--
One Last Wish
Kagome was being stupid.
But then what else was new?
Inuyasha could see her getting all sentimental; crying and blubbering and all that weirdness.
They had just defeated Naraku and with a hell of a finish too – Kagome's arrow searing through the demon's miasma in concert with Inuyasha's Kongosoha and Sesshomaru's Bakusaiga. What was there to be crying about?
"It's just," Kagome sputtered, her fingers wrapping around glass, "once the wish on the Shikon Jewel has been made, I won't be able to come back anymore. It'll have vanished and the Bone-Eater's Well will probably close behind me."
Sango knelt beside her friend. "Don't worry," she crooned. "We'll just have to come up with the right wish."
There was a scoff and Sesshomaru began to walk away, Rin and Jaken at his heels. Time to let the human fools and Inuyasha do with the jewel as they pleased, it was no concern of his.
Suddenly, Miroku spoke up. "Inuyasha, why don't you use the jewel to become human?"
Moving feet froze. Jaken bumped right into his master.
All eyes fell on the monk who continued, "This way you could go on with Kagome through the well and live there. As you'd once planned."
Inuyasha groped for words, his hand twitched to take the jewel from Kagome's palm. "I guess…"
"Don't you dare, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru stalked forward, his voice cutting like his talons might. "Would you be so brazen as to use the Shikon and further insult our father's blood? How selfish."
"That choice is Inuyasha's alone," Miroku vouched. "And you're not one to lecture about selflessness."
Claws cracked. "I wasn't speaking to you, mortal."
"Who said I wanted to be human?"
"Hey! Why don't you stupid men consider Kagome's feelings?"
"The jewel won't be purified if Inuyasha turns into a demon."
"Stay out of this, fox-brat."
"My brother died because of that jewel! There are better wishes to be made!"
"Oh yeah?"
Suddenly the air became suffocating with renewed rage. Kagome watched in rapt horror as her friends tensed. The Shikon no Tama glowed brighter.
"Stop!!" she cried rushing out into the midst of brandished claws and semi-sheathed blades.
"We can't have a selfish wish made on this thing! That's what tainted the jewel in the first place! Giving into desires of power is one of them."
"Hold up a sec!" Inuyasha hollered. "Did I ever say I wanted to become human? That was Kikyo's wish for me! Not my own!"
Kagome flushed. "Did I ever mention Kikyo? I was just saying we have to come up something worthy!"
"Well then, girl," Sesshomaru growled, addressing a human for once. "If you're so adamant about what choice should be made, then do it."
Now that was unexpected. All eyes weighed on Kagome; uncertainty rippled through her. Her future teetered on this choice – where she would live, with whom, her own daily challenges. The rest of her life depended on this wish.
No, the rest of their lives depend on this wish.
Kagome cradled the jewel in her hands, the little glass orb that had inflicted so much grief.
She smiled. There was one perfect wish for it. "I wish," she breathed, taking in one last gaze at Inuyasha and the others, "for all of your happiness."
Inuyasha's jaw hit the ground. "Are you serious?"
"Yes." Kagome was grinning. "The happiness of everyone who has been harmed by this little marble is my wish on the Jewel of Four Souls."
Without warning, like some hell-born vacuum, Kagome felt herself being sucked into the well – falling headlong backwards like she did the very first time. Only now this was her last.
--
Kagome spat out dirt that lodged in her mouth.
School bells gonged somewhere in the distance. Right, she was back home in the present. But where – or rather, when – was Inuyasha? Didn't he get to come, too?
Quickly she sat up. "Inuyasha?" she called softly.
A glance around assured her that she was alone.
What a stupid wish!
Didn't she remember to include herself in the whole blasted happiness umbrella?
Why wasn't Inuyasha with her? Had she only met him in the beginning to be ripped away now? That wasn't fair!
…But maybe that's just how it's supposed to be.
How would a half-demon survive in the twenty-first century? He'd stick out like a sore thumb, with all those strange powers, gaudy attire, and conspicuous dog ears. Not to mention that he wouldn't age like a human. If Inuyasha had come along and spent his life with Kagome, she'd be pushing fifty while he might look twenty at oldest.
"I guess my own happiness wasn't in the equation from the start."
Slowly, gently, a small smile blossomed on Kagome's face. "At least somewhere Inuyasha's happy."
After all, that was the greatest joy she could have asked for.
--
"Damn it!" Inuyasha bared his fangs in anything but happiness. His curse resonated off the walls.
"It's useless, Inuyasha," Shippo sniffed, perched on the well. "Kagome's long – "
"Don't say it, brat!" The hanyo's bark trailed up the well's shaft. Anguish churned in his heart. The Shikon Jewel had vanished and with it Kagome. Kagome and her idiotic, altruistic wishes.
"You've been digging for hours and nothing's changed," the little fox-demon persisted. "Miroku and everyone else has already left. You should just give up like Sesshomaru said and – Awk!" A good-sized rock smacked Shippo upside the head.
Like I give a damn what Sesshomaru said! Inuyasha fumed. His ears still rang with the last words exchanged before the daiyokai left.
Inuyasha, naturally, had taken the logical course of action and blamed his brother. "Sesshomaru, you cold-hearted bastard, if you'd just minded your own damn business none of this would be happenin'!"
"It was the girl's decision, fool. Last I recall, you didn't want to be human anyway." Before walking off, Sesshomaru had added, "Who knows, perhaps this is for your greater happiness."
A growl had trickled out of Inuyasha's throat, but he opted to leap down the well and at least try to follow Kagome.
Yet with each futile handful of solid, unfeeling soil, Inuyasha realized he was only proving the demons right.
--
Weeks had passed, but Inuyasha obdurately visited the well at least once a day. It wasn't his fault if it happened to be on the way no matter where he was going.
Tonight's moonless sky, however, did nothing to lighten the hanyo's sulk. He sat next to the Bone-Eater's Well, for the moment not caring how exposed he was. Human fingers, though, still locked in anxiety. Crickets chirping, an occasional owl screech, and rustle of caught mice in grass was the evening's own white noise. His ears strained to hear above the cacophony such that he jumped at his name.
"Inuyasha." A cold voice hissed behind him. "You really want to follow that mortal." It wasn't a question.
"Leave me the hell alone, Sesshomaru," came the automatic response. Then Inuyasha remembered how he didn't look.
The shock must have shown because Sesshomaru stated, more or less to the sky, "I knew every half-breed had his time of complete weakness. I had long figured yours would be on the new moon."
Inuyasha was standing now, balancing on his toes. "What do you want, creep? It wouldn't be very honorable of you to kill me like this."
"Don't be an imbecile. I came to see if you would actually try going down the well once more or if you were only going to frivol away the night sitting idly by it." Sesshomaru crossed his arms matter-of-factly.
"Why would it be any different this time? And since when do you care what I do?"
Sesshomaru suppressed an exasperated groan, but instead strode up to his sibling, enough to loom right over him.
"Wh-what the hell are you doing now?" Inuyasha tried backing up, but the panel of the well prevented him. Suddenly, a pair of strong, clawed hands shoved him over.
The daiyokai's mouth twitched as he watched his half-brother disappear down the well. If it worked out, Inuyasha's existence had been erased without having to kill him.
After several moments, amber torches gleamed over the Bone-Eater's Well to ascertain results. Sesshomaru gave into the spasm of his lips, and maybe it wasn't simply because his talons wouldn't get sullied in blood tonight.
--
Weeks of consistent attendance and Kagome fell into the groove again; her friends welcomed her back, the homework started making sense, and she wasn't exhausted by mid-afternoon anymore.
Still, lying on her bed, alone in her room and without any school projects to keep her busy, Kagome longed to see a certain fuzzy-eared boy come barging in snapping about how late she was.
It's been three weeks already. He's not coming to get me...ever again.
Kagome rolled off the covers. She needed to get out. Tipping down the stairs, Kagome went unnoticed by her grandfather, but deliberately avoided the Sacred Tree. No need to reopen a healing wound.
Kagome's mind still wandered, drifting back to replay all those scenes where'd she been by Inuyasha's side. And he by hers.
On the steps of the Sunset Shrine, she watched passers-by. None of them had known magic or fought demons or foolishly made a selfless request.
She was so lost in her reveries, Kagome didn't notice someone was standing in front of her until he cleared his throat.
"Not very perceptive, are ya?"
Inuyasha?
Kagome took a second glance. No, just some teenage punk; frayed jeans over sneakers mimicked how his jet-black, shaggy mullet fell into his eyes. Hands stayed shoved into the pockets of his red sweatshirt. Nothing out of the ordinary.
"And what's a guy like you doing here?"
"Keh, you're as slow as ever. But even I didn't expect to come out looking this ridiculous." He bent to brush well dirt from his knees.
Kagome gasped as long fingers – not talons, just fingers – tilted her head so she looked directly into startling amber eyes.
"You know," said the human boy, his arrogance ebbing, "I had a wish once…."
--
A/N: Also thanks extended to AquaWater99 who encouraged me to finish this piece and was so patient with me posting it.