Kagome had her eyes glued to the textbook, hoping that if she stared at it intensely enough, information would seep into her brain through osmosis. She had reached the point that she was so far behind for tomorrow's final test, she didn't even know where to begin studying. Of course, the piercing gold eyes peering over her shoulder wasn't helping her concentration either.
She slammed her fists down on either side of her books with frustration and whirled around so quickly she nearly knocked Inuyasha over. "If you haven't noticed I'm trying to study!"
Inuyasha sat crossed legged on her bed, crossing his arms defensively and scoffing, "These stupid tests are taking up too much of your time. We need to get back to find the rest of the jewel shards before Naraku does."
Kagome turned her back to him and rolled her eyes, wondering if he'd ever come up with a different excuse for bugging her. If he could just admit, even once, that he liked spending time with her and missed her when she was away, she could deal with all the other annoyances he caused her.
She grumbled, "Well these tests may not be important to you, but they are to me and could determine whether I'll be able to go to high school or not." She waved her hand in dismissal. "Why don't you go see if Mama or Grandpa need help with something? I think I saw them unpacking heavy boxes earlier." Inuyasha snorted with irritation and grumbled complaints, but he did leave rather rapidly out her bedroom window.
Kagome sighed. No matter how often he protested otherwise, it was impossible for him to not help people in need, especially those he cared for… like her family.
Instead of studying like she had planned, she dropped her head on her piled books and sighed again. She wondered how long it would be like this between her and Inuyasha. Stuck in this limbo world between friends, adversaries and something more…
She spent practically every moment with him. He wouldn't let another guy touch her. Her family treated him as one of them. He had sacrificed himself to save her life repeatedly! It was obvious he cared for her and she was special to him, but… was it enough? Was it love? The real kind of love, in which you could start a life with someone?
Then there was always Kikyo, a lurking ghost haunting the doorstep of any romance brewing between her and Inuyasha. Kagome had to feel sorry for Kikyo. She had been tricked by Naraku into hurting the one man she ever loved. Her life had been stolen from her when she was much too young. Now she was doomed to walk the earth as a bitter lonely corpse, never truly living or being able to move on and find peace. Her heart went out to Kikyo, yet it also broke her heart as well.
As long as Kikyo was around, Inuyasha could never truly love her. It was so obvious his heart still belonged to Kikyo, no matter what form of life she took. After all, she had been there first. They had fallen in love with each other first. Something like that just can't fade away. No matter how badly she wanted it to.
Kagome shot straight up and slapped her face to rid herself of these depressing thoughts. She had more important things to worry about like passing her high school entrance exam and having even the slightest chance of a successful future.
So she pushed thoughts of Inuyasha from her mind and studied harder than she ever remembered.
Hours later Kagome emerged from her room, bleary-eyed with her hands sore from writing and her back aching from being stooped over books. She shuffled downstairs to the kitchen needing a well-deserved break and snack.
As she passed the living room, she saw Inuyasha sitting in front of the TV with his nose inches away from the screen, his eyes wide with fascination. Kagome shook her head. He always reminded her of a cat staring into a fishbowl when he was studying new technologies from her world; getting up so close as if that would make it easier for him to figure out how they worked.
However she did a double take and stepped back into the room when she noticed what he was watching. Her face as a gap toothed, five year old in pig tails, filled up the screen. "What are you watching?!" she yelled out in horror as she raced to block the TV with her body. Inuyasha frowned at her and tried to look around her. "Hey I was watching that!"
Just as they were about to tackle each other in another argument, Kagome's mother walked. "Oh Kagome, did you see the old family videos. Inuyasha and I discovered them while he was helping me clean out the attic. I figured he might like watching them." Kagome stood up and stomped her foot in frustration, "Mama, how could you? They are embarrassing!" Her mother waved a hand as if to brush her worries away and smiled sweetly, "Nonsense, you are adorable!"
Kagome slapped her hand against her forehead and groaned. She turned around to find Inuyasha plastered once again in front of the TV, staring at it with his brows furrowed in concentration. "I know the girl in this box."
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Of course you know her. It's me." Inuyasha's head whipped around to face her wide-eyed. His head swiveled back and forth between her and her five her year image on the screen.
He seemed exceedingly confused, "It can't be you. You're right here!" Then he chuckled as if she were simple, "Also that girl is much too young to be you." Kagome slapped her palm against her forehead once again and rubbed her hands over her face. She was feeling the warning signs of a headache start in her temples.
She then took a deep breath and began to explain the process of being able to record and keep memories on video. Even as you get older the image of the memories stays the same. Someone took this video of her as a little girl so even now they could watch and see her exactly the way she was. Inuyasha still didn't seem to believe her.
She sighed and said, "It's like a painting that isn't just a image, but an entire memory with unlimited painted images… like a magic painting with a jewel shard embedded in it." Finally light seemed to dawn in his gold eyes. He might attack the TV to find the supposed jewel shard, but at least he wasn't giving her that angry confused glare anymore.
When their attention turned back to the TV, Kagome's brows rose as she sat next to Inuyasha. "Mama, what video is this? I don't think I've ever seen it." Her mother stopped in the doorway, "Oh, I haven't seen this one in years. It was you fifth birthday." She shook her head as she continued to pick up the living room. "I haven't thought of that day in so long even though it gave me nightmares for years."
Kagome's brows furrowed, "Nightmares?" Her mother barely seemed to hear her as she continued to unpack boxes, "Oh yes. It was terribly frightening. You disappeared." Kagome blinked, "I what?"
Her mother continued rifling through the box as if there were nothing to be surprised over. "I went inside to bring out the cake and when I came back you were gone. We looked everywhere for you and even called the police. Your father wasn't able to find you until the next day."
Kagome's mouth dropped, her brain a whirlwind of confusion. "How did I not know about this?!" Her mother walked over with a warm smile and patted her shoulder. "Well you were very young darling. It's not a surprise that you don't remember it."
Kagome dug her fingers into her hair, "Still… why have you never mentioned this to me before." "Well, when you came back you didn't seem to remember what happened to you at all. You just kept asking where the birthday cake was. Your father and I decided that it was best to forget the whole thing in case it might upset you."
Kagome slumped to the floor next to Inuyasha, who was watching her with perplexed eyes. "I can't believe I don't remember this. I can't believe I never knew I disappeared for two days." She turned to see her five year old face on the screen again wearing a blindfold and giggling with joy as she was spun around. She whispered under her breath, "Where could I have been?"