weren't her!

She was only a fifteen-year-old girl. Nothing more, nothing less. She refuses to feel guilty about it, but still, her current mood said different.

"Kagome?"

The hesitant and small voice brought her back to the land of the living and she blinked up at Souta.

"You alright there?" He asked, frowning.

"Eh, sure." She smiled, the edges quivering.

He didn't seem convinced, but he shrugged and dropped the matter. "Well, if you're sure… It just looked like you were on the brink. You look horrible," he pointed out.

Instead of smiling at his worry, though she did it secretly in her mind, Kagome jumped up. "What did you say?! Be nice to your sister!" She halfheartedly lunged for him.

His eyes widened and he yelped, scrambling off from the bed and darting to the door. She raced after him, shouting oaths that when she caught him, he would live to regret the day when he insulted her fabulously good looks.

Sprinting down the stairs, he cackled in front of her; getting caught up with the game. "And not just that, your hair looks like it's been dragged in by Buyo, too!"

Kagome stumbled mid-step, blinking owlishly at her brother. Did he just insult her bed hair?

She began to chase him with renewed vigor for that. "Souta!" The person in question narrowly managed to veer and avoid collision with their mother who cried out in surprise, and Kagome was only a step behind as she spun on her foot and continued.

Souta looked over his shoulder and looked panicked at the narrow distance between them. "Oi! What's up with you?! Have you been training while gone or something!?"

Taking advantage that he wasn't looking where he was going as he tripped on the edge of a carpet, she managed to lunge for him one more time and pluck him from the floor. He yelped and flailed his arms. "You could say that," she teased, since the feudal era was a work-out in of itself, "but you're just slow."

He scowled, momentarily stopping his movements to glare at her. "No way! I'm the best!"

She laughed, an evil tilt appearing in the corners of her lips. "You sure about that?"

"What– No, no, wait– Don't–!" She tickled him again and he was once again thrashing for all of his worth, though she managed to angle him away from bodily harm to herself. "D-don't! Ahahahaha!"

"As amusing as it is to see my children torturing each other," a slight coughing laugh came from behind them, "but breakfast has been served, remember?"

She sighed gustily. "Hai, Okaa-san. I'm coming!" Kagome stopped tickling Souta and released him grudgingly. He dropped unceremoniously to the floor and rolled, a startled sound escaping him. He almost immediately shot up again, mouth open to retort, but was stopped short by the sight of his mother.

She was smiling and wearing such an honestly happy expression that he couldn't remember having seen for over a month, worry and relief tinging it into a bittersweet mix as she gazed fondly at her daughter. "I'm glad you're home."

Kagome's answering smile seemed to brighten up the room.

"Me too."

A sound from the door interrupted them and the three of them watched as grandpa ambled inside, neatly placing his shoes to the side in the hallway and then look up and startle. Staring at them quizzically, he demanded, "What are you all standing here for? There is food to be had. Food!"

He shooed them inside the kitchen impatiently, and they all sat down to eat; their family once again whole as even Buyo sauntered into the room. Ducking his head behind his rice bowl, Souta grinned. It was nice to be whole again.

Meanwhile, the other side of the well weren't quite fairing as well. The Miko's loyal followers woke up to find her missing and panicked. When Kaede calmly explained that she had gone for home, their panic was also accompanied by horror. Their vision was filled with the unsurmountable dangers that a young woman could get into when tracking through miles and miles of land unprotected.

Inuyasha though couldn't wrap his mind around to how her scent suddenly vanished at the brink of the well, and he scowled as something in his heart gave a twinge. She had betrayed him. He studiously ignored the part that reasonably said she had done no such thing because she had made no silent or otherwise promises to him, but the parallels between Kagome and Kikyo could not be ignored.

In the end, he followed the company of the six humans, grumbling and cursing all the while that he would get that jewel if it was the last thing he ever did. The humans in turn scowled and sniffed arrogantly, but did not otherwise antagonize him since he kept his distance. Both parties had somehow entered a truce for the little Miko's sake, and the villagers could not keep their awe out of their voices when they spoke of her. To manage what had seemed impossible while gone, even Kaede observed how unique she truly was.

The Shikon no Miko, a girl that crashed into their lives acting like a kitsune spy but was in fact the reincarnation of their former Miko, and as the days passed had protected their village twice over and had even managed to convert the fearsome gang of thugs that had been terrorizing villages close.

Oddly enough, despite the short time they had known Kagome; everybody agreed internally that they were worried about her.

But all in all, it was maybe for the best that the new additions to the village had gone to find her when the hair-youkai Yura came to visit.

A/N Family stuff, you know. It's very important to bring fluff back into Kagome's life. Considering what's waiting for her at the other side of the well, she will need it all. I thought about getting Inuyasha to hop into the future, but the circumstances has changed enough, what with the jewel being whole and him being more grumpy than usual, that it wouldn't make sense.

And yeesh, the canon is already going haywire because of that little necklace. I'm scrambling to keep up with the plot-bunnies. Any ideas or musings would be helpful. I love reading what you think!

Anyway, thanks for reading and happy National Day of Sweden (even though we don't really celebrate it)! See you at the next update!