Disclaimer: The only work that is not my original work is the characters and settings of the show "InuYasha".

Chapter 1: Solitude's Echo

Once again, Kagome was alone, if only for a few minutes. After rampant protests from InuYasha while scrawling down a last-minute shopping list (twirly pops and a new set of crayons for Shippo, a bath-and-body set for Sango, allegedly sacramental sake for the itinerant monk Miroku and catnip for Kirara), she draws strength from the cool, calm serenity of the well.

Sure, once she pops up in her era, there will undoubtedly be tests on subjects she's skirted aside for months, nagging by her gaggle of friends to drop her control-freak boyfriend for well-meaning Hojo, and the empty feeling that creeps up whenever she's without InuYa…

No, Kagome thinks, faintly mumbling under her breath, I've got to take advantage of this. For these fleeting moments of solitude, Kagome is whole again.

A crimson glow floods the sky as InuYasha paces around the well, too occupied by his insecurity to notice the four sets of eyes fixed upon him. Stupid Kagome, InuYasha's mind prattles in silence. How can she leave me… I mean… us, at a time like this? I can feel Naraku's aura in the air, he's close enough to grasp… it's so dangerous in her era, she could get mowed down by one of those motorized rickshaw contraptions, robbed by a thief… or maybe she won't come back… I could hardly blame her, she deserves a res…

"No! I need her here!" he exclaims without realizing his thoughts have become too heavy to be contained by mind alone. "I know! I just won't allow her to go back, how would she like that!"

"I'm guessing not very much," Miroku says, leading the quartet of eavesdroppers towards the well.

"Yeah," Sango agrees. "If you press her too much, we risk losing not only a good friend, but a valuable asset in our quest for the Shikkon Jewel shards."

"Oh yeah?" InuYasha growled. "Well, if she's so great, how come I'm the one bailing us out all the time?"

Shippo's blood boiled at yet another defamatory rant from the hypocritical hanyou. "Is that right? If she's so worthless, then how come whenever she's gone, you pace around like a hurt puppy, taking an extra hour in the hot springs to lick your w…"

InuYasha looked at the little fox demon, focused all his pent up anger about the matter at hand and took it out upside Shippo's oddly shaped noggin. After the dark clouds of anger subsided, he assessed the collateral damage applied to the unconscious fox, and his ears slowly lowered in anticipation of the consequences of such actions… and there was silence. The thundering command of the modern miko would not be heard this evening, replaced by the repulsed glares of the two mortals before him.

"You've really gotta take control of your emotions, InuYasha," the demon slayer said as she took the diminutive demon sprite into her arms.

"She has a point," Miroku chimed, walking to Sango's side. "After all, women are free spirits, and are not made to be caged or possessed. Once you understand the true desires of a woman's heart, the feelings of resentment will quickly rub their way… I mean, work their way…"

It was too late to save face, the lecher realized, as he looked down at his hand, firmly grasping Sango's supple bottom. For a moment, he felt he could empathise with InuYasha, himself feeling like a childlike puppy awaiting inevitable scolding for a bad deed. Unlike the hanyou, though, the object of Miroku's desire was right beside him, as evidenced by the reddish five-fingered tattoo delivered soon after.

"See," InuYasha triumphantly retorted, arms akimbo. "And you two are trying to lecture me about keeping control of my emotions! You stupid hypocrites, maybe Kagome's right, you two should mate and get it over with!"

Sango's ears blew out steam as the crimson shade of her face matches the sunset above her. "YOU INSOLENT HANYOU," she growled, "I HAVE BUTCHERED GREATER DEMONS THAN YOU FOR FAR LESS AN INDESCRESION!"

Sango then felt the heat upon her face, and caught flance of the slightly satisfied, slightly frightened, mostly speechless look on InuYasha's face. "ARRRRGHH! IT'S JUST NOT WORTH IT!"

She threw her arms in the air, dropping the fox demon upon the firm ground below, widening the gash in back of his head. InuYasha laughed heartily at the spectacle.

"You know what? I'm going to take Shippo to Kaede's village. C'mon Kirara, let's go!" Sango scoops up Shippo in one arm, and grabs the lecherous monk by the tiny tail in back of his head ("OWW!" the monk screamed). With a "mew" of agreeance, Kirara transformed and took the three towards Kaede's village.

InuYasha's laughing quieted, and he realized the ramifications of his actions. Yet, he decided, this was no time for rational action.

"FINE!" he yelled, "WHO NEEDS YOUR STUPID HELP ANYWAY! GO AWAY THEN, YA COWARDS!"

But by this time, the four are long gone, with only the fiery glimmer of Kirara's tail visible in the distance. He looked around. Making sure there were no other witnesses to his actions. InuYasha sighed, found a soft spot of grass, and sat. Once again, InuYasha was alone.

"Aaahhh…" Kagome exhales in glee as she gets ready for her shower. She adjusts the spigots just right, finding the temperature between scalding heat and icy cold. Sure, the hot springs are great, but the shower is one of the modern luxuries Kagome had taken for granted, not realizing the true benefit of the shower's privacy until she often found herself in the gawking eyes of Miroku back in the Sengoku.

Stepping in, she feels the water upon her head, and she is calm. Alone in thought, no poisonous insects, no soul collectors, not even one lecherous monk to spoil the moment… She is immersed in silence, nothing of the outside world could disturb her calm. Yes, she is utterly alone… no InuYa…

"AAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Kagome hears laughter in the midst of the sudden cold of the shower.

"Hahahahaha! Welcome back, sis!" Sota says, releasing the toilet handle and running outside the door. Kagome jumped out of the shower and toweled herself off, with her illusion of privacy shattered. Showers, she has decided, are highly overrated.

As the crescent moon hangs overhead, the crestfallen hanyou, still sitting, leans against the well. He was once well-accustomed to solitude, if not by leading a life whose existence is shunned by youkai and human alike, then surely by his fifty years bound to the Tree of Life. Yet, being around Kagome elicited a new spark in him, a spark he'd only felt once before. It was then that InuYasha decided to plunge into the well, visions of Kagome and Ninja Food dancing in his head.

But as he readied himself for the journey, a single serpentine soul collector glowed in the distance. Suddenly, all else stopped in the mind of the hanyou. Feeling his inner spark primed, InuYasha bounded away from the well in the direction of the soul collector, a flurry of questions in his mind, a flock of butterflies in his stomach, yet only one word on his lips…

"Kikyo."