PROLOGUE
"I think we should separate," he murmured, eyes staring straight ahead. He wasn't even bothering to look at me, just straight to the hillside behind me. Why couldn't he look at me?
"Why?" I asked, barely suppressing the anger inside. These past eight months I'd spent with him, the pieces of me I'd given up for him, the things I'd done for him…all thrown aside in a matter of minutes.
"Because being with you…is depressing me; I just…can't deal with you anymore," he said, this time looking me straight in the eye. A light breeze tickled my face as I slowly let his words sink in. His face seemed to register fear; as if I was going to scream and jump him within a second. No, I refused to do that. Not only were in a very public area – the neighborhood's most commonly used park – but I'd released too much, wasted too much, and generally didn't want him to have another story to pass around.
"Fine," I said and smiled. Like hell I was going to let him get the better of me…like hell I was going to let him see how much this would affect me. I'd be okay. I'd make it through. This was nothing. I'd be fine.
"Really?" surprise now drawing upon his face; his ears seized drooping and perked up.
"Yeah," I said, forcing my smile to stay pasted on.
"Great! I thought you were going to murder me," he quickly grinned, then looked down at his watch. "Well umm…I kind of have to go now. Kikyo's taking me job hunting," he immediately stood and began brushing the dirt off his pants. I couldn't help but think he was brushing me away just as easily.
"Oh well…I'm going to meet up with Naraku at the shop anyway," I said, also standing up and preparing to run off. He immediately stopped all motion and snatched my arm.
"Don't do that. He's not a good guy Kagome," he said sternly. Why did he care?
"It's no big deal, we're just going to hang out," I said, pushing his hand off of my arm. Naraku, lately, had been acting very kind to me and I wasn't about to pass up the chance for a good shoulder to cry on. Yes, he'd had a less than pleasant reputation since freshman year…but that doesn't matter to me. All people are good. I firmly believe this, and at the moment, I needed all the good and support I could get.
"Oh. Okay. Call me if anything happens," he gently said, and then promptly turned around to walk away. "Bye Kagome," he shouted nonchalantly as he began his walk out of the neighborhood's park, into the street.
"Bye Inuyasha," I whispered as I slowly sank back down unto the bench. Was our relationship really over? What happened to forever? What happened to all those future plans? What happened to the engagement plan? What happened to "I love you"? What happened to "only with you"? What happened to our relationship? I don't know how long I sat upon that bench; I ended up losing track of time in my deep thoughts until night fell. Three days later I'd find out that Inuyasha and Kikyo were dating. Three months after that I'd find out they were engaged.