Kouga let out a long sigh as he looked at the Honekui well. [This... this is the place that Kagome goes when she's gone?] He cautiously approached the old wooden well, which had several new boards around the top where repairs had been made recently to the well. He looked down into the well and saw the dirt bottom, completely void of any water or other life. "Kagome-chan? Are you sure that this is the place you told me about?"

Kagome managed a thin smile and nodded. "It doesn’t look like much, but it leads to my time… Heh, who would have guessed that one little well would be the pathway to a five-hundred year time warp?"

Kouga leaned farther over the side, as though the well’s appearance would have changed after Kagome’s words. "Are the yokai still having territory wars in your time?"

Kagome shook her head slowly as she sat on the side of the well. "No… Actually, there aren’t that many yokai in my time. If any are still alive, they must be very well hidden or disguised, because there haven’t been any records or stories of yokai over the last hundred years or better."

"No yokai in your time, huh? Seems almost farfetched to hear…"

Kagome shrugged as she pulled her legs over the side of the well, allowing them to dangle in the empty well. Her expression was sullen as she stared down into the well, her magical portal to the future, her true home. [But, that place isn’t where I feel that I truly belong now… This… this is my home.] "I’ll be back in a few days, Kouga-kun. I guess I’ll see you later…"

Kouga barely was able to mumble a ‘Bye’ before she slid into the well and disappeared without a trace. He watched the bottom of the well for a few moments before deciding that, as Kagome had said, she wasn’t coming back for a few days. He shivered as he felt the cool wind pick up and whirl around his body. He knew, though, as the winds continued to increase, that the weather was not causing the sudden updraft. He scowled as he spat the name of the maker of the winds, "Kagura…"

Kagura stood several feet away from Kouga—just enough to be at a safe distance. She looked around the area and then expectantly towards the well. "Did that woman leave already?"

Kouga growled as he took a more defensive stance, ready to deal with whatever attack the wind sorceress had to offer. "Why do you need to know about Kagome?"

Kagura tapped her fingers against her arm out of impatience. "I needed to tell her that we’ve pretty well figured that Sesshoumaru isn’t dead."

Kouga looked down the ground considering that he had told Kagome much of the same thing. "Don’t go giving her too much false hope… I told her that I didn’t think that he was dead—but I saw him disappear in that blast. I know that I never would have been able to escape such an attack… Also… she told me that Naraku poisoned him. She said she gave him antidote, but when I saw him, he was really weak because of poison. He couldn’t possibly have survived and gotten far enough away that we wouldn’t have seen him."

"Kohaku disappeared, too. I saw the boy running towards Naraku just before Kagome fired the arrow. And, unlike you and I, Sesshoumaru is a taiyokai, so that means he has a good deal more power than either of us could imagine having. He would not have died without a trace." Kagura sighed as she leaned against the trunk of a nearby tree. "He is the most powerful yokai that I’ve ever known—he’s out there somewhere."

Kouga crossed his arms as he turned away from Kagura and looked back down at the well. [For Kagome’s sake, I can only hope so…]

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"Ano, Inu Yasha-sama, could I ask you a question?" Sayaka blushed as she waited for Inu Yasha’s acknowledgement.

"What is it, Sayaka?"

Sayaka bit her lip for a moment as she worked up her courage to ask, "Who was that girl and why is it that you get so uptight around her? I mean, she was hanyou but… today is her day, isn’t it?"

Inu Yasha drew in a deep breath, Sayaka’s inquisitiveness was certainly annoying at times, but he knew that she couldn’t help it. "Kagome was… well, she used to be my… ahem… my girlfriend. We had a few differences and discovered that she seemed to like Sesshoumaru more—but that’s okay, I guess… As for her being a hanyou, well, she’s actually a human. She took on a disguise as a hanyou by using a Shikon shard paired with some of Sesshoumaru’s blood."

Sayaka nodded slowly, taking time to comprehend exactly what all of that had meant. She watched as Inu Yasha continued walking, though his expression had undoubtedly fallen. "You still care for her as a girlfriend?"

The question seemed to irk Inu Yasha, seeing as he chose not to answer the question. Many times he had told himself, convinced himself, that Kagome’s love life was none of his business. She was merely a friend to him and nothing more. However, the more that he thought of her, of how much he did care, the more he realized that not worrying about her was the last thing he’d be able to do. He realized that he had lied to himself by trying to tell himself that he wasn’t concerned, but he also knew that leaving Kagome to her own devices was the best thing he could do for her.

Sayaka fought her emotions as she slowed her pace so that she was behind Inu Yasha, so that he was unable to see her troubled expression. [I can’t just expect this guy that I’ve pretty much just met to give up his everything just for me… I remember that when Naraku held me captive he told me that Inu Yasha would only love a human woman… By gods, I wish that it wasn’t true… but… if it is, I almost think I’d give nearly anything to change that much… Inu Yasha… has so much in common with me. I’ve never met a man who could even understand me, much less identify with me.]

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Kagome slowly and reluctantly pulled herself out of the well. As she walked out of the shrine, she saw a tall woman with short black hair approaching her. Kagome couldn’t shake the feeling that she had seen the woman before—but certainly not in her time. The ebony hair, the fierce blue eyes, and the powerful yet pure aura that surrounded her—could be only one person. "Kikyo?"

Kikyo smirked as she looked over Kagome’s slightly dirty and well-worn kimono. "Such fine quality—only the richest nobles were able to wear such an outfit and allow for it to get dirty…"

Kagome’s eyes narrowed as she continued towards the house. "What are you doing here?"

Kikyo’s fierce, offensive gaze lifted into a smile—or something like it. "Didn’t Inu Yasha tell you?"

Kagome stopped and shot Kikyo a cold glare. "Inu Yasha and I are not on the most pleasant terms right now… Stop playing mind games with me and tell me why you are here."

"Unfortunately, I have survived the centuries. I am surprised that I remembered to come back to Japan when I did. I just had enough time to get settled in when I found Inu Yasha here not too long ago…" Kikyo smirked at Kagome, expecting a jealous fit from the girl.

"What was he doing here?" Kagome’s voice was unusually quiet and her eyes were downcast as she followed after Kikyo.

"He came here to perform seppuku. He was here in the house long enough to tell your mother what had happened to you and then he ran off into the park, ready to do away with himself—it was pitiful, really." Kikyo stopped as she pushed the door open and allowed Kagome to enter the house.

Kagome looked around her house, wide-eyed as Inu Yasha had been the first time he had come to her time. "Mama! Souta-kun! Jii-san!"

Souta slowly walked out of his room, wearing a baseball cap backwards, 90’s punk style. "Ka-Kagome?!"

Kagome knelt down and hugged her younger sibling. "Souta… How have you been?"

"I’ve been fine, sis." The boy laughed as he worked to escape his sister’s grasp. He reached down, though, when he saw a photo on the floor that had fallen from Kagome’s pocket. He examined the picture, realizing that he had never seen anyone in the photo. "Who are these people?"

Kagome sighed as she took the picture back and pointed to each person’s face as she explained who they were. "This is Inu Yasha. He turns human once a month and this is what he looks like. That’s Kouga-kun of the wolf tribe and that one there is me… I changed into a hanyou while we were preparing to beat a really bad demon…"

Souta stared at the picture a moment longer. "But, sis, who’s that guy? He looks really cool! Is he a demon too?"

Kagome let out a heavy sigh as she nodded. "That’s Sesshoumaru. He was Inu Yasha’s brother."

Both Kikyo and Souta stared at Kagome in surprise. Kikyo tensed as she replayed in her mind what Kagome had said. "Was?"

Kagome looked away from the both of them and held the photo closer to herself. Memories that weren’t even day-old flashed through her mind as she began to walk to her room. [‘Kana-chan… what is that for?’ So when we can’t see each other, one of us will have the image of the other…He kissed me then and told me not to worry… ‘We’ll never be without one another—I’ll make sure of it.’ Sesshou-kun… I miss you so much… I just… just wish I could see you again…]

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Kohaku shifted uneasily as he saw a shadowy figure in the distance. He gripped the handle of his sickle, prepared to attack. "Who goes there?"

The figure paused for a moment and then continued forward. Finally, it came close enough that Kohaku could tell that the figure was not only a woman—but a miko. Her long black hair rose and fell as she continued walking towards him. "You called me here, yet you welcome me so apprehensively?"

The boy bowed his head in respect to the woman known as Kikyo. "Gomen ne… I was just trying to make sure that you weren’t a yokai."

Kikyo nodded, though somewhat surprised by Kohaku’s wisdom. "Why is it that you called me here, exactly? Don’t tell me that it was just to tell me that Naraku was slain, was it?"

Kohaku shook his head as he began to lead Kikyo towards a disreputable looking hut. "I want to see if you can help this man… I owe him my life, yet he seems to be suffering of some illness that is not of this world."

Kikyo peered into the hut. She would not have been as likely to come had it not been for the dark aura that she noticed in the area. She knew that Naraku had been destroyed, yet this aura was very much like his in some way that even she was unable to identify. [The energy around this hut is more than enough to make even me nervous… what is happening?]

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A.N. Well, I didn’t expect to finish this chapter so quickly, but look at it in the good light that we’re finally starting to reach the end. [Didn’t I say something like that a few chapters back? ^_~ Oh well…] But now I think that everyone can stop asking, ‘You didn’t kill him, did you? Oh, I’ll never forgive you!’ Nope, now you just have to figure out what the hell I did to him that has even Kikyo shaking in her sandals.

Ja ne,

Ryoko Yuy / V Shape Otaku