Part 1

She was at her wits end. It seemed like every time Kagome turned her back, InuYasha was chasing after Kikyo again. She had shown her disdain for it before, but it never seemed to faze him. He never seemed to notice how much it hurt her that he always went after her and would be missing for some time. The whole point to her even missing school and being with him in feudal Japan was to help gather the jewel shards. The only solace she had was the friends she made along the way. She felt like they were a second family to her, with Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kirara. She also had other friends that they met on their adventures. But this was almost too much to bear. She felt like she needed to take a break from it all and the next time InuYasha went after Kikyo, she decided she would go home without him knowing.

Not surprisingly, it was soon after she came to this decision that another chance arrived. Upon entering a new village, one called Toyashi, the team decided to stay at the first inn they saw, which was of decent quality.

"I love all the flowers here! There are so many colors! They even decorated the inside of the inn too!"

Shippo could not contain his excitement, first running through the flowers outside of the inn and now sniffing them each in the inn lobby.

Sango was in a cheerful mood herself. Miroku hasn't flirted with anyone recently, and while it was painfully obvious to the group that she had feelings for Miroku, she hadn't admitted it to herself yet.

"I'm surprised the smells aren't too much for you Shippo. I have to agree they are beautiful." Sango picks a purple flower and puts it in her hair. Miroku, like a predator in wait, seizes this opportunity.

"They are beautiful, but they are nothing compared to you Sango."

Miroku then proceeds to place his hand on Sango's rear end, rubbing gently. Miroku is then greeted with a smack to the face, followed by a giggle no one expected.

"You're words were nice but you could still keep your hands to yourself you perverted monk."

She sounded angry at first, but Sango still laughed after, lightening the mood. InuYasha was not very happy at the moment however, with the smell of the flowers being overwhelming. I didn't blame him for finding the smells too intense. He is a dog demon after all. We quickly got our rooms paid for and decided to stroll through the rest of the village to see what it has to offer.

After browsing a few stores and eating at a food stand, is when things went wrong. While looking at a shop and its clothing, InuYasha stopped in his tracks and started sniffing. Kagome assumed maybe it was a demon or something wrong.

"What is it? Is everything ok InuYasha?" Kagome stepped close to him and recognized the look on his face. It was that look he had when he could smell something familiar. Kagome's mood darkened with jealousy.

"Is it Kikyo? Answer me." Kagome spoke sternly. InuYasha looked at her and then looked away, which to Kagome was a sign that it was a yes. After a few tense moments, InuYasha started walking away from the group.

"Where are you going?" Kagome asked InuYasha but he chose to ignore her question. That was the final straw for her. Kagome waited for InuYasha to walk far enough away before looking at Sango.

"I know Kagome. I don't see what his problem is."

Sango put a hand on Kagome's shoulder as comfort. Miroku, who was standing a few feet behind Kagome and Sango spoke to Shippo.

"How can he not see how this makes her feel?" Miroku, even as flirtatious as he is, sees where this could be negatively affecting Kagome's feelings.

"Stupid InuYasha. I feel bad for Kagome." Shippo stepped next to Kagome and looked up at her. He could see that she was close to tears, but had a fierce anger in her expression.

Kagome turned to Sango and calmed her expression as much as she could.

"I'm just going to go home for a while. I promise I will be back soon to see you guys. Kaede's village wasn't that far from here so don't worry about me. Ok?"

Kagome then starts walking away, for Sango to grab her hand. Kagome looked to Sango.

"You sure you don't want one of us to walk you back? It is just over the river but I'd hate for you to go alone." Sango held Kagome's hand in hers for support. Kagome smiled a little.

"Thanks Sango. I think I can manage it alone. I'll be fine ok?" Sango just nodded but didn't feel good about letting her go alone. She understood how Kagome felt, for she felt the same when Miroku flirted with other women.

Kagome quickly left the village walking in a fast pace. She couldn't help but to ramble when she was on her own.

"Damn that InuYasha! With everything I do for him you'd think he would think about how I feel. Instead of chasing after someone else who doesn't even want him. She tried to kill him and sealed him all those years ago! I'm the one who freed him!"

Kagome kicked a rock that was on the road in front of her and watched it tumble a ways. Then she continued her rant to herself.

"Do I mean nothing to him? Has everything we worked together for meant nothing?"

Kagome reflects on the fact that they didn't get along at first when they met and that it was more of a duty than a want to collect the jewel shards.

"Maybe he just doesn't need me after all."

At this point tears started to fall down her cheeks. She hated that she felt this way. She kept walking until she was about halfway to Kaede's village, which didn't take too long for it was only a short distance away, when she heard a rustling sound from the bushes nearby. She stopped in her tracks and looked on wearily. She pulled out her bow and and arrow, ready to shoot. When something finally came from the bush, it was just a squirrel. Kagome made a sigh of relief, but it was too soon. The squirrel suddenly got jumped by an enormous, demon like snake that swallowed the squirrel whole and made eye contact with Kagome. This snake was about as big as the Scorpion demon that InuYasha and the team faced before. Before she could ready her bow steady, the snake charged. Kagome screamed and shot, managing to graze the snake with an arrow, but now before the snake's body slammed into her, knocking her down the embankment behind her. She tumbled and fell, dropping her bow, arrows, bookbag and even losing a shoe. About 12 feet or so down, Kagome was laying, unmoving, with scratches and blood coming from various places on her body.