Kagome smiled as the gentle breeze drifted over her, bring the fresh smells of the Feudal Era. She closed her eyes, basking in the warm sunlight. Soon though, the light behind her eyelids faded. Confused, she opened her eyes, only to see blackness all around her. She jumped as a hand grabbed her shoulder.

Turning, her gaze met with glorious golden eyes. She smiled. "Inuyasha!" she went to throw her arms around him, but he was moving away. "Inu," she whispered, all the pain of her heart breaking behind her words. When he finally faded from sight, she collapsed on the ground, crying. "Why?" she sobbed into her palms. A tapping on her shoulder brought her back.

"Kagome-sama! These are for you!" Rin smiled at her, holding out a fistful of purple flowers. Kagome smiled, hugging the girl. She laughed and ran off behind her. Kagome stood to follow, but standing right behind her was Sesshomaru Her gaze traveled up his silk clad body, meeting his emotionless expression. Rin laughed, running over to the two. She grabbed each of their hands, pulling them together. When Kagome looked back up at the demon, he was smiling at her, a true smile that warmed his eyes.

He turned, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He motioned for her to look another way, over to a lighted area of woods that hadn't been there before. Soul Collectors were weaving between the trees, following the dead priestess she so much resembled. Inuyasha stepped out of the woods towards her. He looked like he had been through hell, dirty and scarred. She went to him, wrapping her arms around him. Kagome watched from Sesshomaru's embrace, tears streaming down her face.

She had caused his depression, it was all her fault. But he would be happier with Kikyo. The vision faded, and Kagome turned. Rin was on the other side of Sesshomaru, smiling up at the both of them. It felt so right, like she belonged.

Yes, that was it. That was her home.

---

It was well into the night when Inuyasha snuck in through Kagome's bedroom window. She was sleeping so peacefully, but a range of emotions were crossing her features. He resisted the urge to reach down and brush the raven locks from her cheeks. Instead, he quietly pulled out the chair at her desk, straddled it, and rested his chin on the back. He studied her as she slept, watching her chest rise and fall underneath the blankets. Eventually, he himself fell into a light sleep.

As dawn approached he awoke. He decided to go wait outside until signs of life were seen inside the Higurashi residence, and promptly went outside to go sit in Goshinboku and think for awhile.

The morning passed uneventfully. Inuyasha, being a chicken, hadn't shown himself inside, instead deciding to wait out in the tree until Kagome came outside so he could catch her alone. It was a long wait, but he had a lot to sort through in his mind.

As midday approached, a new, and very familiar scent reached him, coming from the well. "No fucking way!" Inuyasha growled, jumping down from the great tree and going to investigate for himself.

----

The previous night, Sesshomaru had finally laid his plan into action. He had gone out and found a rather weak youkai that somehow managed to come into possession of a single shard of the Shikon no Tama. It would be a good reason for him to seek the miko, though it wasn't really a crucial part of his scheme. Immediately he set off for the village that his spies had informed him the troupe seemed to call home when they weren't out fighting.

It would be a long journey, and he wouldn't get there until the next morning, but it would be worth it. After all, the taiyoukai was getting bored, he decided that he needed to amuse himself, and what better way than to get under his half brother's skin?

The journey had gone smoothly, just as he had expected. Rin and Jaken were left at his home so he had nothing to slow him down. He smirked as the village came into sight, but was confused when he couldn't scent the hanyou or the miko. Instead he sought out the slayer and monk, who were fairly simple to find. The sound of her palm connecting with his face could be heard from quite a ways off.

"Where is the miko?" he asked, stopping before them. They had both sensed him coming and were standing, ready to try to defend the village if need be. When he asked about Kagome, however, they looked confused. Sesshomaru growled. "This is her home village, she travels with you, where is she?"

Miroku smirked, waving his arms around and wiggling his fingers, "nobody knows!" he said, attempting to be humorous. Sango shook her head, looking exasperated. Sesshomaru, far from amused, glared at the monk. The winds shifted and he caught the scent of the hanyou off to the forest, and headed in that direction. Before leaving, he turned back to the monk. "If I find you were lying about your knowledge of the miko's whereabouts, I will personally kill you."

Miroku gulped, watching him walk off into the woods. Sango turned to him. "You're in deep shit houshi," she smirked. Moments later, she was slapping him across the face.

"Please Sango, allow me the pleasure of your bottom, since I am apparently at the top of Sesshomaru's list," he smiled through the pain. She scowled at him.

"That's your own fault, so leave my ass out of it."

Meanwhile, Sesshomaru had followed Inuyasha's scent to where it was strongest; the tree he had been pinned to for so many years, but the hanyou wasn't there. Sesshomaru followed his scent trail, leading him straight to the old well. Puzzled at to why the scent suddenly stopped there, he wandered around for awhile, trying to pick it back up, but it always led him back to the well. Looking down into the darkness, he shrugged and jumped in.

The blue light surrounded him halfway down, much to Sesshomaru's surprise. "How strange," he muttered, looking around him. Not long after, the light faded and he touched down at the bottom. "Very strange indeed." He jumped out, but was surprised to see that instead of the grass and trees, wooden walls surrounded him. Cautiously, he moved up the steps, peeking through the slats in the door. Odd construction was all around, the air was stuffier, full of what he could only describe as stink.

Unfortunately, he could also see his half brother leaping out of a certain tree and rushing towards him. Placing his hand on Tokijin, he slid the door open and stepped outside into the bright sunlight.

---

"Sesshomaru you asshole!" Inuyasha's voice could be heard from inside. Kagome jumped up from the breakfast table and raced outside, her mother and brother at her heels. Sure enough, standing in the middle of their courtyard, Inuyasha was glaring daggers at his brother, Tessaiga drawn and ready to fight. Sesshomaru looked around the grounds, spotted her, and was standing in front of her in a flash.

"Uh, Sesshomaru?" she stared, her mouth agape. Her mother gasped. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"Where is this place?" he asked her, completely ignoring her question. "It stinks. The construction is odd. And why did I have to jump in a well to get here?"

"Hey asshole! I was talking to you!" Inuyasha fumed, stomping over to stand between him and Kagome. Sesshomaru narrowed his gaze at the hanyou, shoving him aside and looking back to Kagome for answers.

"Um," she paused, trying to think. "This isn't your era, this is five hundred years in the future," she winced, hoping that the truth would be easier than making something up. "That's why the buildings look odd, and it stinks. The well is kind of a time warp thing. But how did you get through the well?"

"Why don't we all go inside?" Kagome's mom smiled, holding the door open.

"Mom, do you really think that Ojiichan will really want a full blooded demon in our house?" Kagome groaned. Sesshomaru smirked to himself and stepped inside, much to the shock of Kagome and the ire of Inuyasha. "Well, it's not like he's going to degrade himself and actually share a meal with us," Kagome muttered.

"Hi, my name's Souta!" a voice sounded ahead of them. Kagome slapped her palm to her forehead, rushing to grab her brother.

"Forgive him, he's just a kid," Kagome worriedly said to the taiyoukai.

"Are those tattoos? Why stripes?" Souta interjected, ignoring his sister's worry. Sesshomaru turned and knelt down to his level.

"I was born with them." He allowed a few moments for the boy to examine his features, then stood and continued on his way. Unfortunately, the living room was ahead of the dining area, and the television was on. "What is that?" he stared.

"That's the television," Souta grinned, glad to show around another being who had never experienced modern conveniences. "It's got lots of neat stuff on it, but the coolest thing is video games!" Kagome groaned, but Sesshomaru ventured in to take a closer look.

Souta picked up the two controllers, handing one to the demon lord. He flipped the system on and sat down to play. Kagome stood at the door, smiling in wonder at the fearsome lord of the west sitting in her home playing video games with her little brother. She just hoped that her brother had the good sense to let him win!

After awhile of listening to Souta explain how it worked, what buttons to press to make the character do what, Kagome was satisfied that everything would be okay and headed back to finish her breakfast. Inuyasha was sitting at the table pouting into his bowl of ramen her mother had made for him. "What does that baka think he's doing here? How the hell did he get here anyways?" he groaned.

"Oh, I imagine he's playing video games with my brother, and he came here through the well," Kagome grinned back. Inuyasha stuck his tongue out at her and turned back to his food. "What I'm wondering is when YOU got here."

Inuyasha choked. "Earlier this morning," he whimpered, trying to avoid the glare he knew Kagome would be sending his way. When he finally looked back, she was sitting calmly, but he could almost see the anger fuming off her.

"So you knew that for the past week I've wanted you to come here and talk to me, but you avoided it this long. And when you finally do show up, you don't even come inside. Great, just, fine." She stood, thanked her mother for the meal, and stomped upstairs.