"Kagome, we're home!"

Her mother's voice rang up the stairway; Kagome could hear the greeting, though somewhat muffled by the towel she had wrapped her wet hair with- although Inuyasha's reaction would have alone been a dead giveaway. He sat straight up, and nearly turned fully around, before remembering why he had turned in the first place. Kagome rolled her eyes, lifting the material over her ears, and stuck her head out of her bedroom door.

The shower had helped immensely, and she had emerged feeling so much better, even walking herself to her bedroom – although a dutiful Inuyasha had hovered behind her, scrutinizing the situation in preparation for a fall. He had waited outside for her just in case she had needed anything, seated on the floor with ears piqued. The only thing he need be concerned with as far as Kagome thought, was her falling asleep in the tub as her overwhelmed system gave out once more.

"Hey mom! Sota, Gramps!" She turned to face Inuyasha who had been, until that moment, facing the wall while Kagome changed. She had insisted it was fine, but he argued, stating he would stay in the room in case she needed him but would not sneak even one look. She quickly finished buttoning her shirt and cleared her throat. "Okay, Inuyasha. You can look now."

He turned thankfully to her, face a mild red. His ears twitched; three voices downstairs mingled with the sounds of the world outside. He heard the front door shutting, and the outside noises quieted – then he could hear Kagome's family much better. A flood of anxiety seared through him as he wondered just what they would think of him being here.

"I have a surprise for you!" Mama Higurashi called again, "Why don't you come on down?"

Kagome took a nervous breath, holding her hand out to Inuyasha. He was at her side in a moment, though his anxiety was infectious and beyond that, obvious. She could feel his palms beginning to sweat as he took her hand in his and nodded, catching her eye firmly.

"I have one for you too, mom." She pushed her door open the rest of the way, and they started down the hall.

"Sis, check this out, look at these shells that I f-"

Sota, now roughly a few inches taller than Kagome and shorter than Inuyasha, stopped at a full halt as he rounded the corner and came face to face with his long-lost brother-in-law.

He blinked twice, large brown eyes looking less like Kagome's as he aged. He was becoming his own person; the thought filled Inuyasha with a strange sense of gratitude; to be able to see Sota grow up.

"Inu-no Nii-chan?"

"You remember."

In a flash, the boy had reduced in age by three years as he came flying down the hallway and into Inuyasha's arms. He released him almost immediately after giving him a huge squeeze, excitedly taking in the hanyou who seemed mostly unchanged by the years passed.

"I can't believe you're here! Mom, mom!" Sota whipped around rapidly to face the stairs, cupping his hand around his mouth as he called out, "Come right away! Bring Gramps!"

"Sota, you know Gramps isn't making it up any stairs." The composed and slightly amused response gradually came closer, remaining as soft and patient as it had always been even in his memory. When Kagome's mother rounded the corner, her eyes widened in parallel to her hands, fingers flexing in surprise. As her hands came to her mouth, a basket of shopping she had been carrying went tumbling out of her arms and crashed down the stairs behind her.

Down below, Gramps began to call. They could hear him hobbling toward the scene, concerned by the racket and the produce accumulating on the floorboards, the remainder still bouncing down the steps.

"Hold on, Gramps!" Kagome whipped past her family to descend the stairs before her elder could bother himself and attempt the climb, a feat that had bested him on one too many occasions.

As she left, Inuyasha's ears strained to keep her within their range. He listened for the sound of her footsteps across the floor, the creak as she bent to pick up fallen items and the crinkle of a shopping bag as she placed them back inside. He was so enraptured by following her trail, he nearly missed the questions that were being fired at him left and right from the rest of Kagome's family. Both events were almost distracting enough to conceal the sound of another set of footsteps approaching down the front pathway and the screech of an unoiled door-hinge swinging open. A strange new scent joined the one's he had become familiar with, one that boiled his blood instantly.

The moment he heard Kagome take in a sharp gasp, Inuyasha snapped into movement, bolting down the hallway before Sota or his mother could fully process what had happened and where he had gone. As he hurtled past the stairs, landing below with his hand already on the hilt of his sword, he noticed Gramps standing just at the staircase blinking in his direction incredulously. Unfortunately, there was no time to have a proper reunion; pacing toward Kagome's scent, Inuyasha found her standing just outside of the kitchen, frozen, the bag of groceries in her arms held so tightly the bread inside had begun to warp.

There, having appeared with an apparent death wish in Kagome's home, was her classmate Hojo, holding another bag of shopping with a friendly and familiar smile on what looked to be an incredibly unbattered face.

"M-mom?" Kagome squeaked, taking a step back. Already she had begun to erupt into shakes. Thoughts whirled through in an urgent frenzy until she began to question herself, had she made up the past day? What if the well hadn't really opened again? Her stomach lurched; maybe it was all still happening. A burn in her lungs alerted her to the fact she had yet to breathe since meeting Hojo's eye, and she finally took in another terrified gasp before turning to run.

Right away, she bumped into something warm and solid; gazing upward, Inuyasha's firm frown met her with assurance that he was, after all, real, and hadn't forgotten the promise he had made her. Quickly but softly ushering her behind his back, the hanyou faced down the awkward and innocent looking boy with a growl growing on his lips. There was no way he was going to let this guy just walk into her house. He felt Kagome wrap her arms around his waist and nearly dropped his sword, the motion sending shivers through him, bult ultimately gathered himself enough to hold his hand over hers in an attempt to comfort her. Not once losing eye contact with the piece of garbage in front of him, he rose his lip to show his fangs.

"Are you insane?" He snapped viciously; Hojo stumbled away, serene smile breaking into a flash of horror. Inuyasha gripped his sword, more in the hopes he didn't change to full demon here in front of a modern human than anything else. His hands were already itching to find their way around Hojo's neck. "Get the fuck out of here and don't come back."

"K-Kagome, w-what's going on?"

"Don't fucking talk to her!" Inuyasha roared, unsheathing his sword with his free hand to keep the other wrapped around Kagome's. "Don't even look at her, I said leave! I can't believe you'd come back here you-"

"B-back?" Hojo, trembling nearly as badly as Kagome, set the shopping bag he held in his arms down and held up his hands in surrender, facing down the massive blade hovering warningly before his eyes. "What do you mean back? M-my family just got in from our holiday. I ran into her family on their way into the city. I-I thought I'd drop by and…"

Narrowing his eyes and aiming Tessaiga at Hojo's spineless face, Inuyasha took advantage of his upper hand to try and choose a course of action that did the least amount of damage to Kagome's home and family. Despite how furious it made him to do so, he calmed himself, in doing so allowing a moment to consider Hojo's words. It dawned on him that there were some peculiarities about the whole event; for one, though minimal, now that he was between Kagome and the threat he could focus and confirm that Hojo's scent was different. It was almost unplaceable, but it was there. Aside that, the lack of bruises and injuries, the mere evidence that he could still stand at all, and having shown up knowing that after such a severe beating he would likely lose his life, somewhat proved the innocence of the boy quaking at the knees and fearfully crouching backward.

Whoever had attacked Kagome before might not have been Hojo himself, rather, an apparition using his likeness. No, had to be – Hojo's clean face was completely unscathed, and though he had tried to keep the view from Kagome thus leaving her with no memory for comparison, Inuyasha himself shuddered to recall the useless remains of what he had attacked when he'd gotten through with it… but what was it? A demon, a spirit, who knew? It had smelled like a human. At the time, he'd had no reason to conclude it wasn't.

Inuyasha ground his teeth, his growl growing to a near shout before he finally placed his sword back in its scabbard and sighed, nodding at Hojo. The scent confirmed it; this was a different being than the one he had pounded near to death the previous night.

By this time, Kagome's mother and brother had gathered to watch the scene unfold from the kitchen doors, faces drawn by shock and confusion.

"Look, sorry kid." Inuyasha gulped but didn't move his body out of its protective stance, blocking Kagome from his sight. "Someone… attacked Kagome on her way home from a party."

"What? Kagome, are you alright?" Craning forward with wide eyes and his fear suddenly forgotten, Hojo held one hand out to Kagome, who flinched back with a whimper in response.

"Um, the thing is," Inuyasha swiftly stepped back, gently guiding Kagome along with him, away from Hojo. Hojo finally clued in and retracted his hand, staring down at it sadly, horrified that he could bring fear to one of his own friends just by resemblance. Trying his best to choose his words so both Hojo and Kagome might understand, the half demon slowly waded into his theory, "I think this person pretended to be you, Hojo. But if you can prove you've been away…"

"L-look at these pictures!" Hojo scrambled to pull his phone from his pocket, flipping it open and hurriedly selecting a folder to scroll through several blurry shots of some white sandy beaches, a family of happy looking humans, and a few of them most absolutely including Hojo in a dorky red bathing suit. Although Inuyasha only had some long-ago memories of Kagome explaining pictures, he understood the concept from the locket he still kept around his neck, hidden in the folds of his shirt.

Kagome watched the pictures pass by for only a moment of recognition before lowering her face to Inuyasha's shoulder. She wasn't ready to face Hojo, regardless of his proof; she hoped he understood, but more than anything, she just hoped that he would go away so that she could stop looking at him- even if he was innocent. It was all too much to think about, and every moment he stood before her, her stomach rolled with uncertain anticipation.

Feeling her tense against his back, Inuyasha waved to Hojo that he had seen enough, and the boy snapped his phone shut and placed it back in his pocket.

"I think Kagome may still need some rest and recuperation after her ordeal." As soon as the words were out of Inuyasha's mouth, Hojo began to bow rapidly and repeatedly, crying,

"Of course, of course!" As he backed away to the door. "I'll send over some items from my parent's store-"

"I don't think-" Inuyasha began, but the chattering boy continued to ramble even as he closed the door in front of his own face, and made his way back down the drive.

Quiet fell upon the Higurashi household as the boy left, leaving confusion and tension in the wake of his presence. Kagome, holding tightly to the fire rat at Inuyasha's back, had not stopped shaking; with the threat finally removed, Inuyasha turned to take her into his arms and soothingly rub her back, saying only once with absolute conviction,

"It's going to be okay, Kagome. I'm going to find who did this, and I'm going to put an end to them."