One — Why He Left
"Inuyasha, I swear, if I could've changed that back then, I would have. But it was your duty to leave, and that included leaving me behind. Still, I sometimes wonder why you couldn't take me with you."
A seventeen-year-old teenager stood in her room, icy green eyes fixed onto a framed sheet of paper that was hung on the wall. Trying to bite back tears, her fingers traced the lines of words slowly. Her hair, the color of ash, was tied in a loose ponytail. She wore no makeup; someone once told her that she would look more beautiful without it.
"If I could've told you that I loved you, I would've done that too. But I didn't really know what love felt like back then. Now, I know..."
"Why do you have to go, Inuyasha?" a twelve-year-old girl cried. "You're fine exactly where you are!"
"I know, Kagome, but I told you already. Father said that I'm officially old enough to undergo training."
Kagome tried coming up with different complaints. "Just because he's some sort of Lord, it doesn't mean that you have to do anything. Isn't that what Fluffy's for?"
"Sesshoumaru is allowed to stay here, but I have to be Father's representative in America," Inuyasha said solemnly.
"Why can't you two switch places? Something—anything but this!" She breathed deeply. "Why can't you stay here... with me?"
Inuyasha sighed. "I'll figure something out, Kagome. I have to leave tomorrow, but I'll make sure we see each other again. Either way, it's only for ten years."
"Only ten years! That's a decade! We'll be twenty-two! It's too long," Kagome declared, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
"I know, but I don't make the rules. I have to do this, Kagome." She fell to her knees, sobbing in her hands. Inuyasha knelt down to hold her, comforting her in his arms. "It will be all right, Kagome." Even though it was all wrong. "I'll make it happen."
Early in the morning the next day, Kagome sat at the base of a tree, staring at the large roots that surrounded her. It stood in the yard of the shrine she lived in. She and Inuyasha had named it Goshinboku, and as the years went by, she thought the name definitely suited it.
Suddenly, Inuyasha came up next to her, holding a piece of paper and a pen. Kagome didn't feel like talking to him, or anyone else, for that matter. She acted like she didn't notice him, and that made Inuyasha's ears flatten against his head.
Finally, Kagome let out a sigh of desperation before she turned to him. "What do you want?"
Inuyasha whimpered. That was one of the few times he had done that in front of her. "I figured out something we can do. You know—if you feel like it."
"Amaze me," she said sarcastically. It was Inuyasha's turn to sigh. He handed her the piece of paper, and she read it over aloud.
"We, Takahashi Inuyasha and Higurashi Kagome declare that we will always be best friends. Exactly 10 years from now, we swear that we will reunite under the same tree that linked us together, the Goshinboku. We will always remember and cherish the good times we had, no matter what the future brings us. The time and distance that keeps us apart will mean nothing to us, and nothing will make us forget about each other. This article shall insure that out fates will intertwine again."
Kagome had tears in her eyes by the time she had finished reading it. She glanced beneath the paragraph, and noticed that Inuyasha hadn't signed it yet. Inuyasha sat beside her and abruptly shoved a pen into her other hand, looking at anything but her face.
No words were spoken as Kagome gripped the pen correctly. Her hand trembled when she brought the tip to the paper. She slowly signed her name in neat cursive handwriting. 'Higurashi Kagome'
"Sign this one, too, so we can both keep one." He handed her another copy. Kagome signed it as well. She handed both to Inuyasha, and he took the pen from her. She smiled to herself when she watched him add his own signature.
However, Kagome had a question in her mind. "Why didn't you just sign them first?"
"I felt like doing it with you," he answered, blushing slightly.
"You do realize that... this will be the last day we see each other for ten years, right?" Inuyasha nodded. "So when do you leave today?"
"This afternoon," he said dismally.
"What do you want to do until then?"
"What?" Inuyasha asked quizzically.
"Oh, come on. You don't expect me to just sit around all day, do you? It's the last day we'll see each other for ten years, you idiot! Hurry up, we've got so much to do, and so little time!" Kagome took Inuyasha's hand in one hand and held the papers and the pen in the other. She dragged him inside the house so she could put the pen and papers on the kitchen counter. "Let's go!"
"Where do you expect to go?" he asked as she pulled him along.
"Anywhere but here!"
She finally reached her destination: their elementary school, the place they met.
"Do you remember this place, Inuyasha?"
"No duh, we went to school here about two years ago."
"That's not what I meant, you idiot! Think really, really hard." She grinned. "Just don't hurt yourself."
Inuyasha glared and shoved her playfully before smiling. "This is where we met, isn't it?"
"Yeah, do you remember?"
He laughed. "Definitely. I was really surprised that such a little girl could whack some butts with a baseball bat that was twice her size."
"I remember that I could just barely hold it over my head. Those fifth-graders were really mean."
"And they got exactly what was coming to them. Especially the one that you literally whacked in the butt!"
Kagome and Inuyasha had their share of laughs before Inuyasha decided to lie back on the grass. She followed suit and placed her head on his chest. He stroked her hair lovingly, caressing her cheek with his thumb.
Kagome whispered, "I'm going to miss you so much, Inuyasha. So much that—"
"—You can't even imagine. You know what? I will, too, but we'll get through this."
"I know... but for as long as it takes, I'll wait for you, right here. Everywhere I go will remind me of you. How can I live like that?"
"You don't have to, Kagome. I'm not stopping you from moving on. I admit, ten years is a long time to wait. Live your life the way you want to, make new friends, but don't... just don't forget that there's someone else for you."
"I won't. I understand the situation better than you think."
They both sighed again, wondering what they would do for a whole ten years without the other to lean on.
"We had better head back. My flight boards in an hour, and the ride to the airport will take half an hour."
"Alright, then. Let's go."
Inuyasha sat up too quickly, almost bringing their faces together. Their lips were less than half of an inch apart. Then, a drop of rain fell on Kagome's nose, and she backed away, blushing madly.
"Sorry." She apologized as she got up. "We'd better hurry, then. I think it will rain." She looked up at the sky, and indeed, the clouds were darkening, moving closer together. "Maybe it will even storm."
She lent a hand to Inuyasha, and he accepted it. They walked the way home, and when it began to sprinkle, they didn't quicken their pace in the slightest.
As they neared the shrine, Kagome tilted her head toward the sky and laughed, letting go of Inuyasha's hand. She twirled around in the rain, dancing in the peaceful feeling. Inuyasha beamed at her, completely enraptured by her beauty and her pure demeanor.
Kagome had stopped spinning long enough to notice Inuyasha staring at her. She waved a hand in front of his face. "Hello? Earth to Inuyasha? INUYASHA! WAKE UP, YOU IDIOT!" She yelled at him so loud, that he jumped back at least a foot.
"Ah! What the hell!" Inuyasha turned his head rapidly, looking around to who yelled at him. Finally, his eyes settled on Kagome who was standing right in front of him, in all her wet glory. "Oh, it's you."
"Of course it's me you bumbling buffoon! Who did you think it was?"
"Um..." His original answer would have been 'an angel' or 'a goddess,' but he couldn't exactly tell Kagome that now, could he? "A mad raving lunatic who is about to search and destroy a stupid idiot by the name of Takahashi Inuyasha?"
She grinned malevolently. "Good answer. Now, I advise you to run as fast as your little feet can carry you. MOVE!"
Inuyasha didn't need to be told twice. He imagined this situation with Kagome in a black cloak, chasing him with a scythe, as if she were the Grim Reaper herself. The silver-haired half-demon headed to the shrine steps, and quickly raced all the way up, skipping two steps with each leap. Screaming bloody murder, he ran into the house, soaking wet.
Just before he bumped right into Higurashi-san, he halted to a stop. Then all of a sudden, Kagome ran straight into him. Amused with the situation, Higurashi-san sidestepped right before both 12-year-olds fell head over heels in a tangled pile of limbs.
Trying to get up, Inuyasha groaned when he realized that Kagome was on his back. "Sorry," she muttered. She used her arms to prop herself up. Leaning on one hand and lifting the other off of the ground, she gave Inuyasha just enough room to wiggle out. Right when he did, Kagome let her body drop to the floor again before rolling over.
Higurashi-san smiled sweetly at both of them. "Inu-kun, we have to leave for the airport in five minutes. You do have all of your luggage packed, right?"
"Yeah, I'm all set. I set them next to the front door this morning before I went out to see Kagome." He and Kagome were painfully reminded of his near departure to somewhere all the way across the world.
"We should leave," she stated.
"Can I come with?" Kagome asked.
"It'll be a long drive, and someone has to stay here at the shrine to watch Souta."
"What about ojii-san?" Kagome complained.
"He's sleeping, and he needs his rest for later." The look on her daughter's face told her that she didn't like the idea of staying behind. "Please Kagome, I need you here."
"I need Inuyasha here, but not everybody gets what they want in life, huh?" Tears streamed down her face as she stormed up the stairs to her room.
From her bedroom window, Kagome watched as Inuyasha and her mother approached their car. Tear after tear rolled down from her beautiful green eyes. The emotion in them blew around like the grass would sway violently in a storm.
She saw Inuyasha turn and go back into the house for something. Then, she heard footsteps coming up the staircase. Thinking that it was just Souta running around, she ignored it, until a knock resounded off of her door.
"K-Kagome? Can I talk to you?"
She just sighed and continued to take no notice of Inuyasha, no matter how much she just wanted him to hold her in his arms for the rest of their lives.
Inuyasha decided on entering anyway. Kagome still stared out of the window, resting her arms on the windowsill. He approached her from behind, and wrapped his arms around her waist. Nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck, he breathed in her sweet scent of rainwater and fresh wildflowers.
"I'm so sorry," Kagome whispered.
"No, it was never your fault," he said apologetically. "I shouldn't have to leave in the first place."
She turned around and faced him.
Not soon after, she lost herself in the deep pools of amber and gold. Not comprehending the realization in their minds, their faces inched closer together until the big moment came: their first kiss.
As they closed their eyes, their lips caressed one another's, silently assuring them that everything would be fine. Each soft connection between them brought them closer to the edge. The kiss was so pure and innocent yet so meaningful that it was all they needed.
When they pulled away, their eyes locked again. "I'm going to miss you so much, Kagome. So much that—"
"—You can't even imagine," Kagome finished. They smiled sadly at each other before Inuyasha had to pull away from their embrace. The look in his eyes told her everything that didn't have to be said—goodbye...
Almost five whole years would have passed since that fateful day. Monday would be the mark of the day she lost one of the most important people in her life. Kagome couldn't stop the tears from running freely now. Just the mere memory could make her cry, even in the dead of the night.
"I've never stopped loving you."
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
NOTES:
I got the idea for this story on impulse. So basically, I'm winging it. This should be interesting, shouldn't it? The song "How Do I Live Without You" by LeAnn Rimes inspired me. I don't own it either, by the way.
04.17.09 — Revised completely. I might continue this eventually... It's difficult since I'm not as obsessed with Inuyasha anymore, but the idea was an interesting one. Plot bunnies are currently short in stock right now, however.