I do not own Inuyasha & Co.

Chapter 2

Back Home

Kagome got her affairs in order during the month that passed after she asked her mother about moving back home. She spoke with her job coach at the unemployment office, and sent in her application for the grant to go back to school. The certification she chose was Medical Administrative Assistant, and everything was in the works at the moment.

She felt liberated, and the excitement of going back to school lifted her spirits. Since she made the decision to go back to school, her life was simple again. She packed her last pair of white socks into her luggage. It was finished; she'd packed all her belongings, and had them in the moving truck. As she lifted her heavy bag from the floor, she turned around to take one last look at the room to make sure she wasn't missing anything. Seeing everything was good, she took a deep breath and smiled. She grabbed her purse and left the apartment.

She descended the stairs to the ground floor for the last time. It felt good to drop off the apartment keys at the front desk and walk through the door for the last time. She set the luggage into the back of the moving truck. She gave the driver the address after he closed and locked the door. She climbed into the passenger seat and shut her door. Once the driver was strapped in, the truck grumbled off toward her mother's house.

Not long after, she arrived at her new/old residence and the gentleman from the rental truck company helped her unload the boxes and bags into the house. The afternoon went fast. By the time the truck pulled off, Kagome finally heard her stomach grumble. Kagome sat down on the porch to relax.

"What would you like for dinner, sweetie?" Her mother knelt down and put her hands on Kagome's shoulders.

"Oh, I don't know." She sighed.

"I'll fix you something and let you know when it's ready. Just rest, it's been a big day for you." She went inside and closed the door behind her.

Kagome eyed the grounds surrounding her—the trees lining the front yard, the forest of lush trees across the street, and the breeze rustling through the leaves and branches. She was filled with peace. She closed her eyes to enjoy the sounds of the leaves moving in the wind. The light breeze blew through her long, wavy, black hair. Her bangs tickled her defined eyebrows and plentiful eyelashes. She took a much needed deep breath, and smiled.

Her blue skirt embraced her soft legs with the breeze, and her thong sandals cradled her feet nicely. Goosebumps rose on her naked arms as a warm and slightly harder breeze flew through her. Her white tank top rustled slightly as she said, "I'm home."

Suddenly, she heard a loud bang of to the left. Her head turned to see what caused the sound. There he was. He had tossed something into a metal garbage can. She watched him walk back into his garage. He wore a black bandanna on his head; covering his crown down to the nape of his neck. His long silver hair rested down his back.

He brought more bags of garbage out and tossed the bags into the grouping of metal trash receptacles. He was wearing a red tank top, black knee-length cotton shorts and a pair of black leather thong sandals. A minute later, he stopped and looked at the tree-line, and then at her. She gasped and averted her gaze from him immediately. Her cheeks burned bright red. She heard him slap his hands. Then she heard the sound of grass crumpling as he walked closer.

'Oh, no…He's on his way over. What do I say? I hope he's not mad at me…'

"Hi, you're new here, aren't you?"

Kagome turned her head to see him standing a few feet away from her with his hands in his pockets and a calm look on his face.

"Um, not really. I'm from here, actually. Just…You know…" Kagome gestured toward the front door nervously.

"Moving back home?"

"Yes, moving back in with mom." Her voice cracked nervously.

"I'm Inuyasha." He reached his right hand out to shake hers.

"Oh," she shook his hand.

" I'm Kagome, Kagome Higurashi."

After the handshake, she ran her right hand through her hair.

"Where are you from? I was told you moved in recently also."

"Yeah, I'm from all over, really." He shrugged lazily.

"Ah. So, you live alone?" She looked past him toward his house.

"Naw, I live with old Kaede. She's an old lady I take care of. She doesn't get out much, so it seems as if I live alone." He sniffed and rubbed his index knuckle under his nose.

Kagome grimaced slightly, but slapped her hands together and rubbed them slightly, as if she was thinking of something.

"So, what's your story?" He lifted his left hand to eye his nails.

"My story?"

"Yeah; why you're moving back with your mother. Is she doing all right? She's not ill, is she?" He looked up towards the front door.

"Oh no, she's fine." She chuckled slightly. "It's the Recession. I got hit a bit hard, and now I'm going back to school full time is all. You?"

"Relocation mostly. Moving back to my roots you can say. You see, I was born here, but it was a different house my father owned." He smiled as if at a joke.

"Ah, okay." Kagome stood slowly and wiped her hands on her skirt. "I should be getting back inside, I can smell dinner cooking."

"Cool." He nodded and put his hands back in his pockets.

"So, it was nice to meet you. Talk to you again." She turned and stepped up onto the porch.

"It was very nice to meet you, Kagome." She looked back to see him smiling at her.

She nodded politely and entered the house. Inuyasha took a deep breath, pushed it out through his full lips and slowly made his way back to his abode. He looked back at her mother's house a few times along the way.

Kagome helped her mother cook in the kitchen. Her mind couldn't stop thinking about Inuyasha. They soon sat down to a calm and delicious dinner of green tea, seaweed salad, Oyaku-Don and a bowl of Miso each.

"Oh, Mom, I have really missed your cooking." Kagome lifted a piece of chicken with her chopsticks.

"Believe me, it feels good to make food for more than just myself for a change. After Sota left, I had to lighten my recipes since I kept running out of room in the fridge with leftovers." They giggled over the expression.

Kagome mentioned meeting the neighbor for the first time, and the blush returned to her cheeks.

"So, did you get his name? Was he nice to you?"

"Yes, he was very nice, and his name is Inuyasha. He's living with an older lady named Kaede, and he said that he moved here to get in touch with his roots. Mom, does he look familiar to you? Maybe from when I was really young?"

"No, why do you ask?" She lifted a spoonful of Miso to her lips and blew.

"He said he was born here, but that the house is no longer here." Her mother's gaze lifted to hers. "How old is this house?"

"It's about…Let's see. I believe it's about fifty years or so. Of course there've been some modifications and upgrades here and there over the years, but I don't know the people who lived here prior to when your father and I bought it when we learned we were pregnant with you. At that point, we left the shrine house, as it was too small to house our growing family."

"Wow. He looks about my age or so, but of course I didn't think to ask."

"Well, if you get the chance to talk with him again, you can ask." Her mother sipped at her Miso and Kagome finished off the main dish.