from the group.Finally he stopped on a small hill. A light breeze was blowing across the land. Sesshoumaru's gaze fell on the left sleeve of his kimono, which was blowing slightly in the wind. The seam that covered Inuki's attack was easy to see on closer inspection.
> Strange girl. <, Sesshoumaru thought for a brief moment. > An ordinary, weak person and yet ... <
The youkai paused for a moment, then turned back to go.

Kimie woke up in the middle of the night. When she looked at the clock, she found that it was just two in the morning. But somehow she couldn't get back to sleep.
> I hate it when that happens. <
After lying awake for a while, Kimie got up and went to the window. She pushed the curtains aside and opened the window. A gentle, mild wind penetrated the interior of the room. Kimie breathed in the fresh air and then directed her gaze up to the midnight blue sky, where numerous stars shone and the crescent moon stood."Just like the mark on his forehead ...", Kimie mumbled dreamily, but shortly afterwards immediately registered what she had just said. "What am I thinking here?", She asked herself confused and closed the window again. "It's been going on like this for the whole week! I'm traumatized, it must be."
Inuki woke from his sleep at the sudden noise and gave his mistress a curious look. Kimie, now calmer, sat down on her bed again.
"Am I fooling myself all the time? Does that really concern me so much? It's kind of crazy.", She mumbled to herself. She had this strange feeling that she didn't know what to do. But what could she do about it?
Inuki watched carefully, Kimie finally got up from her bed, took off her pajamas and slipped into her normal clothes. Then she quietly opened the door of her room. But when she felt Inuki nudging her head lightly, she stopped moving."I'll be right back, Inuki.", Kimie whispered to her dog. “Wait for me here, okay?” But Inuki seemed to want to go with his mistress. Again and again he nudged her and whimpered softly. Finally Kimie agreed. "Well then, come with me.", She said and then left the room with the mongrel.

Jaken and Ah-Un were already sound asleep, only Rin couldn't really fall asleep. At some point she sat up and looked slightly unsettled at Sesshoumaru, who was sitting on the branch of a tree nearby. Was he asleep? Rin wondered that while she got up and walked slowly towards the tree. Arrived at this she looked up questioningly. "Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"Rin. You should actually be sleeping.", Sesshoumaru came back immediately. He hadn't slept, he did that better than ever, even when his eyes were closed. But now he opened it and looked down at the little girl who was standing by the tree."Yeah, I know," Rin replied to the youkai's statement. "But somehow I can't sleep."
Sesshoumaru jumped down from the tree and landed silently in front of the girl, who continued to speak quietly: "I miss Kimie-san and Inuki. Don't you miss them, Sesshoumaru-sama?"
Sesshoumaru was not really prepared for this question, but he showed no signs of uncertainty or the like, instead he answered calmly but with an indifferent undertone: "I'm not worried about that."
Rin looked down. She didn't really know what to say to that and was silent. At some point Sesshoumaru broke the silence that existed between the two. "Go back and try to sleep, Rin.", He instructed the girl, who nodded in agreement and then went back to Jaken and Ah-Un. After Rin lay down again, Sesshoumaru looked up at the midnight blue sky. Again a light wind came up.
> Actually absurd that she should really make me waste a single thought on her.After all, she is only human
Sesshoumaru picked up the elongated bundle he was carrying. His gaze rested on it for a long time.
> Why am I even worried? the youkai wondered, looking up at the sky again. The stars stood in great numbers on this and the light of the moon fell on the earth. A scattered shooting star fell from the sky.
Sesshoumaru stayed that way for a while until he finally averted his gaze.

Kimie stood thoughtfully by the fountain and looked inside. But it was far too dark for her to see the ground. With her head resting on her hand, she was apparently just dreaming.
> What am I doing here anyway? <, thought Kimie after a while. > I have decided not to go back to the other epoch. What am I supposed to do there anyway? The matter is done! <
"But actually ..." Somehow, Kimie had the feeling that she was torn. She looked at Inuki, who was sitting right next to her."Inuki, what do you think? Am I acting stupid?" The mongrel tilted his head a little. Kimie paused briefly, then continued: "Somehow I feel pretty idiotic at the moment. On the one hand, I keep telling myself that this thing is over for me, but on the other hand, I would like to go back again." And that was the truth. Kimie would love to go back to the Middle Ages. There was something she wanted to do that for, and there was someone she wanted to make up for, even though she'd always tried to deny it before.
"I want to see him again.", Kimie finally said quietly and with a slightly sad undertone. "I would like to be able to speak to him again. If I don't do that now, I may never have the opportunity to do so again. Only once more, even if it were only for a brief moment ..."
Inuki seemed to know exactly what Kimie had just decided for herself.He nudged her hand gently, as if to reassure her in her decision. Kimie smiled slightly. "So do you think I should go back again? Even though you don't like him?", She asked with a testing undertone, whereupon Inuki put his front paws on the edge of the old well and looked at her invitingly. That was answer enough for Kimie.

Suddenly she heard the sliding door to the shrine being opened and a voice penetrated her: "Kimie, it's the middle of the night. I saw you come here. What are you doing here?"
Kimie had turned around immediately and was a bit startled at first. She didn't expect anyone in the shrine to surprise her at this hour. But when she saw who was at the door, she quickly calmed down again. "Kagome, it's you.", Kimie stated relieved and let out a sigh of relief. Then she looked again at the fountain and looked down."Oh, nothing special. I'm just thinking."
Kagome seemed surprised by this statement and was about to ask her cousin something when Kimie continued: "Although ... Actually, that's only half the story."
"What do you mean?", Kagome asked calmly and came up to her. Kimie hesitated at first, but then she managed to ask her cousin a question: "Kagome, I want to ask you something. Would it be possible that I would accompany you back to the other era?"
Kagome gave Kimie an extremely puzzled look. She really wouldn't have expected that now. "But I thought you didn't want to go there again.", Said the younger one and earned a slight nod. "Yes, I know, but ... There is something else, why I would like to come back again. Please! It would be very important to me!" Kimie looked at Kagome pleadingly and seemed impatient for an answer. At first Kagome paused. Apparently, Kimie didn't want to tell her the exact reason for this sudden decision.After a brief moment the younger one smiled benevolently. "Well then! If you want, we'll go first thing in the morning."
You could clearly see how happy Kimie was when she heard those words. She smiled gratefully at Kagome. "Thank you, Kagome."

Until the next morning, Kimie hadn't slept a single eye. She was very excited and couldn't wait until she and Kagome were finally ready the next morning after breakfast to switch back to the other era. Kimie had made up her mind to have a quiet talk with Kagome about everything at the right time; why she wanted to go back to the past and what happened when she was at Sesshouamru. But first Kimie wanted to find Sesshoumaru. After all, that was the main reason she wanted to go back.
After the two girls had said goodbye to their family, they immediately went to the fountain. Inuki accompanied them. But before they set off, Kagome gave Kimie a little something."Here, Kimie. Take this."
Kimie looked extremely surprised at the small object that was in Kagome's palm. "That's one of your jewel splinters.", Kimie stated and immediately got the splinter from her cousin. "I'll lend it to you," said Kagome with a smile. "So you can travel back and forth between the epochs without restriction. Just in case you want to turn back earlier or something."
Kimie looked at the jewel splinter in silence at first, but then nodded gratefully and put it in her pocket. "Thank you, Kagome."
Now the two girls were getting ready to go through the well. But before either of them could take the first step, Inuki pulled Kimie's jacket lightly with his teeth. Kimie turned to her dog in surprise. “Do you want to come with me again, Inuki?” Actually she had planned not to take Inuki with her this time, but the mongrel didn't seem to really agree.
"Okay.Then the three of us go. ", Kagome said, whereupon Inuki barked happily. Kimie smiled benevolently at her dog and nodded in agreement.
We could finally start. Kagome jumped into the well first, followed closely by Kimie, who was holding Inuki. Just like the first time, she felt as if she was floating shortly afterwards, and in the end there was a soft landing and the three of them found themselves again in the past.
"Here we are.", Said Kagome and looked up the shaft of the well. Before starting the ascent, Kimie turned to her cousin again: "Kagome, could you go ahead? I'll stay here with Inuki for the time being."
Kagome nodded in agreement. "It's good. Then I'll get Inuyasha to get Inuki out of here. I'll hurry too." It didn't take long until she climbed out of the well. Meanwhile, Kimie waited with Inuki in the well and used the time to think about everything again. She hoped she could do it the way she'd imagined.It felt like maybe five to ten minutes had passed when she finally