"InuYasha, SIT!" Kagome screamed, tears standing in her eyes, but not yet falling. "And may you never stand again!"

Sango and Miroku were just staring at InuYasha in shock at his latest transgression. The dog demon was still in agony from his battle with Naraku, and he thought wryly that her curse might just come to fruitation. The girl stomped off angrily towards the well, the complete Jewel of Four Souls around her neck.

"Yes, InuYasha. Big sit." Miroku told him, sneering in his irritation at the demon that had dared do such a thing to a lady.

"Gods take the wench, I'm not going after her." The half-breed demon snarled.

"Not even for the Shikon?" Sango asked scornfully.

"Not even for the damned Jewel. Never again."

&

Kagome lay on her bed, not really wanting to do anything. For the first couple of days, she feared that InuYasha would come to drag her back to the feudal era, or at least steal the Shikon she still wore around her neck. Then she hoped he would; she could scream at him and sit him a few times. Finally, after about a week, she realized that this time, he really wasn't coming. After everything else, it felt like that was the last betrayal.

He only cared for me because I reminded him of Kikyo. No matter what I felt, InuYasha never loved me…

She summoned the will to rise, dress, and leave for school. During the break at midday for lunch, she listened to the chatter around her, not caring to join in. Slowly, she became more and more disgusted with what she heard from the girls she associated with; they seemed so shallow! She looked at the scar that ran down the length of her arm, a memento of the desperate battles for her life that she had so recently been involved in. The giggles and gossip meant nothing. She missed the late night talks she had enjoyed so recently; Sango helping her with archery and talking about how to navigate by the constellations, Miroku teaching her about the herbs that he used in exorcism and to heal, Shippo's lively chatter: about the day, his hopes and dreams, his constant nagging for her to agree to mate InuYasha so that he could have a true family again…

Her teasing and fighting with InuYasha…

Abruptly, she slammed her books down on the table and left.

"Hey, what's wrong with Kagome? She's been moody ever since she returned to school. You think it has anything to do with that violent, two-timing boyfriend of hers?" She heard the voices of her friends from behind her:

"Dunno. Maybe it was all that time she was sick."

"Yeah…Hey, did you hear that Hojo was literally visiting her every day after school?"

Inwardly, Kagome boiled at the sound of the giggles. She wished for sensible conversation, for instruction in useful skills, yearned for something to happen, even something life threatening!

In that instant, she realized that, since she would never return to the feudal era, she would never fit in anywhere again…