AN: Here's another one-shot that popped into my head as I was writing chapter five of Life Less Ordinary. I know the concept of Inuyasha and Kagome's legendary love has been written about a great deal, but I wanted to share my spin on how I see their relationship. I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Naturally I do not own Inuyasha. The immensely talented Rumiko Takahashi does. I'm simply borrowing him and his friends for my story.
I Was Born to Love You
Kagome sat on her bed, her Geometry book open in her lap. She was attempting to study, but the pair of molten gold eyes currently staring at her was more than enough of a distraction to keep any studying from currently being accomplished. With a soft sigh she slapped the book shut and laid it beside her. "You know it's really hard to study when you're staring at me like that. Is something wrong? Am I growing another head? Do I have something on my face?" An eyebrow raised over one of those golden eyes slowly. "Feh.." She shook her head and slid off the bed. "Look if you're just going to sit and stare at me why don't you go back to the other side of the well and wait! You know I can't get anything done while you just sit and stare at me like that!" The body belonging to the eyes abruptly froze and his perfect, perfect to Kagome anyway, mouth thinned into an almost frown. "Fine wench! You don't have to be such a bitch about everything! Go on and study your stupid Geo-mee-ty!" He angrily bounded out the open bedroom window and disappeared. She reached up and rubbed the bridge of her nose before letting out a sigh. "Inuyasha…." She knew he hadn't heard her before disappearing. Why did she have to snap at him like that? Of course it was painfully obvious why. He unnerved her. He disrupted everything around her. Not in a bad way, mind you. The unnerving and the disruption were welcome. To her they felt right. Since meeting the gruff half demon she'd come to realize just how much she needed and enjoyed being unsettled. Flopping herself back onto the bed she felt the telltale sting of oncoming tears. "Why can't you see? Inuyasha why can't you see just how much I love you? When he stares at me I.. I imagine him staring, studying my every feature. The way someone in love would. God that's stupid, isn't it? He doesn't love me like I love him. He couldn't. I guess I'm just going to have to resign to the fact I met him too late. Kikyo will always hold his heart." She turned onto her side and closed her eyes. Sleep always seemed to make her situation a touch better. Sleep brought the dreams and those always made her smile. In those, Inuyasha was free to love her and only her. He was never afraid to show it, either.
Up in the branches of the Goshinboku a silver haired young half demon had heard every word. His eyes widened with each word she spoke, unable to truly grasp what he'd heard. She loved him? Kagome, the girl who he saw as perfect and untouchable, loved him? Why? Why would she ever love someone like him? He knew he would never be worthy of her kindness, of her warmth. People like Kagome didn't fall in love with half demons. They fell in love with people who could give them the world. He slowly slid his hand through his hair and let out a sigh. The smell of salt drifted on the wind, finding its way to his nose. Tears. Kagome's tears. If there was one thing in the world he hated it was her crying. There was something about it that tore at him from the inside. He quietly slipped from the tree and perched himself back on the sill of her open window. He could hear her rhythmic breathing, a telltale sign she was in a deep sleep. He smirked to himself as he thought about just how the silly wench could sleep through anything. Sliding himself quietly into her room he walked over to her bed and knelt before it. He reached a clawed hand up and brushed one of the remaining tears from her cheek.
"Wench I don't know how you can say you love me. I'll never understand. You deserve so much, much more than I could ever give you. We both know I'm not good enough for you. Hell I can't even tell you how I feel. You're right here and I would rather fight Naraku than admit to you just how much you've come to mean to me. I'm not good with this shit, Kagome. I just don't know. Fuck you know how things will end with us. I'll probably do something stupid and you'll end up hating me the way Kikyo did before she died. I don't know if I could take that. So just stop it. Stop loving me, stupid. Give that gift to somebody who deserves it." He reached up and brushed a stray lock of her dark hair from her forehead. "I wish you'd stay here. I've tried so many times to keep you from coming back and facing the dangers and shit with Naraku and the demons. I know I've hurt you so much by being so stupid. I yell at you and I constantly berate you. Yeah. Fucking great guy I am. And you love me? You really are crazy wench. Completely insane." He sighed softly and leaned back to just watch her for a moment. She let out a soft little moan in her sleep and tossed an arm over her head. "Inuyasha don't. Don't leave. Please don't leave."
He stared at her as she talked in her sleep. A frown marred her delicate face and he saw her brow furrow as though she was in some kind of pain. "Why can't you let me love you? Why am I not good enough?" Her voice was turning tearful now. Again he felt that kick to the gut and he reached for her, touching her gently on the shoulder. "Hey wench, wake the hell up. C'mon. I thought you were supposed to be studying. Not sleeping! You're so lazy!" 'Great job, asshole. Just reaffirm the fact you're a dick. Calling her lazy is a great way to show you give a shit about her.' She felt the shake and she slowly opened her eyes with a little groan. It took a moment for him to come into focus, but when he did she shot up from the bed and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "You came back! I.. I didn't know if you would come back this time. Inuyasha I'm so sorry I yelled at you! I.. I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!" Her voice quivered and he just let out a groan. "Shut up already! Stop being stupid. I know you didn't mean it." His cheeks were tinged slightly pink as he disentangled himself from her arms. He held onto her shoulders and pushed her back to meet her eyes. Those blue, blue eyes that captivated him from the moment they stared into his. She bit her lip softly and glanced down, her own cheeks becoming a nice shade of red. "Wench you were talking in your sleep again." She gasped softly and her eyes shut tightly as she balled her fists tightly. "I.. I was? I didn't say anything stupid, did I?" 'Please tell me I didn't say I loved him. Please god I couldn't stand him knowing! Not when I know he doesn't feel the same!'
He didn't know how to answer her. To him, her loving him was definitely stupid. Could he tell her that? Well, she did ask! "Feh.. you always say stupid stuff, bitch. I'm just used to it! You were laying there talking about loving me and shit." Her eyes widened and she let out a whimper before pulling away from him and scrambling off the bed. She dashed to the other side of the room, breathing heavily. So this was what it felt like to have a panic attack. She just couldn't catch her breath! He'd heard her! God he'd heard her most sacred confession and he thought it was stupid? 'God.. oh god.. why? WHY? I knew he didn't feel the same way, but did he HAVE to tell me to my face my love was stupid?' She continued to struggle to catch her breath. It was clear she was in distress, but he didn't know what to do. He had never seen her act like this. "Oi wench what the fuck's the matter with you? Why are you breathing funny?" He started to cross the room but she put her hands up to stop him where he stood. "Don't! Just.. don't! I.. god.. I should "it" you into the next layer of the EARTH for what you said! But I can't!" A sob broke from her and she collapsed to the floor. He was at her side in a split second, gathering her in his arms and holding her softly to his chest. "Wen.. Kagome what's wrong? There's something the matter with you! What.. can I do? Please Kagome say something! This is fucking weird!"
She was beginning to sob uncontrollably now, her whole body shaking. In a broken voice she almost whimpered. "You.. you think me loving you is stupid? You believe my love is just some stupid feeling? I.. god.. I know you don't love me, but did you have to be so… so heartless!" His stomach fell to his feet and he knew he'd fucked up. He'd succeeded in doing something not even Naraku's incarnations could do. He broke her. She pushed away from him and tried to crawl away, but his arm tightened around her waist and held her firm. "No wench. No more running away. You're going to shut up and listen while I try to fix this fucking mess I made." She stilled and stared up at him as he sighed as though the weight of the world was on his shoulders. God knows it may have just been.
"Kagome look. I'm sorry for making you think your love is stupid. It ain't stupid. Not the actual.. like feeling. What's stupid is you wasting your love on ME. I don't deserve it! Hell all I ever do is make you cry for fuck sakes!" She opened her mouth to interrupt, but his clawed finger slipped over her lips, stopping her. "No. Dammit no! You're gonna shut up for once and listen. You know I ain't good at telling you what I feel. I'm gonna do it wrong, but I guess it's fucking long overdue. So shut up wench and let me talk." She nodded softly and he dropped his finger. He reached for her hand and picked it up, looking at the delicate shape of her fingers. "I've been alone most of my life. Kikyo was my first true friend, someone who actually gave a shit about me, since my Mother. I really thought she'd be somebody I could spend all my time with and then all that shit with Naraku happened and you saw how it ended. We were so easily tricked. So it made me wonder if we really knew each other or if we were just pretending? If we really did love each other how could we have been fooled that damn easily?" He entwined her fingers with his and continued. "Then this stupid, klutzy, crazy girl pulled that arrow out and she freed me. Fuck Kagome you did more than that. You showed me what it means to have real friends. You and Miroku, Sango, even that damn kitsune. You are like the family I never got to have. I'm only a half demon. I'm pretty much worthless, despised by everybody. Despised cause I'm dirty. No demon will ever give a shit about me. Fuck you've seen how my brother treats me. Same thing for humans. They're scared of me. Afraid I'm gonna like kill them all or something. Feh.." He picked their entwined hands up and looked at how they fit so perfectly together. "It's just stupid to think that somebody as worthless as me is deserving of any kind of love from somebody like you. God Kagome.. you're just.. you're fucking amazing, okay? I know I always compare you to Kikyo and I know I yell at you, but it's cause I don't want to let you see what you do to me! I push you away, I hurt you, I yell at you… all just to keep you at arms length!"
She looked up at him softly and with her free hand she reached up and cupped his cheek. "Why? Why do you feel like you need to keep me at arms length? Don't you understand, Inuyasha? I.. I love you. I might have fallen that very first day I found you pinned to Goshinboku. It doesn't matter to me whether you're a half demon, full demon, or human. I love you for who you are. For what's inside right here." She released his cheek and pressed her hand over his heart. "This right here is so special. You might not see it, but I do! Do you think I could fall in love so easily with someone who didn't have such a beautiful soul? Someone who has so much love in his heart? Inuyasha you can push me away and you can yell at me all you want, but I will never stop loving you. I will always be right here because I need to be with you! It's why I can't stay away! I know you've sent me away now several times, but I will always come back! You're my other half, Inuyasha. I really do believe I was born to love you and only you."
He stared at her, completely speechless. What could he say to that? This perfect, beautiful person in his lap had just told him she was born for him. Born to love him and only him. A girl who could have anyone she wished. A girl who had more than her fair share of men falling at her feet chose him, the lowly half demon. He leaned in and rested his forehead against hers, his silver hair mixing with her dark in a perfect union. "I'm the luckiest bastard in the whole world. I don't deserve you, Kagome. I'm not sure I ever will. But I promise you. From here on, I'm gonna try my best to never make you hurt again. I'm gonna defeat Naraku, I'm gonna see Kikyo off to the next world, and then I'm gonna make sure I spend the rest of my life making sure you're loved and protected. I told you before I would protect you with my life and I mean it. I ain't got a life without you, wench. So.. yeah. I guess you can guess that I love you, too." She let out a strangled little sob and threw herself at him, knocking him back. She began to giggle as tears pooled in the corners of her eyes. "I.. I love you so much, Inuyasha! I'll always be by your side. I will help you take down Naraku and then when he's gone I'm going to stay with you forever. Yes. Forever. My home is where you are." The two wrapped themselves in each other's embrace and closed their eyes as they felt the beating of their hearts sync in such a perfect rhythm. The half demon and the priestess. The boy from the past and the girl from the future. Those were all just labels. For what it truly was was one soul finding its other half. A union that would never be broken. A love that would endure, for he truly was the boy who was overcome and she was the girl who overcame time to find her other half.