Miroku hummed casually as he gathered the kindling. A few dead leaves here, some dry twigs there. Night would be falling soon, and he had to get back to his friends before the darkness overtook the forest. Tomorrow night, at least, he reminded himself, they'd be able to sleep in the comfort of a hut rather than on the exposed forest floor.

It was rare that their wanderings to collect the jewel shards and sniff out Naraku's latest hiding place took them so close to what might as well be their home base in Kaede's village. They might have closed the distance completely had they not already been traveling the whole day, not to mention had battled that rampaging youkai that had attacked so suddenly. The great beast had roared and stomped with massive feet, causing the very group to quake and divide asunder beneath its feet. They'd had to retreat to fighting off the backs of Kirara and Shippo (in his floating balloon form) to avoid being knocked down by the violent shaking, or else falling into the great fissures cracking in the earth. After such an ordeal, sandwiched with long periods of travel before and after, the group grew weary and needed rest before they took the final leg of the journey. Thus, there they were, out to endure yet one more night in the forest.

Miroku straightened up, analyzing the bundle of twigs and leaves in his spare hand. Would it be enough? Probably, he thought, and turned to head back towards the campsite.

No sooner had he left, however, than he suddenly heard a pair of voices arguing in the distance. He paused and looked around, listening closely to find who had spoken and from where.

"—all your fault!" one was complaining.

"My fault?" said the other. "I don't remember asking you to tag along, you…you…you dummy!"

"You're the dummy!" the first voice snapped.

"Why you—wait…wait, look there! UNCLE!"

There was a rustling of leaves as two little pairs of feet dashed across the forest. Miroku finally caught sight of the mysterious arguers as a pair of what looked like young children sprinted towards him. Surprised, Miroku turned around, expecting to see another man behind him. When he saw none and turned back in confusion, the children had reached him, panting.

"Uncle!" the second voice said again. It belonged to a young boy, the older of the two. "Please don't get mad at us…but we got lost. Can you take us back to the village?"

"Are…you talking to me?" the monk asked, just to confirm, glancing around the place as though still expecting to see someone else.

"Don't be silly, Uncle, of course we're talking to you," said the boy. "It's getting dark, we wanna go home before Mom and Dad get mad." The second child, a younger girl, nodded vigorously in agreement.

Miroku blinked. He did not recognize these children, nor did he have any nieces or nephews as far as he was aware. Still, these two seemed like they'd had a rough day. Dust and dirt coated their skin, their dark hair tangled and messy. How long had they been lost? The monk took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, searching for a tactful way to explain.

"I'm so sorry, my boy, but I'm afraid you must be mixing me up with someone else. I don't have any nieces or nephews. But I'm sure my friends and I would be happy to take you to the nearest village if you're willing to wait until tomorrow morning. We were planning to head there anyways. You can join us in our camp and we'll leave first thing tomorrow."

The children glanced at each other for a moment before the boy turned back to Miroku with narrowed eyes.

"My sister and I need a second to decide," he announced, putting a hand on the girl's back and taking a few paces away. They leaned into a huddle to start a whispered conversation. Miroku listened in as best he could while appearing not to notice.

"I dunno if we can trust him," the boy was saying. "You know what Mom and Dad are always saying about strangers."

"I think he's ok," the girl responded in a casual, offhand tone. "Besides, you were the one who ran up to him all excited…"

"I thought he was Uncle", the boy snapped. "It's getting hard to see out here."

"Yeah, well…I still think he's ok."

The boy sighed, running a hand through his short dark hair. "Well…" Then he turned back to Miroku.

"Well, alright, mister. We'll stay for this one night. But don't do anything fishy, or else!"

Miroku put his hands up…or, he did as best he could with the kindling in one and his staff in the other.

"You have my word that you'll be safe with us, m'boy," he assured. The boy still didn't look entirely convinced, but the girl smiled.

"Well, all right then," Miroku continued. "Let's get back before it gets completely dark, shall we?" And with that, the three set off towards the camp.

Inuyasha had not yet returned to camp by the time Miroku got there, and Shippo had already fallen asleep, scarcely visible save for the small tuft of auburn hair poking out from the voluminous folds of Kagome's sleeping back. But Kagome and Sango were still awake and present.

"There you are. What took so long?" inquired Sango.

"Sorry about that…something came up," said Miroku, ushering the lost children forward.

"Oh!" gasped Kagome. "Who is this?"

"They were lost out in the woods," explained Miroku. "By the looks of it, it's been a while. I offered to take them back to the village with us; perhaps we can track down their parents there."

"I see," mused Kagome. The sky was now dark and it was hard to see the children in detail, but she did notice the odd look they were giving her—the boy in particular. It was the kind of look she'd seen classmates make as they racked their brains for the answer to a difficult test question—a look she was sure she'd made many times herself. But why? Perhaps, she thought, it's just my imagination…

"Well, it's a little late now, but of course we'll help you first thing in the morning," Kagome promised. "But first, sleep. Let's see…if you live in a village, you're probably not accustomed to sleeping outside…" she sighed. "Alright, why don't you two take the sleeping bag?" she suggested, gesturing towards the long roll of warm fabric. "Never mind the fox; he's friendly,"

"Don't worry," said the girl, yawning widely as she and her brother trudged towards the sleeping bag. "One of our best friends is a fox…"

And before they knew it, they were all asleep, kindling and the thought of fire forgotten in the exhaustion, laying unused next to Miroku's staff.

.oOo.

Kagome was woken the following morning by tiny hands shaking her awake.

"Kagome! Ka-go-meeeee!" came a little strained voice.

Kagome blearily opened her eyes to see Shippo sitting on her chest, looking utterly panicked.

"What is it, Shippo?" she mumbled, her voice still slightly slurred with sleep. "Did you have a nightmare?"

"No, worse!" squeaked the little fox. "The sleeping bag has been taken over by youkai!"

"Youkai?" echoed Kagome, electing not to remind the boy that he himself fell into that category. "Do you mean the two children? Miroku found them lost in the woods last night, we offered to help them out. But they're human." Aren't they?

"No they aren't!" exclaimed Shippo. "Well, I mean, I guess they kinda smell like it…but they sure look like youkai!"

Kagome blinked. There had seemed nothing unusual about the children last night. Had they all been duped? Was the child look naught but a disguise?

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean THAT!" said Shippo, pointing back towards the sleeping back where the lost children were stirring, sitting up and looking around the campsite.

Suddenly Kagome saw what Shippo meant. She was unsure why she hadn't noticed it before—perhaps the cover of darkness had obscured the details—but both children had little fuzzy puppy's ears poking out from their dark hair, not unlike Inuyasha's. Or, at least, the boy's were like Inuyasha's. The girl's were slightly longer and thinner, flopping out over her head.

What an odd feature, Kagome thought. Not for its appearance alone, but for its rarity. She had seen countless youkai over the course of her quest for the jewel, and even met one or two other hanyou, but none that she could recall ever possessed animal ears on an otherwise human form save for Inuyasha himself. But, then, she reasoned, the two other hanyou she had met looked wildly different from each other—the young bat girl Shiori looked almost completely human save her exotic eye and hair colors, while the kind man Jinenji hardly looked human at all. So it was likely that different types of hanyou had different appearances, and she simply hadn't had the chance to meet any similar to Inuyasha before.

But…were they hanyou? She hadn't sensed any youki from them last night, nor had Miroku by the sound of it. Kagome took a moment to focus on her spiritual powers, casting her concentration in the direction of the children. To her slight surprise, she did sense a bit of youki, but it was very weak compared to Inuyasha's.

"Well," she said at length, turning back to Shippo. "If they are youkai, their powers aren't very strong. I don't think you have to worry too much."

"Worry about what?" came a gruff voice. Kagome glanced up to see Inuyasha leaping down from the tree in which he had slept the previous night. "And more importantly, why weren't you sleeping in that stupid bag of yours you insist on toting around? If you ain't gonna use it, we might was well—" the hanyou froze as he turned to indicate the sleeping bag, catching sight of the children for the first time. He paused. "Who the he—"

But before he could finish his question, he was interrupted by the boy crashing into him, hugging the hanyou tightly around the waist.

"DAD!" he cried. "You found us! We were so scared! Or, well…" he straightened up a bit, trying to look mildly dignified. "Izzy was scared. I knew we'd be ok…"

"Liar!" growled the girl—Izzy, apparently. But she too ran up to Inuyasha, looking a bit relieved. "Let's go home now, Daddy, I'm really hungry…"

Inuyasha just stood there, utterly frozen save a few confused twitches, a look of incomprehension on his face.

"… 'Dad'?" repeated Kagome, looking from Inuyasha to the kids and back again. "Inuyasha, what is going on?"

"Yeah, what is going on?" chimed Sango, she and Miroku having been awoken by the sounds.

"Is there something you haven't told us, Inuyasha?" asked Miroku slyly.

"Wha—NO!" snapped the hanyou. "No, there ruddy well isn't! I don't know who these kids are, or were they came from, but they sure as heck ain't mine!"

The kids shrank back, visibly stung.

"Wha…what do you mean?" asked the boy.

"Of course you're our Daddy!" exclaimed Izzy. "You look like him, you have his outfit, and you have his name! They called you Inuyasha! It must be you!"

"Hmm," mused Miroku. "A silver-haired, dog-eared hanyou with a distinctive red robe and the name 'Inuyasha'. Truly a common specimen."

"B..b..b..bu—" sputtered Inuyasha, face turning as red as his robes in embarrassment and anger for a case he couldn't prove. "For cryin' out loud, monk, I've spent the past fifty years pinned to a friggin' tree! How d'you 'spect me to be havin' kids while trapped in a magical sleep for half a decade?!"

Kagome's eyes widened at his argument. He had a good point. And she'd known him ever since his release from said tree—she was certain he couldn't possibly have had any kids after the event. Besides, it hadn't even been a year since then. He wouldn't have had the time. So, if by chance he did have any children, it would've had to be before becoming sealed.

Kagome, somewhat against her will, entertained that thought for a moment. Was it possible that Inuyasha had children before getting sealed to the tree? If he did, she thought it had probably been…with Kikyo…

No, Kagome asserted to herself. No, that couldn't have happened. Inuyasha would've known, wouldn't he? Wouldn't he? And even if he didn't, somehow…that had been fifty years ago. Any kids of theirs would be grown by now, right? Elderly, not children. Right?

Though her logic seemed solid, Kagome could not repress a squirm of discomfort in her gut, struggling to shake the nagging possibility.

"Well, at any rate," Miroku was sighing, "I suppose we can deal with this little misunderstanding when we reach the village. For now, methinks the best thing to do would be to get there as soon as possible. But first," he added, turning back to the confused and somewhat indignant children, "we should get to know our little guests first. I noticed your ears. Are you hanyou?"

The kids shook their heads.

"Our father was a hanyou," said they boy. "But mother's a mortal. A priestess from the village."—Kagome's heart sank rapidly—"She says that we might be the only people like us that ever existed, so there's not really a word for…whatever we are."

"I see," mused Miroku. "Well, at any rate, what are your names?"

"I'm Michi," said the boy. Kagome's brow furrowed. That name was familiar…it sounded like… "And this is my little sister, Izayoi." She did not miss Inuyasha clenching up at the mention of the name.

"'Cept no one really calls me that," announced the girl. "They just call me Izzy."

"How interesting," said Miroku, cocking an eyebrow and Inuyasha and Kagome's odd reactions to the names. "Is something the matter, Kagome?"

He pretended not to notice Michi and Izzy's eyes widen when we addressed his friend.

"Oh, it's nothing," Kagome said a little too quickly. "It's just that I've only ever known one other Michi before, and he was—"

"Kagome?" gasped the boy, interrupting Kagome's statement. "Your name is Kagome?"

"Umm…yes," Kagome replied, a little taken aback.

Michi gaped at her, staring between her and Inuyasha for a while, clearly trying to make sense of something. Izzy's brows were furrowed as well.

"B..b..but," he stammered under his breath. "You look…but I guess…I mean…argh!" He straightened suddenly, looking very frustrated. "What is going on?!"

"What's the matter?" asked Kagome heart pounding.

"Its just that," Michi said shakily, "Kagome is our mother's name!"

There was a long pause as these words sank in, no one moving nor speaking. Miroku and Sango looked slowly from Inuyasha to Kagome as their friends' faces reddened, realizing just what that implied.

"B..but," Kagome said softly, finally breaking the silence, "I…I don't…I've never had kids, I'd remember…and besides," she gulped. I'm only fifteen, after all…

"…do you think," Miroku said when Kagome failed to finish her statement, "that maybe, just maybe…time travel might possibly be involved?"

Everyone turned towards him. Time travel? It wasn't impossible, of course, as they all knew that Kagome employed time travel each time she passed through the well. But didn't that imply that…this was a rather telling peek into the futures of Inuyasha and Kagome?

"Think about it," the monk continued. "There aren't very many hanyou out there, and I'm willing to bet that out of those few, even fewer are dog-hanyou specifically, and out of those few, how many do you really think have a magical fire-rat robe, bear the unusual name 'Inuyasha', and know a priestess named Kagome?" When no one responded, he went on.

"But what Inuyasha said earlier also makes sense. He couldn't have had kids because up until recently he's been trapped under a spell, and even if he hadn't been, he's only known Kagome for a few months, correct?

"All that considered, I can't see how this could be anything other than the children of our very own Inuyasha and Kagome somehow coming back in time." He took a deep breath.

"I know this is probably a huge shock to you both," he conceded, nodding towards Inuyasha and Kagome's hanging jaws and wide eyes, "but it truly seems that the question is not who these children are or even where they came from, but how they got here…"

.oOo.

Author's Note:

Those who have been following my work long enough probably think this sounds pretty familiar. This is a revamp of my 2012 fic "Suddenly Parents", started after a few friends took interest in the concept. Hopefully this version will feature better characterization, less forced story beats, and a more believable arc.

Please review and let me know what you think, and if you're interested in seeing more of the kids, check out my oneshot/drabble collection "Adventures of Tomorrow" (seriously it hasn't gotten any new reviews for the past like 3 updates please go look at it.)