Acceptance denied

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Shippou walked slowly through the fog, only one person on his mind, Kagome. She was the closest thing he'd had to a mother in years. Yet she was just a human; he knew it should not bother him that she was but it did. It was the night of the full moon and there were no stars in the sky, the only light came from the moon and the fireflies. He stopped walking when he reached a field. It was empty, except for a few fireflies and bugs. He saw a large rock in the middle of the field, and sat himself atop it.

He hoped she wouldn't come and look for him. He hoped she might for forget the day, forget him, because he didn't want to return. He'd done something unspeakable today; he'd made her cry. Worse then anytime Inuyasha had run to Kikyo, worse than any time Naraku killed more innocents. And he'd done it all with mere words. No violence, no death; 'Though,' he pondered, 'perhaps inside her heart died just a little bit more.' And yet he felt little guilt.

The day had started much like any other, with Kagome making ramen for breakfast. But the normality of the day changed soon after they had finished eating. Inuyasha left them at their camp, and without a word everyone knew he was going to Kikyo. Shippou had felt angry at the hanyou as Kagome buried her face into her books, pretending not to be crying. She had grown quite convincing at pretending, like maybe she truly did not love the baka anymore.

Within ten minutes of Inuyasha's departure, a pack of tough-looking demons had approached them. Surprisingly not to fight. They had looked between Sango and Miroku, and Kagome who had Shippou beside her, colouring away in one of his colouring books. The demons laughed cruelly, and picked Shippou up by his tail. "What's this?" They had asked mockingly, making even the cowardly Shippou glare at them, "A bouncing fox brat with a human mother?" That was when Shippou'd done wrong. From one demon to another, it was a great insult to say their mother was human, adoptive or not.

Out of instinct Shippou had bitten the demon's hand and jumped away shouting, "She is not my mother. She's my puppet." Of course, demon's knew puppet to mean 'forced care giver', and humans knew it only to mean that they were being used and were unloved. Kagome said not a thing, as the demons walked away laughing cruelly again. She didn't have to. She stood up, dropping her book to the ground and excused herself silently, before leaving Shippou, Miroku and Sango rather stunned on the ground.

Shippou gripped the boulder with his small hands, the cold hard surface grating against his skin. As he went over his own words again and again; he still felt no guilt. Perhaps a part of him, deep down, knew that those words were true. She was just a puppet he used for shelter and protection. And in a way, this made him worse than Inuyasha. "…At least he only uses her for the jewel shards. And he doesn't say it in front of her if he can help it. I just shouted it. I didn't care that she was there; could hear me. I didn't care." He said out loud, announcing his troubles to the empty night. He did not see Inuyasha approach him.

"You really did it then? Kid?" He asked, drawing Shippou's attention to him. "Yeah. I did. So what, big deal, you've hurt her worse-said worse." Inuyasha sat beside the fox kit on the rock and sighed. "No. I hate to be the one to tell you this, kid, but we're at the same level here." Shippou turned his gaze back to the stars in the sky, unable to look at his guilt-ridden companion. "How are we on the same level. I only called her my puppet. You openly compare her to your dead lover." The kit wasn't really expecting the answer he got, "Easy kid. We've both ignored her love; in her direct view. To her, we're just monsters."

Shippou turned back to Inuyasha with a sigh of his own. "So, then she'll never forgive demons, will she? We're the first two to be close to her…and look what we've done." Inuyasha nodded and set his hand on Shippou's shoulder. "I won't make you return to camp, but that option is open. I return every time, and pretend I haven't wronged her." Shippou nodded and put his hand on top of Inuyasha's. "It's not a demon's way to be guilty about the heart of a human. It's our way to stay alive."

"You're right Inuyasha. For once. You and me, we're not so different." Inuyasha jumped off the rock, and nodded in the direction of the camp, "You're coming back, then?" With a swift nod, the small fox kit did a back flip off the boulder and landed on his companion's shoulder. As a demon, and as a soon-to-be man, he was ready to follow his companion's lead. And face the one he'd brought to tears.

They got to the camp and found that Kagome had gone out for a walk. Sango and Miroku regarded them both with a glare. "She may not come back this time." Sango informed them angrily. "I thought you said she just went for a walk?" Shippou asked, a little confused. "She took her bag. What more can I say." Sango bit back. She knew all about demons and their natures, but she still did not think Kagome deserved to be called a puppet.

Miroku put an arm around the demon slayer's shoulder, to calm her, and said in a voice that was much unlike him, "I hope you are both happy." Before turning and tending to the fire. He felt disgusted how could two demons so stupidly ignore Kagome's warm heart, and use her in such a manner. He could see, though no tears fell, as she left that a part of her had died. A part that had separated her from the human's of this time; the part that believed demons weren't all bad.

One thing he did not tell them, was that she had taken the jewel; almost completed. Only three shards remained. One with Naraku, two with Kouga.

Kagome trudged through the forest, her backpack, holding only the necessities. She had stopped at the well, and dropped her textbooks into it. She knew where the jewel shards were, and she knew how to get them. Kouga would do anything for her. Stupid wolf. She flinched as a branch scrapped her cheek, but continued walking. She had to think of what she might wish for, although she had a pretty good idea already.

She didn't stop walking until noon the next day, knowing she was finally out of Inuyasha's reach. He wouldn't be able to find her, she'd taken all the necessary precautions to ensure that. She'd traveled straight into the west, but only at the very border. With any luck Sesshomaru would never notice. Though as of late, her luck regarding men and demons alike had been rather off. She wondered if perhaps Kouga might be the next to use her.

She found a small pool of crystal clear water, with a small waterfall pouring into it, tucked away behind some heavy trees. She used what little control she had over her powers as a miko to form a small bubble over the area. It was supposed to prevent anything from even seeing the spot.

She sat beside the pool of water and looked at her reflection. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying. Her lips dry and cracked. Her hair looked stringy, though she'd washed it less than 12 hours before. There small cuts and scrapes on her cheeks and she saw a pink glow form around them. Within moments they were gone and she smiled sadly. Her face looked better, but her heart still ached and throbbed in pain.

Part of her couldn't grasp that the kit she'd held so close, loved so much, and even considered as a son, would ignore her love in the way Inuyasha did so often. 'Maybe,' she thought, 'that's just how demons are. I wonder if Sesshomaru is the same…' She sighed and lay back on the grass, that was probably something best left un-pondered. Lest she break her heart again.

She woke up the next morning, face to face with a young girl. But that wasn't why she screamed. She screamed when she realized she was not in the forest anymore. In about half a second, the door to the room she was in burst open, revealing an irate Sesshomaru. "Cease that infernal racket ningen." He spat at her, making her faint. As soon as she fell off the bed, Sesshomaru cringed. He hadn't wanted her to faint, he just had one hell of a headache and he wanted her to shut the hell up.