Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha. I wish I did, but sadly, not all wishes come true.

A Taste of Freedom

I couldn't contain my sigh of frustration as I became lost in my thoughts. InuYasha and I were fighting again, which really wasn't surprising seeing as lately we always seemed to be going at each other's throats. I guess Sesshomaru joining the group and InuYasha stressing because of this could attribute to our fighting; or maybe I was the one stressing because Kikyo was now traveling with us as well. Either way, things in the group were less than pleasant right now.

Still, this particular fight seemed worse than the others that we'd been having. This one started after we fought a lizard demon holding a good number of shards. When things went messy, apparently I did something wrong to set off InuYasha. This was more and more common the longer Kikyo traveled with the group. Everything I did was wrong when Kikyo could do the task better.

For what seemed like hours, although I'm sure only about five minutes passed, InuYasha screamed in my face about Kikyo and how superior she was to me, not only as a miko, but also as a woman. If I'm being frank, I mostly tried to tune InuYasha out—we'd rehearsed this play many times before, and I knew every line.

So as he screamed, I stood there, allowing him to get work himself into a frenzy. Besides, the meaner he became, the less I would feel like a jerk for doing what was running through my mind.

Due to my lack of response, my friends started gathering around us in a nervous half circle. Normally, I'd be screaming, crying, or sitting InuYasha to hell right about now. Instead, I simply stood in front of him as he screamed at me and counted down from one hundred in my head. At my unusually cool demeanor, even Sesshomaru seemed to anticipate what would happen.

Finally, InuYasha stopped so that he could catch his breath—if he hadn't I'm certain he would've busted a vein in his forehead. However, without his loud complaints ringing in the air, InuYasha quickly noticed how I quietly stood with my hands crossed in front of my chest, not doing anything to retaliate. He paled before he whimpered and backed away from me—his ears pressed flat against his skull.

"Kagome?" he asked cautiously.

"InuYasha, I don't even know what to say to you. You have made your opinion clear on what you want and who you prefer to be at your side. You've made this opinion clear many times, and I don't think I can take one more instant. I'm sick of feeling like this weak, horrible person compared to Kikyo. You don't seem to care if I even stick around anymore, so I think that I should leave. This would be for the best."

"Are ya stupid? You can't just leave, wench! You wouldn't last five minutes!" InuYasha scoffed. His complete lack of faith in me stabbed at my heart and served to make my resolve stronger.

"InuYasha, we've had this discussion before, and I and tired of retelling you all the ways I've changed. I have reasons for deciding to do this. We don't work together anymore. We constantly fight, putting the entire group in danger. We never agree, and we just aren't a team anymore. Trying to make something this dysfunctional work will only hurt our friends. We've already had this discussion, even if those times I didn't leave, but I'm leaving now. Don't worry about me; I know what I'm doing, whether you agree with me or not."

"Kagome, you know you don't want to leave," he pleaded, trying to get me to stay. I could tell he knew I was serious this time as the panic started creeping into his voice.

"Yes, InuYasha, I do. Your little screaming match today only made up my mind. So far, I've been keeping a level head and thinking on my decision to leave. I feel tied down, and I know that freedom is what I want, so please don't hold be back."

"Okay, bitch, now you're just playing games with my head, hoping that I'll beg ya to stay."

"InuYasha," I sighed in frustration. "I'm now playing games with you! I never have and I never will. Instead of playing stupid mind games, I've learned to let your behavior slide when I really want to scream or S-I-T you to hell. I'm growing up, even if you refuse to see that!"

"Yea, but that doesn't mean you wanna leave," he interrupted stubbornly.

"InuYasha, I really don't know how to make this any clearer. I've made up my mind about this, so don't try to stop me. I want to go, and I will leave."

"You know what? I'm leader of this group, and what I say goes. You're not gonna leave, and that's final!"

InuYasha should have kept his mouth shut when he was ahead. Why did he even care if I decided to leave? He had Kikyo, so letting me go off on my own shouldn't be a big issue. But no… he just had to go and piss me off.

"I can't do this!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, finally going over that edge. "For once in your freaking life will you please listen to what I'm trying to say to you? I feel caught right in the middle of a tangled mess that's just causing problems for all of our friends. Mainly this clashing and head butting between the two of us is what's causing the most issues. Moreover, I'm sick of being stuck in Kikyo's shadow. I'm never going to be good enough in your eyes—not when she's around, at least. So really, I don't even know why I try. Half the time I can't breathe! I'm starting to find that holding onto this hope is harder than never leaving!"

InuYasha stared back at me with huge eyes, not knowing how to respond. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if he were floundering for a response. When he just shook his head and looked to Kikyo for all the answers, I sighed in disgust and bolted into action.

I stalked over to my yellow bag and scooped the bundle onto my back. Everyone just stared as I adjusted the straps and then trudged from the clearing we were having lunch in, and into the forest.

"Mama, wait!" I heard Shippou yelling. I turned around just in time to catch the orange fur ball flying to my chest. Without missing a beat, I situated him in my arms, turned around, and continued walking away from my friends, all of who stared at me in either awe or shock.

After walking for a bit, I noticed the sound of footsteps following close behind me. I stopped and watched as the rest of the group, save for InuYasha and Kikyo, came into view. The fact that InuYasha was hiding from me didn't serve as a surprise. What surprised me was the fact that Sesshomaru was leading my friends to me.

"You better not try and make me go back," I warned, eyeing them a bit wearily.

"We tire of idiocracy," was all Sesshomaru said—all he needed to say.

"Okay then! I'm glad I'm not the only sane person in the group. I was starting to worry though when no one else was screaming at InuYasha," I shrugged and turned to keep walking. "Are you all coming or not?" I asked as I looked over my shoulder at my friends.

Sesshomaru smirked as a way of answering and fell in step behind me, the action repeated by my friends. A weight lifted from my chest as I lead our little group on this quest, and for the first time in a long time, I actually felt free.

A/N: Hello all of my little readers! I wrote this today in the car on my way back from a VW show. I was listening to my iPod (WOW who would have guessed?) and a song came on. I'm not going to tell you what it was because if anyone guesses it, I will love them forever. ANYWAY, this song came on and I was inspired. I wrote this entire thing in about 15 minutes. I think it's a record! So when I sat down to type it, I was looking at the page going "What the hell is that?" Let's just say that it took me longer to type than to write, and I type pretty fast.

I like how this came out and I hope you do too. This one-shot could easily become a story, depending on what feedback I get. If I was to make it a story, it would be a SessXKag because those are my favorite :) So if you like this, be sure to tell me so that I might be less lazy and continue it.