Chapter 1
"The heart wants what the heart wants", at least that's what Kagome tells herself every time her and her ragtag group of friends run into the demon lord on one of their many expeditions. She had long grown out of her premature "love" for Inuyasha. It had been four years since she fell through the well. Three years of tormenting pain every time Kikyo would just so happen to be in the same area. Three agonizing years of unrequited love. But most importantly, one year of acceptance. One year of realizing that not only was she better than the dead priestess, but she was stronger, more powerful, and had a damn better personality from the cold one she had. Kagome had grown stronger in those years traveling with her friends, who have become like family, but she became even stronger after acceptance; finally able to concentrate on becoming stronger. She was 19 now, far from the 15 year old girl who first fell through the well. She had grown out in my places and was no longer a skinny, clumsy, girl. She was more rounded and toned from years of fighting. Her hair, instead of being below shoulder length, fell in dark raven waves to her waist. She rarely wore it down though, but prefered to wear it high in a pony tail, especially in battle. All that hair can get annoying! She had long since graduated highschool, by sheer luck might I add, and no longer wore her school uniform or as others liked to call it her "skimpy kimono". Now she donned the same priestess garbs as Kikyo, but instead of the Hakama's being red, they were dark blue. It's not that she cared if she looked like the older woman. No, she was far past feeling that way. It just brought back bad memories, and blue just happened to be her favorite color and the color of purity. Pure she was indeed. In all the years of their travels, she still stopped at villages and helped when she could. She was known throughout Japan as a goddess, because surely that's what she was; to stop what she was doing solely to help others without a price. All she wanted in return was thanks and a place to sleep if the group decided to pamper themselves one night out of the week. Such as tonight.
"Hey wench, are ya gonna make that Ramen or not?!" Kagome sighed in irritation. 'I really should be used to this by now', she thought. "Yes, Inuyasha. It's already in the water, it just takes time. You can't hurry everything, you know." "Keh", Inuyasha replied, huffing and sitting down in his usual position. After she had distributed the Ramen, Inuyasha practically snatching his, Kagome resumed what she normally found herself doing; thinking. She was strong, that much was sure, but she was no where near as strong as him, and if they fought together in battle, she didn't want to embarrass herself. 'There I go thinking about him again. Damnit! This has to stop. This infatuation is not only insane, but it definitely can't be healthy.' she thought as she dug into her food. She didn't know why she was so infatuated with the silver haired lord. She just was, plain and simple. Sesshomaru, the only one who detested humans so much, and yet she seemed to have fallen for him. 'This is just great. I need to keep this to myself. I mean, i'm sure i'll get over this feeling. It's just going to take some time...' she thought bitterly. 'I know what i'll do to get my mind off of things! I believe some meditation is in order.' Kagome set her bowl down and clapped her hands together. "Alright guys, i'm going out for a bit! I should be back in an hour or so, so don't wait up for me." "Keh, just don't get yourself killed. We'd be out of a shard detector and then we'd really be fucked." Inuyasha snapped as she got up and grabbed her bow and headed for the door. "Oh, we really wouldn't want to have that happen now, would be?" Kagome smirked while opening the flap and headed out into the starry night. Inuyasha smiled at his closest friend and continued to slurp his Ramen.
