Kagome was surprised – shocked, even – when four days after being rather forcibly (and quite unwillingly) returned back to her own time, yōki pricked at her senses. She had thought yōkai to be extinct or deep in hiding in some dimension or place where ningen couldn't find them but there, in broad daylight, in the dusty bookshop she was perusing through (looking for history books that had more information on yōkai – Kagome had a mind to become a History Major when she reached that age, because she would never stop being obsessed with the life she had led for the previous year), she felt the thrill and tingle that reminded her so very much of her other home for the past year that she almost broke down right in the middle of the shop.

She composed herself, however, and sought out the person the yōki was emanating from; that yōki felt moderately comforting and strongly, unavoidably familiar to her – had one of her friends from the Sengoku Jidai survived to this era? Surely not, that would be far too much good luck and experience with Naraku and other undesirables had taught Kagome that she was rather lacking in good luck and rather overflowing with bad luck. But still she searched and—there it was!

The coffee shop next door was definitely housing a yōkai patron, and as she sought them out, a long, perfect mass of silver hair immediately drew her attention and caught it. Sesshōmaru-sama!

He seemed to hear her thought and turned around, his eyes… Wow. Oh just, wow! Kagome had never seen anything other than cold fury, pure disdain, or an icy impassiveness in those glorious golden eyes but oh how well the amusement and gentle superiority in them now suited him. He looked like a completely different person as he inclined his head towards her. "Kagome. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, as you are the only active miko in this era. Have a seat."

His tone was as superior as ever, but Kagome obeyed the command, partly with curiosity, but partly because of the intense amusement laced beneath it. Since when was Sesshōmaru-sama so free with his emotions? What in the world had gone on in his past to change him so?

As she sat down she took in his appearance; Sesshōmaru-sama was wearing a crisp charcoal grey suit (with a crimson tie) that suited him far too well, his hair was impeccable and long as ever, and his markings were plain as day; to her at least. Nobody else was giving him the kinds of strange looks that facial tattoos like his yōkai markings would generate so Kagome strongly suspected that they were disguised to anyone without certain kinds of power to them. "Wow, it really is you, absurdly long hair an-eep!"

Kagome covered her mouth as soon as those stupid, suicidal words left her mouth, but much to her shock, all they did was make the yōkai in front of her chuckle lowly. She blinked in confusion at that, "Since when do you laugh? The Sesshōmaru-sama I know would have lopped off my head for saying that!"

He shook his head with another chuckle, his eyes glittering strangely and fondness hiding in their depths. "Time changes even those of us most resistant to change, Kagome. Besides, my friendship with you taught me many things."

Friendship? What the hell? He couldn't mean—not unless… She gasped, her words coming out in a rush, "I get to go back? It opens again?"

"For one day only, after which it closes once more for good. Everyone was most surprised when you came back to us."

Oh, how wonderful! She got to go back to the place that felt more like home to her than the future ever had!

The following conversation started the best three years of Kagome's life. Sesshōmaru was a wonderful conversationalist and they met after school, on weekends, during the weekdays of her school breaks. They met in bookshops, malls, café's, coffee shops, at Kagome's home. He taught her more about history, taught her how to better manage and harness her now unsealed powers, taught her how to use a bow more accurately – the last two things being ones that she had taught him about in the past so that he could teach her about them now. Time was weird.

She also gave up on Inuyasha after several pointed conversations which had all of them ended up with her realising that firstly, Inuyasha and her weren't really suitable for each other; secondly, she deserved someone who saw her as herself from the beginning; and thirdly, Inuyasha was likely to have moved on, considering that three years was a very long time and he had probably not been expecting her to come back at all.

When the time finally came for her to leave, she said a teary goodbye to her new best friend, and he promised her that he would be fine; she was needed in the past.

Little did she know that as soon as she left, Sesshōmaru went home, fetched his mate, and promptly brought her back to her old home so that she could see her mother after five hundred years' time.

Inuyasha was, predictably, the first person to notice that she was back, and his eyes were filled with a mixture of hope, worry, and disappointment that made Kagome realise he had moved on and didn't want to break her heart. Luckily for the both of them it would not be broken. "Hello, Inuyasha! It's so wonderful to see you again! The well opened up, for one day only, and I decided I like it better here than in my old home. Don't worry – I didn't come back just for you, but all my closest friends are here and this place was my whole life for a year… I couldn't possibly stay away."

He nodded at that, then tentatively asked, "I… You… What're you expectin' from me?"

Blunt as ever. Kagome smiled softly and ruffled the hair between his ears, "Friendship and nothing more. I wasn't expecting you to stop your life just waiting for me to come back when you didn't even know I'd ever be back."

Inuyasha sighed at that and gave her a wry grin. "I met another hanyō two years ago and we kinda have a thing goin' on. I didn't wanna hurt you."

She smiled softly at him and nodded. She could understand that. "Where is Shippō?"

He was practically her son, after all, so of course she would want to know where he was. "He's been livin' with Kaede, just like Rin is. They're like brother and sister by now, and Sesshōmaru, would you believe it, treats them like his own kids. In fact, he's in town today if you wanna go see him. He's... changed. A lot."

Kagome nodded at that and allowed Inuyasha to lead her back to the small village of Edo and towards Sesshōmaru (after three years things changed, although she suspected her habit would return to her and soon she would be calling him Sesshōmaru-sama like he preferred in this time period) and her son and the ever so adorable Rin.

Sesshōmaru noticed the moment that the miko came back. It was impossible to miss, what with the unfurling of power coming from the well and the astringent – but not unpleasant – bite of power that her ki held. Hn. Strange. Someone had broadened her knowledge of how to use her spiritual ki – her reserves were no longer untamed, although they were still wild and free. Not a traditional education then. More like she had learned how to use her own ki in the same way that yōkai were taught how to use yōki. How delightfully unusual.

Shippō noticed the familiar power moments after Sesshōmaru himself did, and gasped in excitement, although he stayed where he was. They had heard Inuyasha head off towards the well; he and the miko had some things to talk out, considering his brother had been very reasonable and gotten over his lopsided and unfair crush on her two years ago; shortly before he met the hanyō he was courting now. Soon enough the pair of them were headed back towards the village, and as soon as she entered into Kaede's hut her adopted – and his adopted – son was rushing her. She leaned down and caught him, lifting him into the air freely as he squealed joyfully. "Shippō-darling! I've missed you so much, my sweet little boy."

The direct confirmation of their previously unspoken relationship made the auburn haired kitsune sniffle and cling to her. "Mama! I missed you too, Mama. Please say you're back to stay, please!"

Her eyes were filled with happiness as she responded to him, swaying lightly. "I am, dear one. I'm back for good, Shippō-mine."

It was then that Rin spoke up, curiosity filling her voice, "I didn't know your mama was human like me, otōto-kun."

He scrambled down the miko's body and nodded fervently, grabbing Rin's hand and leading her over. "Yep! Mama, this is Rin-ne. Sesshōmaru-sama adopted both of us. Do you mind?"

She had a sweet, amused smile on her face as she responded, "Of course not. If I had stayed I would have asked Sesshōmaru-sama to teach you all those things you needed to learn but that I couldn't teach you. However… Rin-chan, what is Kaede teaching you?"

"Herbs and how to use them, and how to heal other people."

The miko nodded firmly, then looked over at Sesshōmaru. He tilted his head, giving her permission to address him. "Sesshōmaru-sama, it would genuinely please me to take over Rin's lessons and act as a mother figure to her as well, so that the lessons can be moved to a place more comfortable to you. Kaede is getting older and I have learned the things necessary to be able to teach Rin how to aid yōkai as well as ningen."

His eyes narrowed and he stilled completely. How could she know such things, unless… He sniffed the air and immediately made a sharp gesture. "Miko, follow."

He abruptly left the hut and walked up towards the well, a chuckling miko following after him. Clearly she found the situation amusing to some extent. Sesshōmaru himself was unsure what he felt about the situation, as they arrived and he demanded her to, "Explain why you smell of this Sesshōmaru."

She complied with ease, "Four days from when the well deposited me back into the future, I felt yōki from a store I was in. I had previously believed there to be no yōkai left in my time – it turned out that I had just not been aware of them. The yōki was familiar to me, which made me immediately investigate the source, only to meet with, well, you. We became friends after he informed me that we had been… well… friends back here as well, and it was he who taught me how to both better use a bow and better use my ki; apparently I had taught you in order so that he could teach me. He also taught me various other things, like yōkai herbalism, how to break and mend bones, and ki healing, some of which are among what I would like to pass on to Rin and others which I can only do that with if she ends up having reiryoku."

Sesshōmaru felt he really had no choice, which, surprisingly, he did not chafe at. Clearly there was more going on than meets the eye, as he would already know how to teach her to use her ki in the manner with which she had been taught, but considering the stable time-loop that their interactions had created, he would suffer her intrusion into his life. Instinct told him there was more going on here that his future self had kept them both unaware of, and that things had to remain in such a way in order for life to proceed how it had already done. "Agreed, then. We shall move to my shiro."

As it turned out, Sesshōmaru actually did need the instruction that the miko had passed on to him, as in order to safely teach her (Sesshōmaru was loath to admit it, but the once-displaced miko in his care was now so powerful that she could obliterate him without a thought if she put her mind to it) he had to teach her control that was an order of magnitude greater than was usual when yōkai learned how to control their yōki.

However, once he had learned, he began teaching Kagome (after enough time, things changed) how to fight with a sword as well, even to the point of being able to infuse her blade with her ki like she could her arrows. (Which she did not even need any more, excepting for hunting purposes – she had learned to overcome the need for a physical anchor to use her ki with and could simply form the arrows from her ki as she shot, making her very useful at mid- and long-range attacks.) When they patrolled his lands together with the children, he did not ever have to worry about her safety, as Kagome could defend herself and the children more than adequately.

It was most satisfying to have someone so competent in his small pack.

Kagome sighed softly as she watched the sun rise, not speaking when her travelling companion, friend, and person she loved with every fibre of her being settled in next to her. After a while, she spoke what was on her mind – what had been on her mind ever since she saw her reflection for the first time in a decade in the onsen near where they had camped out. "The Shikon is keeping me alive. I think I'm immortal now."

Her voice was filled with pain and confusion, but she was shocked out of her tangled emotions and into obedience when Sesshōmaru ordered of her, "Explain."

She complied, "When… When I wished the Shikon away… It didn't actually disappear. It sank back into my body; this time right where my heart is instead of where it previously resided."

"Hn. Of course the jewel would not want its vessel to die; that would cause the Shikon to die as well. What caused this realisation?"

Kagome grimaced. Most women would be glad for what she was about to say. Kagome, needless to say, was not most women. "I saw my reflection in the onsen. I never paid attention to it before, because I don't really care about my appearance beyond that I stay clean and well-groomed… But this time I unavoidably saw what I look like. I haven't aged a day. I still look eighteen. You probably didn't notice because you're used to being around yōkai and besides, you still look around nineteen yourself… but that isn't normal for humans. Even if I happened to be lucky and have a more youthful appearance than my age, that does not hold ten years worth of ageing. At best I would look in my early twenties rather than twenty eight. But no. I still look eighteen."

Sesshōmaru turned her face to his, his golden eyes filled with a slight amount of confusion and a moderate amount of concern. "And this pains you?"

She looked to the ground until he tightened his grip on her chin and she obediently raised her eyes. "Miroku and Sango and Rin… I'll be forced to watch them age and die and there is nothing I can do about it, Sesshōmaru. My- my family will die around me and I can't escape that inevitability."

A clawed hand ran through her hair in a comforting gesture, forcing Kagome to realise that even Sesshōmaru was not unchanged by time. He had grown considerably over the past decade, although only towards a limited number of people. "This is true, and it will pain you deeply, but there is one very good thing that will come of this, Kagome."

She hiccuped, blinking away tears. Even the mere thought of it hurt her already. "What is that?"

The hand holding her chin moved to stroke her cheek gently, "Shippō and I will not be forced to watch you die, which would pain the both of us immeasurably, Kagome."

Then he leaned forward and kissed her, which caused all of her thoughts to flee her head.

Sesshōmaru watched his mate flutter around with a huff. Seriously, this woman would never fail to be amusing. "Hurry up, hurry up! Go cheat on me with myself, Sesshōmaru! Well, no, it isn't cheating if it's with your mate, is it? Not to mention you kept it strictly friendly, but still! Today's the day and I don't want you to be late-"

He shut her up by grabbing her around the waist and kissing her, smiling against her lips. "Koishi, we created a stable time-loop. It is impossible for me to accidentally destroy it; fate itself will ensure that you stay in that bookshop long enough to sense me."

She pulled away and huffed, her eyes filled with love and adoration. "Okay, but still I'd rather not take chances with my future thank you very much."

He smiled again and kissed her again, before pulling away and sliding into the jacket of the suit his mate had picked out for him. She didn't remember all of the outfits he had worn, but she remembered the first one, and had been the one to buy it for him last year when she saw it in the store. "I love you, Kagome. I'll see you in a few hours."

Kagome smiled as Sesshōmaru left, and sat down after grabbing her whimpering son; the latest of ten children. They used a yōkai midwife for their births, and as soon as the children were old enough for socialisation, Shippō placed an illusion on them that would make them look completely human to anyone without yōki or spiritual ki – kitsune were not very common in this day and age, but they were widely called upon to disguise yōkai markings and appendages.

Shippō had been the one to create the spell to begin with; it turned out that he was a daiyōkai and a very powerful one at that, his skills at the kitsune arts unmatched.

She loosened the front of her kimono and allowed little Hayato to begin feeding with a content sigh.

Three more years until she could see her family again. What an interesting few years this would be, as future and past intermingled so that fate could unfold smoothly.