A/N: Let me say something first: this is my first fic on this site. I've been on different fiction sites, but due to some outrageous unagreeable rules, I found myself here. And another thing: if you don't agree to the pairings, here's some friendly advice: DON'T READ IT. Sure, there may be some irrational flames regarding the Inu/San pairing...some people aren't so open-minded these days.
Diclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, if I did, I wouldn't be writing this; I'd be drawing the next magna volume!
Pairings: Implied Inu/Kag, Inu/San/Kag (I'm pondering on Hojo, or maybe a crossover..any comments?)
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Exactly two lonely months since she held the hand of her first love, Kagome Higarashi stood, looking through her bedroom window torward the quiet streets of Tokyo. It was a mess; it had been raining all week long, beating so furiously on the rooftop and windows, that it kept Kagome up. She had long seen hours of precious sleep since that heart-aching day.
Kagome sighed deeply and turned away from the window and went over to her desk where the heart-shaped locket laid. She picked up the locket, letting it dangle from her fingertips, feeling a pang of sadness in her heart; she should've thrown it away to keep the memories from haunting her, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. She opened the clapse and smiled a bit when she saw her angry expressed face on the left frame of the locket and the half-demon whom she surprisingly grown to love, Inuyasha, on the right frame.
She remembers the day that picture was 'accidently' taken. While they were in a picture booth, bickering over a stubborn subject, Souta had put a few coins in and the camera started snapping pictures of them. It almost scared the skin out of Inuyasha, that he actually took his Tetsuiga out, ready to slice the contraption in half, but he ended up being 'sat'. They even roused up a crowd from their commotion. Kagome laughed quietly and closed the locket and put it back on the desk.
Kagome relaized she wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight; she got up from bed and left her bedroom, her destination being the kitchen for some tea. She put the kettle on the stove and set the knob to 'low heat'. She waited.
"Kagome?"
She gasped and whirled around to see her 12- year old brother Souta standing in the doorway. She placed a hand to her chest and sighed in relief.
"Don't scare me like that." She admonished, turning back to the stove. A few moments of silence passed by.
"Are you okay, Kagome?"
"I'm fine, Souta."
Of course it was all a lie. She didn't want anyone to worry or fuss over her. But sometimes, just sometimes, she had the urge to answer truthfully. You wanna know what it's like to lose someone you love? she wanted to ask her brother. Here's what it's like. Inuyasha's gone, and now that he's gone, I feel like a part of me is gone, too.
"Are you sure, Kagome?"
"Really, Souta; I'm okay. It's hard, but I'll make it through this." She gave Souta a reassuring smile to top it off. Souta didn't seem too convinced, but he reluctantly nodded. "If you need anything.." he trailed off.
"I know where to find you." And with that said, Souta turned around and left the room. Kagome didn't know how long she could do the 'brave warrior' routine before she ultimately broke down. She already had an episode once, she doesn't want to go through the process again...
Kagome stepped out of the house, smiling at the sight of a clear, sunny day. She hoiseted her overstuffed yellow backpack on her shoulder and she made a quick lookover on her school uniforml; her white dress shirt was wrinkle-free as well as her collar, red tie, and her green mini-skirt. Seeing that everything is in order, she proceeded her way to the well house. She opened the door and carefully padded down the steps. She threw a leg over the ledge and then the other. She pushed herself off the ledge and felt herself falling...and falling...then--
"Umff!"
She landed on the bottom of the well; nothing happend. No various colours and shades of blue light swirled around her, no feeling of dizziness, no feeling of gravity, nothing. Kagome groaned as her brows furrowed in confusion and worry.
"The Sacred Jewel!"
She opened the zipper of her backpack and dug through her belongings for the whole jewel; that's right, the WHOLE jewel. It has been two long years of battle, but they did it; Naraku no longer taints the earth with his darkness. But it came with a bad aftertaste. Kohaku died; Naraku saw no more need of him and plucked the last shard out from his back. Sango was devastated. Inuyasha was furious.
Before she left for her era, Sango asked Inuyasha if she could bury him under the tree where Inuyasha liked lounging in, because if it wasn't for him, Sango would've been dead, as would Kohaku. "You gave me hope, Inuyasha.You never gave up on me or Kohaku. Thank you." Inuyasha said it would be an honor to rest Kohaku under the tree and apologized for failing to get Kohaku back; Sango just smiled and embraced him, saying that he shouldn't be; Kohaku was free in heaven with her family. That brought tears to Kagome's eyes. She was proud that Inuyasha took the time to make sure Sango was okay. Then Kagome left to inform her family of Naraku's death. Now here we are.
"I don't see the jewel. I hope I didn't lose it--again!"
She dug through and through again. No jewel. Then reality hit her in the face. Inuyasha took the jewel...and used it. The well would not work now or ever again. Kagome's breath hitched.
"Sango." An image of Sango smiling flashed through her mind...
"Miroku." An image of a defeated Miroku with a beet-red hand slap on his face...
"Shippou." An image of smiling Shippou sucking on a lollipop that Kagome gave him...
"Kirara." An image of the fire-cat standing on the head of an annoyed Inuyasha--
"Inuyasha."
Many images, of Inuyasha's anger-set face, of him fighting with Kouga, of him picking on Shippou, of him yelling at Kagome, of him being sat by Kagome, of him shouting her name in worry, of him embracing her...and of Kagome kissing Inuyasha..."Inuyasha!"
Kagome broke down in tears, her shoulders shaking with every broken sobs that escaped her lips. She wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes, mentally reassuring herself it would be okay; Inuyasha would find someway back to her...and hold her in his arms where she belonged--
A shrill whistling broke Kagome out of her reverie. She turned the knob off and picked the kettle up by the handle, tilting it over her cup, watching steamy hot water pouring over inside. Then she saw a few drops of water on the countertop; she was sure she didn't spill any water over the cup, but when a drip fell from her face, Kagome realized she was crying...
Chapter I: Inuyasha's Choice
Inuyasha peered into the Bone-Eater's well, still standing there even after Kagome had left. His hands clenched into tight fists as he turned away from the well. Kagome was where she belonged, safe from harm, just what Inuyasha had wanted. He'd rather die first than let anything happen to Kagome; after all she is his close friend. There were times he thought her could love her, but how could it work out? Kagome was from a different time, a different era, and she knew damn well that after the jewel was used, the well connected between her era and his, wouldn't work anymore. Looking back now, he used to think seeing Kagome's face reminds him of Kikyou. He wasn't used to it at first, but the more he got to know Kagome, the more Inuyasha could see the differences in Kagome and Kikyou. Kikyou wanted him to use the jewel to become a human, but Kagome wanted him to remain the way he is.
Speaking of the jewel, Inuyasha reached into his kimono and pulled out the jewel that brought nothing but trouble into everyone's lives. Inuyasha had been talking non-stop about using the jewel to become a full-fledged demon, but now that he had it, he was stuck at choosing between his human form, remaining in his half-demon form, and becoming a full demon. It was hard, but Inuyasha knew he would have to use it before Kagome comes back. It was the only way to keep her safe and the only way to bring things back to normal in his life.
"Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha looked up a the sound of the familiar voice calling him and saw the demon slayer, Sango, walking up the hill to him. "Are you allright? You were gone quite a while; I was worried."
This puzzled Inuyasha. "Why worry over me?"
Sango looked down. "Because I'm afraid..that you might use the jewel. I never seen it being used; I doubt you ever seen it either, so I'm nervous at what might happen..I don't to see you hurt."
Inuyasha sighed softly and cursed at himself for being an idiot for forgetting Sango. At the state she's in, losing another person she deeply cares about, would be more than she could bear. Kohaku's dead, and Inuaysha knows that a part of her died along with him. He knows the pain of losing someone close, like his mother, his only family; the only person who hadn't shunned him away when he was small, and he missed her. Back then, he felt like a part of him died and he felt like he was going to be alone for the remainder of his life, without comfort, without love, without reassurance. Then he met Kikyou and that led him to where he is today; he didn't want the same to happen to Sango.
Then a thought occured to him: she suffered the same way he did. Naraku tried to trick Sango into killing Kohaku because he had killed their whole family, which wasn't on purpose, and Sango almost submitted, but in the end, she didn't. Sango proved to be stronger than Kikyou, because Kikyou fell to Naraku's trickery. Another thought occured: before Kohaku died, the only family member that Inuyasha and Sango had were their brother. Well, Sesshoumaru isn't exaxctly 'family' since he is his half-brother and they hate each other guts. Inuyasha never stopped to think that he and Sango had a lot in common with each other.
"Heh, don't worry about me; I'll be fine, Sango. Nothing's going to happen to me."
"But what if something does? And then you...and I didn't stop you?.." Sango bit her lower lip and clenched her fists until the point where it broke the skin. She felt tears prick at the edges of her eyes and feeling that she may be on the verge of a breakdown, she turned around and started down the hill.
"Sango!...Ah, dammit."
Inuyasha took off after the slayer, seeing her in the distance running through the forest, in a haste to get away from everyone. Inuyasha knew she probably feels weak, but she's a human being and it was normal to experience grief and anguish once and awhile. If only Kohaku hadn't--wait! Inuyasha made a sudden stop on the ground, a smirk on his face. He pulled the jewel out of his kimono again. "I've made my decision."
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The air smelled of fire burning on wood. It was a crisp, cool autumn day and as Sango stood in the lake up to her ankles, she found the water surpisingly warm. She remembers how she and Kohaku would take off from their village and head to a nearby lake to swim, even if it was late in September like it is now.
Sango dug her toes into the soft, muddy bottom, looking across the sun-streaked lake to the opposite shore, where in the distance, she saw village children laughing and kicking water and one another, which was the reason Sango brought up the old memory of swimming with Kohaku. She breahed in the clean air and felt sorry that she would have to go back to the village soon. She left Inuyasha a while ago and no doubt he told Miroku, Shippou, Kirara, and Keade about her dissapearance. They might get worried.
Sango walked out of the water and after making sure there was no mud, she slipped her feet into her sandals and walked back the way she'd run from. The wind picked up and it started a leaf shower. Colors of red, gold, brown, yellow feel from their perches on the trees...it was all breath-taking and relaxing to Sango.
"Sango!"
Sango looked up ahead and saw the fox kit, Shippou and her fire-cat Kirara, running down the path torward her. Shippou seemed incredibly excited about something, but in a time like this why would he? Unless Kagome made an early arrival, Sango couldn't think of anything that would make the kit excited.
When Shippou and Kirara were close enough, they lept into Sango's arms; Kirara crawled up to Sango's shoulders. "Sango, you gotta come back real quick!" Shippou exclaimed. Kirara melwed.
"Well, why? Is there a demon?"
"Uh-uh."
"Has Kagome returned?"
"Uh-uh."
Sango's heart skipped a beat at her newest thought. "Has Inuyasha used the jewel?"
"Uh-hu! Yeah, Inuyasha used the jewel!"
Sango's eyes widened a fraction and took a deep breath. Calm down, Sango. If Shippou's this excited, then nothing has gone wrong. Inuyasha's fine. Sango reassured herself. "He's ok?"
Shippou nodded. "Inuyasha wants you to come back to Keade's right now!"
"What form had he chosen?" Sango asked the kit. Shippou's smiled turned into a characteristic smirk. "He told me not to tell you."
Damnit Inuyasha! Sango started running, holding onto the eager kit, who's pleading her to go faster. Kirara even changed into her demon-form to get Sango back quickly. Sango's mind was screaming with thoughts and the anticipiation to get back had risen inside her.
Inuyasha...what did you chose?
Kirara rose over the trees and into the air, giving Sango a bird's-eye view of the village. As they neared the village, Sango looked for a white-haired, red-eyed demon/black-haired, violet-eyed human. She saw Keade's hut first, then Miroku waving to them, then Keade standing by the entrance. In a desperate haste, Sango pushed herself off Kirara before the fire-cat landed. Sango felt the wind hit her face as she fell, and she saw Miroku rushing over to catch her. She landed in Mirkou's arms with ease.
Miroku chuckled. "I didn't know you were so eager to see me, Sango."
A faint blushed stained Sango's cheeks and she squirmed to be put down. Mirkou placed her on her feet and wrapped an arm around Sango. "Inuyasha had made his descion and in my view, he had made the right choice."
"His human form?"
Miroku shook his head, smiling knowingly at her. Sango groaned and then she squeaked as Mirkou's wandering hand had brushed her bottom. SLAP! A red welt added to Mirkou's skeptical features.
"Perverted monk." She mumbled as she ran for the hut. Mirkoku sighed as Shippou and Kirara stopped at his side. Shippou mushroomed sighed. "Even without your wind tunnel, you're still your same dirty self."
They all watched as Sango ran into the hut, her expression at seeing the same white-haired, amber-eyed, smirking half-demon and the young brown-haired man, staring at her with his familar, warm brown eyes...
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A/N: Chapter one: done! Finally...it's 1:48:38 and it's about 2 hours past lunch! Anyway, here's the part where you either: don't review, give a good review, give me a constructive criticizing review, or give me a flame. Those are you options and I don't care which you choose (although I'd prefer a review...) Have a nice day:)
