Chapter 1
Kagome sighed heavily as she hoisted her backpack over her shoulder and began to walk slowly out of the classroom. Another day of school had come and gone, and with it, the result of the last test that she had written. Sighing again, she tried to block the horrible grade she'd gotten from her mind and kept walking. The sun beat down strongly on her shoulders as she made her way home. She smiled as a light breeze lifted her dark hair and ruffled it lightly.
Tonight will be better than today was, Kagome assured herself, I'll have something to eat, take a nice long bath and get a good night's rest. I'll go back and meet up with Inuyasha and the others when school's over tomorrow afternoon.
Inuyasha crossed his arms and tapped his foot rapidly on the ground as he stared out at the horizon. Behind him, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo were chatting while their usual meal - grilled fish, freshly caught that morning - cooked slowly over a crackling fire. Inuyasha took no notice of the others and wasn't even attracted to the smell of the food, as hungry as he was and as much as he loved fish. He was too deep in thought to notice much of anything.
Why does Kagome's face keep popping into my mind? Is something going on? Should I go and -
Miroku coughed slightly and interrupted his thought process.
"Inuyasha?" he asked, "Is everything all right?"
Inuyasha scoffed and turned around. "Of course everything's all right! I was just thinking about...uh...Naraku, and how we're going to, uh..." he trailed off, somewhat lamely. No way they bought that! Inuyasha thought bitterly, kicking himself mentally for not coming up with a better lie, and for not even being able to finish it. It was always him who could be depended upon for snappy comebacks and witty remarks, and now he couldn't even come up with a full sentence. Ugh. Since she had left two days before, Kagome had been on Inuyasha's mind constantly. His friends would definitely be able to see right through him.
Sure enough, Sango grinned and laughed softly. "Inuyasha", she said, "come and eat some of this. Then maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to go and visit...um...Naraku." At this, Miroku, Shippo and Sango all grinned at Inuyasha, as though daring him to yell at them because they saw through his feeble lie about Kagome.
"Oh ha ha, very funny!" Inuyasha cried. "Not that it's any of your business, I keep getting this feeling something's going on with Kagome. I don't know if it's bad or not, but I better at least go check. Time for her to come back now, anyway." As he spoke the last sentence, Inuyasha dropped his voice and looked out once more at the horizon where the sun was beginning to set. It glowed a bright orange as it began its slow descent, signalling the start of another night.
Night.
Wait. Tonight would mark the -
"The new moon! It starts tonight! Inuyasha, if you planned to go and see Kagome in her world, now would be as good a time as any. You're probably best off away from here if you're going to lose your powers tonight, anyway. We can hold down the fort here." Miroku stated. Inuyasha knew he was right. Tonight would be a perfect chance to leave the feudal era and go to get Kagome.
"All right," said Inuyasha, "I'm going. Won't be long. Shippo, keep an eye on those two while I'm gone." Here, he pointed at Miroku and Sango, who were sitting shoulder to shoulder. Sango looked perturbed about something, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. One of Miroku's hands was suddenly not visible out in front of him. Shippo nodded his head with authority as Sango quickly slapped Miroku on the back of the head, looking thoroughly annoyed but grinning slightly in spite of herself. Inuyasha chuckled and took off like a shot toward the Bone Eater's Well as his hair began to turn black and his dog ears disappeared. Love, he thought to himself, sure makes people do some crazy things. Sometimes people are even willing to put up with physical pain because they have feelings for somebody! With that, he launched himself into the well that linked his world with Kagome's. Just as he did every time he entered the well, he felt a glowing contentedness consume him as he crossed over to Kagome's time.