To those who loved Inuyasha, I am sorry, but there was no way Ikuto could have lost. Who would you have picked? Ikuto was the logical answer, since the beginning. It was hard to think of reasons why Inuyasha should even compare to Ikuto, so I'm sorry if I hurt some of you. Ikuto won.

But like I explained in my author's note, if you missed Inuyasha, you won't!

Ironic

Chapter 1

I don't own Inuyasha

Kagome looked at her watch and almost panicked once she realized how late she was. She had to hurry or else she would make her husband upset. He was rather impatient when it came to being tardy—a trait that he picked up from Inuyasha. She had gotten carried away and couldn't figure out for the life of her what she wanted to wear. When she looked at the time, she ran out of her home and caught a taxi. She had to get over to the restaurant, or else her husband would be angry.

Ikuto had been rather concerned for his wife as of lately, more jealous than concerned, actually. There was an odd man who she had met only a month ago, who had taken an interest in her. She unfortunately ran into this man, on the way out of her home.

"Hello Miss Kagome."

'Darn it.' She hesitantly turned around and plastered a fake smile on her face. She didn't have the heart to tell the man to get lost. She could be such a wimp sometimes, unless it was someone she knew. "Hello Mr. Onuchi. How are you today?"

He really was an odd man. He just seemed deadly for some reason, yet he was always friendly to Kagome. He didn't share a kindness for Ikuto though. The strange part about him was simply that Kagome met him on the street, and he just had to see her again. From then on out, he had been kind to her and tried to talk to her. It made Kagome very uncomfortable and Ikuto very angry. Ikuto was very jealous—another trait that he picked up from Inuyasha. Kagome tried to avoid Onuchi, but it seemed like he was always right by Kagome's home. "You do not have to speak in English if you don't want to. I can speak Japanese."

"You know Japanese?"

"I learned it so I could speak to you."

'He's creeping me out!' "Uh…well I am an English major. I don't need you to…you know! I can speak English fine, so please don't give me any special privileges."

He was an American of Italian descent, but you couldn't tell upon first glance. He was mixed with some other ethnicities that sort of took away from his Italian features. He was a good looking man with long black hair that he wore it slicked back everyday, but he still scared Kagome, no matter how much she told herself that he wasn't who she thought he was.

Ikuto; however, thought differently.

"So, how are you?"

"I am fine." She held out her hand and started to wave down a taxi. "I must go on, now. My husband is expecting me." His awkward and deadly smile turned into a quick frown.

"Perhaps I can accompany you."

"No, that's fine." Kagome's hand started instinctively moving towards her purse, were she always kept some mace. "It's not far."

"Your favorite restaurant, where you two mostly eat?"

She slowly nodded, but after she did that slight gesture, she told herself that she shouldn't have. She should have just told him that was none of his business. "I have to be going." A taxi came for her and pulled right to the side of the road, and she thankfully made her way towards it.

He grabbed her arm though, and her heart stopped in fear. "Ikuto Kazasami really is a worthless man. You deserve better than just a dog like him."

She pulled her arm away and the meek girl was gone. She was an angry woman now. "My husband is the finest man I've ever met, and I don't appreciate you touching me, talking to me, or saying anything negative about my husband. My life is none of your business, so don't come around here anymore." She waited for him to get angry, but he stayed calm. It was an eerie calm. She wished he would have been angry. It would have made her feel better, than his blank stare.

"Alright, Mrs. Kazasami. I won't bother you again."

Kagome slightly nodded and hurried away from him and into her taxi. 'That creep!'

"She's late…" Ikuto grumbled as he looked at his watch. "What is wrong with that girl? We've been here for twenty minutes waiting for her."

"What are you complaining about now, Ikuto?" Sidney and Michael were joining Ikuto for lunch at their favorite restaurant in New York, but Ikuto was destroying the pleasurable experience with his attitude. He looked unhappy, spoke with irritation, and kept looking at his watch. "You're very impatient when it comes to Kagome."

"She is taking a long time," he said. He almost growled about it as well. He could be such an animal sometimes. "Maybe I should go get her."

"Are you that concerned for her?" Michael asked. "It's not as if she's leaving you or seeing another man. Kagome can take care of herself, remember? You did give her self-defense 101. I don't understand what's got you all worried. If someone tries to steal her away, she could always break their arm."

"Well, I…" 'I am rather impatient with her. Man, I'm acting like Inuyasha! No matter how much I try to separate myself from him, I'll always be like him. Why is it just me? Everyone else is different from their former selves, but I'm exactly the same. Inuyasha always went to get her if she took to long in her world, even though she had every right to be there. I'm sure she has a good reason to everything, but still, I can't help but worry, especially with that stupid stalker guy stalking her.' While Ikuto was lost in his train of thought, he felt Kagome's soft hand touch his shoulder.

"Sorry that I'm late, dear."

Ikuto's impatience left, but he was still irritated and a bit angry. "Where have you been?" He got out of his chair and helped Kagome into hers like a true gentleman--though he was angry--and then sat back down. "So, are you going to explain?" Kagome looked a little flushed and hesitant, like she didn't want to say anything. That's when Ikuto knew. "It's that guy, isn't it? He talked to you again?" He made sure to keep his voice quite, yet he was angry. He had picked that up from his brother: the silent rage. "What did he want?"

"Nothing...he just said the usual stuff that he always says."

"I'm getting a restraining order" Ikuto told her. "He's psychotic, and I'm not going to let him ruin everything we have Kagome, not like what happened before. I'm not letting him get to you, the way he got to Kikyou." Ikuto knew that he shouldn't have said that, once he saw the anger flash in Kagome's eyes.

Michael and Sidney were suddenly not there anymore.

"This is nothing like—"

"Nothing; this is nothing like Kikyou and Onigumo? Are you serious Kagome? That man may not seem as sadistic, but he's just as obsessed and crazy. I'm not going to let him hurt you, and I'm not going to let him destroy our family."

"Why do you even have to bring her up? I thought if you didn't say Kikyou, I would say Inuyasha, since they bother us so much. If you want to keep things in the past, why are you trying to push things into repeating?"

"I'm trying to stop it from repeating, Kagome. I can't lose you, like he lost her."

"Excuse me," said Michael, "but what?"

"Uh…Ikuto glanced at Kagome, to assure her that he had this covered. "Kikyou is a relative of Kagome's that was murdered by a stalker named Onigumo. There's a man stalking Kagome right now and I don't want her to get hurt."

"Oh…" Sidney nodded and tried to think of what to say. She had to agree with Ikuto. "I think a restraining order might be a good idea."

"I agree, but…" Kagome shook her head. "Never mind me."

"Well then, let's get on to business," interrupted Ikuto, "Kagome and I are going to be gone next month, and I'm putting you up ahead while I'm gone Michael, because I trust you."

"Thank you, Sir." Michael smiled, since he had so much responsibility placed on his shoulders. He was ready for this. "I won't let you down."

"Going to Japan?" Sidney smiled dreamily. "Michael and I haven't been able to go on a vacation with just the two of us since before I got pregnant the first time. We can't just leave the four kids alone with a babysitter, and I don't have any family to watch over 'em and his family's a far ways." She glared at him. "Four kids in eight years; you are an evil man, you know that?"

Everyone except for Sidney started laughing. She didn't like having so many so fast, but Michael did. "I didn't know the last two would be twins. It was an accident. But hey, you know how I love deals: two for the price of one." Even Sidney had to laugh on that one.

"Akira will be sad to see us go, but we'll be back in a week." He smirked at Kagome. "Maybe two."

She giggled, but then told him, "Hey, your brother hates me. He'll kick us out."

"We can go to a hotel, or we could buy one, just for us."

She blushed. "You're too much, Ikuto."

"You know I'd buy you anything, including the world, if you asked me to."

Sidney just smiled at the happy couple. "You two are so cute together!"

"Well," Ikuto shrugged. "We try."

"Anyway..."Kagome got a hold of herself and stopped blushing like an idiot."We're thinking of taking Akira with us. She would be glad to see her grandmother. I don't think Souta's home though. I think he's still off in college. He does live on campus." She elbowed Ikuto in the arm. "All thanks to my darling, Souta could afford to one of the best medical schools in the world."

"It was no problem. We're family. I'm sorry that my family is your family, but I'm glad that yours is mine."

Sidney "awed" them as they leaned in to kiss each other, but it was short lived, for they didn't get to kiss each other. They stopped once they heard yelling from a few waiters.

"Hey, you can't come in here!"

Their curiosity was intrigued and once Ikuto turned around, he saw him. He saw Onuchi. "What are you doing here?" He grew angry and rose out of his chair less than a half a second. Kagome did as well, and Ikuto pushed her back, in order to protect her, instinctively.

Onuchi didn't have time since security was coming, so he acted quickly. "You're in the way, always in the way!" He pulled a gun out of his pocket and in a mere second; a bullet was lodged into Ikuto's chest. Within another half a second, there was one in his shoulder. By the time two seconds had passed, there was one in his gut. If Onuchi had more in his gun, he would have shot Ikuto more, but those were all his bullets, and that was enough to make Ikuto fall on top of the table and break it.

"No!" Michael took a swing at Onuchi and was able to knock the gun out of his hands. He took another swing, enraged by his friend's defeat, and meant to charge him again, but security came and grabbed a hold of Onuchi and pinned him to the ground. "How could you?" Another security guard had to Michael in order to stop him from attacking Onuchi, although he deserved it.

Kagome and Sidney came to Ikuto's side. Sidney was frantic and screaming, but Kagome was in too much shock. She had seen him in pain before, almost to the brink of death, so she wasn't shocked about that, but rather because it was happening again, like a dream that she had lived before. She couldn't speak, she couldn't think, she just looked at her husband with such distant eyes, as if she was still dreaming. She didn't want it to be real.

"Ikuto!" Sidney got on her cell phone and began dialing for 911 as soon as she snapped into reality.

When Kagome heard Sidney explaining what was going on, that was when she realized what had happened and she burst into tears. "Ikuto! Ikuto! Don't die on me!" Kagome could have sworn she was having Deja vu, but it was different. Now things were, they shouldn't be. "This is...this is my entire fault..." She blinked and more tears ran down her cheeks. "No! You can't die on me, Ikuto! You can't leave me! I won't let you! He was...he was after me!" 'Onigumo killed Kikyou. He's not supposed to kill you.' "It should be me..."

Ikuto placed his hand on his gut wound so that he could feel the blood to make sure that this was actually happening. 'This is different, and yet, it's exactly the same. Onigumo is trying to destroy what I and Kagome have. It's the same concept. He might have shot her if I didn't get in the way. Then again, Onigumo just wanted Inuyasha out of the way so he could be with Kikyou.' "Kagome...this isn't...this isn't your fault..." He could feel the fade. He knew he wasn't going to die, but he could feel helpless and unset.

"Ikuto?"

"Kagome..."

"Ikuto!"

"Ikuto..." Kagome softly placed her hand on her husband's hand. After he was shot, he immediately went to the hospital. He hadn't been awake in days. He had been sleeping ever since he got shot and the doctors believed that he wouldn't wake up anytime soon. Kagome knew it wasn't true, since the Sacred Jewel was inside Ikuto. Kagome was just thankful that Ikuto was alive and had tried to avoid any other thing or person from the outside world. She didn't want to talk to the press, her friends, and barely Ikuto's family. Suno flipped once he heard. Once again, Ikuto suffered another disaster because of Kagome. "You're always getting into trouble because of me. Once again, it's my entire fault." 'Inuyasha died because of me. Will Ikuto suffer the same? If it wasn't for the Shikon Jewel in his body, he'd be dead.'

She decided not to get herself anymore upset than what she was, so she turned on the TV in Ikuto's room, but the news only upset her more. Michael was on TV, speaking of the incident. She felt bad for him, since the press swarmed him more than her.

A reporter shoved a microphone in his face after she said "I believed you were a strongly religious man; why did you attack Onuchi?"

He looked shocked that she asked that question. Then again, most of the media liked to tear down proud religious people. "There's nothing in my religion that promotes a man not standing up for what is right. My best friend was in danger, so I acted. If Onuchi could have, he probably would have killed Mrs. Kazasami, and one can only guess after that. I had to protect my loved ones, and there's nothing wrong with that."

Another reporter then shoved a mike in his face and asked "Has there been any improvement in Mr. Kazasami's condition?"

He sighed. "Yes, he's amazingly pulling through. It truly is a miracle that he's alive right now. The doctor's say he should have died. He lost a lot of blood, and some claim that he shouldn't have had the recovery that he has been having. He hasn't woken up since the incident, but he's doing well, if you think about what happened."

Kagome turned off the television once she heard the hospital door open. She was happy to see who was at the door. "Suno. I'm so glad to see you!" She got out of her chair and had to stop herself from hugging him. She was just so glad he had come. Suno was used to dealing with Ikuto's conditions. "He's doing well. I'm sure he'll pull through in no time."

"With that jewel inside him, my little brother is truly immortal. I'm sure the only thing that could truly stop him was a bullet to the head, and maybe even then..." Suno looked at his baby brother in the bed and it only made him angrier once he thought about it. "Kagome, the man who tried to kill Ikuto is going to jail for a very long time, perhaps life. If it were up to me, he'd be executed. There are too many people in this country that don't understand what evil is. Onuchi is very dishonorable and shouldn't be allowed to live. Even with all that said my greatest concern is this: there's talk that he had a partner.

She shook her head, even though she didn't know it to be true. If it didn't all happen spontaneously…she didn't even want to think about that! It all just happened so fast. There couldn't be a plan. If there was, then that would mean history was repeating itself. "That's not right at all" Kagome told him. "He shot Ikuto because he was jealous of me and Ikuto. He wanted to be with me."

"It's been mainly about you," he said with disgust that he wasn't even attempting to hide, "but still, someone manipulated him. He had a reason to kill Ikuto, but it wasn't his idea, at least not one he was at first going to act out on."

Now she had even more to worry about. 'Someone must have known that Onuchi would do it, and it must be because they know him...or they know who he is. I really hope I'm being paranoid and he's not Onigumo for real.' "Why do they think there was a partner?" She regretted asking that question, but she needed to know.

"Because some woman gave him the gun and told him to try and kill Ikuto. They just told him to try to shoot Ikuto until he's dead with the amount of bullets that he had, which was three. The only rule was: he wasn't allowed to shoot Ikuto in the head."

"That's insane!" Kagome told him. "My husband doesn't have any enemies except for Onuchi, besides jealous business men, but even so, Ikuto's not the richest man in the world!. Who else would want to hurt him?"

"It obviously sounds like someone wants to test Ikuto and what he can take. It sounds like they know about the Sacred Jewel."

"How do you even know if this woman was really working with Onuchi? What was he supposed to get in return?"

"Besides you?" He saw the anger flash in her eyes and went on, though he knew the next part would only make her uncomfortable. "He was promised a very wealthy jewel."

"A jewel…" 'Then so it really is Onigumo. If it is though…then why? Why do things have to be like this? Why can't Ikuto and I just live out our lives happy with our daughter? Are we truly destined to fail?' "But—"

"But nothing, Kagome! There's no other reason why someone would be sent to kill him, and not try the most obvious way—the head." Kagome bit her lip and tried not to cry from worry, but Suno could see the worry in her eyes anyway. "Are there any demons that you know of that would want the jewel that is still alive?"

"No, Suno. There's no one and most of the demons from the Feudal Era are gone." She looked back at her husband who was lying asleep; unaware of the danger. "I thought all of this was over." Her daughter Akira was in the room as well, but she was sleeping in a chair, all curled up. "I can't get caught up in all this demon stuff again. I'm a wife, I'm a mother. I'm in the spotlight for everyone to see."

'I knew this would only end badly. This is why I didn't want him to be with her.' There was no use complaining about it. A divorce was the messiest situation that a person could deal with, unless they committed murder and was attempting to cover it up. Besides, Ikuto did love her. "I suppose he'll be better by the time you two plan to have your trip to Japan. That jewel really does make him invincible."

Though she was worried, she realized that he was a bit upset about that. "Do you mean this whole time, he was right? You still don't like me?"

"I never have." She grunted, but that still didn't change his opinion. "Don't take it personal. I don't really like anyone."

'Man, I can see how Inuyasha and Ikuto are different; and if there's any big difference between any original—it's between me and Kikyou; but the biggest similarity is none other than Suno and Sesshoumaru. They are exactly the same!'

"I have some matters to discuss with Michael, now if you'll excuse me, I'll be leaving." He left Kagome there alone with her husband and daughter, who were both sleeping peacefully. 'I wonder if we'll be able to go to Japan for our honeymoon.' She was somehow able to find a smile. "I'm just glad he's still alive."

"Mommy?" Akira lifted her sleepy head from off the arm of the chair and yawned. "Is daddy awake yet?"

"No baby, but he'll be up soon."

It saddened her, but she didn't realize how bad the situation was, so she didn't get too upset. The six-year-old simply pouted and crossed her arms. "He's been sleeping a long time, mommy." Akira had soft black hair, not like her mother's hair, but more like her father's. She always wore it in a ponytail, so it appeared to be short. Her eyes were large and bright brown and her face had an innocent and round appeal to it. She was a short girl though. She hoped to have a growth spurt when she got older. The most distinctive thing about her was her naivety. She had no idea what was going on with her father. She knew he was hurt, but didn't know why and how. She was still worried about him though.

"I know baby, I know." Kagome forced herself not to cry in front of her daughter. "Don't worry honey. He'll be awake soon, and then we'll go to Japan."

"You're taking me with you, mommy?"

Kagome nodded. "Yeah, you can see your grandma."

"Really?" She was so excited that she jumped out of her chair. "I really wanna go. Daddy says they have nothing but cartoons on all the time."

Kagome laughed a little bit. "Yeah, they do have a lot of cartoons." 'And boy do I feel like I'm in a TV show right now!' "Why don't you try to get some more sleep?"

"When I wake up, will daddy be awake?"

"Maybe honey, maybe." 'I'm sure he'll be alright soon. He always bounces back, and quicker than what everyone expects, even me.'

He did bounce back and he did so very speedily. Ikuto made a quick recovery, which was a shock to everyone and it raised many questions. Ikuto was grateful for the jewel, but once he heard what his brother said, he wished that he had never come into possession of it. It was nice being practically indestructible, but it was causing trouble, again. He wished things could be different. He wished things could be like the very beginning of his marriage with Kagome. 'Perhaps this vacation is all that I need. Maybe things will return to normal after this little trip.'

After Ikuto recovered, he decided to go to Japan with his wife and daughter. He needed a break from everything. Being home would give him the chance to be with Kagome and Akira and it would make them so happy. Akira was happy to see her grandmother, so she stayed with her grandmother until Ikuto and Kagome came back from the movies, just one of the many things they did together. "Kagome—"

"I'm still not talking to you."

The two of them finished their journey up Kagome's long steps and he couldn't help but chuckle. "Are you kidding me? That movie wasn't even that scary."

"We should have seen something romantic, not something like that, Ikuto Kazasami! That movie was gory and...Yuck! It was just yuck!"

"You sound like a high school girl."

"And you sound like a little high school boy who just took his date to the movies so she would curl up close to him!"

"I don't have to do that Kagome." He wrapped his arm around her. "I don't have to be sneaky. You're mine, remember?"

She wanted to stay mad at him longer, but once she looked into his eyes, she couldn't help it. "Okay, you win." She smiled. "Maybe we should go back out, just the two of us. Let's not even pick up Akira right now. We'll just go."

"We'll do something, just the two of us, tomorrow. I promise we'll do it again, but we've got to take Akira to the zoo first."

"I know."

The two of them entered Kagome's former residence from the back and went into the kitchen. "Something smells good." Ikuto's speed instinctively increased once he smelt the wonderful smell of Kagome's mothers' cooking. "I think that's..." he rushed into the dinning room, but once he entered, his body was frozen with shock."What on Earth..."

"So nice of you to join us, Mr. and Mrs. Kazasami." Kagome's mom was tied up and had passed out on the floor. There was even a little blood on her head. "Don't worry about her. She she's still alive.." There was a woman, a woman with no sign of any kind of demonic power, but Ikuto could tell that she was dangerous. She was Japanese, and appeared to look just like any other Japanese woman, but there was something dark. There was something cold and evil in her eyes, yet she was spiritual. Ikuto could just sense it.

'A dark priestess?'

"Daddy!" Akira was in the clutches of the woman with a gun pointed to her head. "Daddy, please help me! She was so frightened! Who could blame her? She had tears streaming from down her face. Her chubby little cheeks were bright red from all her screaming and crying. She didn't understand why this woman had come and wanted her parents, and the only thing she knew for certain, was the fact that she was afraid.

"I'll do anything, just please don't kill her! Don't take my daughter away!" Ikuto was fast and crafty, but he wouldn't be able to save Akira, not with a gun already pointing to her head. If he lost her, he'd never forgive himself. It would destroy him. "Don't kill her."

"Don't kill my daughter!" Kagome tried to run for her only child, but Ikuto pushed her back.

"Hold on a second," he told Kagome. "Let her go," he pleaded. "Please, let her go free! Take me instead. I know I'm what you're after. Let my daughter live."

"Only if you do me a little favor." A twisted smile came to the stranger's face. Yes, everything for her would be as it should be. She would have the jewel if it was the last thing she'd ever do. "I want you to go to the Feudal Era."

To be continued...

A/N: I promise you won't miss Inuyasha! He's...in a way...coming back! Who is this stranger, and why does she want them to bring her the jewel? What does she want and will Ikuto and Kagome get back home safely? You'll have to check it out later! Check me out next time and please review!