War of Emotions
Chapter 1
Kagome could only hear the gentle rustle of the leaves and the odd bird chirping in the distance. But the air that hung heavily about her was anything but peaceful. She could feel Inuyasha's anger permeate the room, even though he was standing outside.
Her hands were shaking as she folded her camisole and placed it in her backpack. Had she really told him that she was going to leave and never come back? She closed her eyes for a brief moment in an attempt to slow her racing heart. Her palms were clammy from nervousness. As she wiped her hands on her skirt, she tried to collect her courage.
All she had to do was to sling her backpack over her shoulder, get out, walk past a fuming Inuyasha, give Shippo an affectionate pat on the head, give a hug to Sango, say goodbye to Miroku, and then make her way back into the well.
She shook her head. You won't be able to carry out your plan if you are so nervous, she scolded herself. Taking a deep breath, she gathered her strength and hoisted herself to her feet and slid open the door.
Sure enough, the half-demon was posted by the doorway, his hands clasped and in his sleeves, eyes close, and face in a half-scowl.
Something in Kagome's heart tugged. I guess I could spare him a "good-bye" or something, she thought, as she turned to close the door behind her.
"G-goodbye…Inu—"
"Where do you think you're going, wench?" Inuyasha snarled, his eyes flashing open.
Kagome took a deep breath. "I already told you where I will be going," she said, flatly.
Inuyasha gave her a hard look. "So you're just going to leave?"
"I'm going home, Inuyasha. I'm not coming back."
"What about the jewel shards?" he demanded, his temper flaring up. "We've still got half of it to go!"
Kagome reached for the small bottle that held nearly half of the Shikon Jewel. Looking at its brilliant rose hue for one last time, she turned her palm to Inuyasha.
The hanyou sneered. His bottom eyelid twitched.
"Take it," Kagome urged.
Inuyasha's eyes flicked to look at the girl. "But I need you to find the rest of them! You can't leave until we find them all!"
Kagome's hand lowered. "You finally told me the truth." She stood there, motionless, her hands gripping on the small bottle. Her tears welled in her eyes even as she desperately tried to will them away.
"What do you mean, wench?" Inuyasha growled. His tone was slathered in annoyance.
"You only kept me around because I could sense the jewel shards. I am just your little jewel detector," she uttered in a choked voice. The tears ran freely and abundantly over her cheeks. My face is probably all blotchy now, she thought to herself.
"I never said that!"
Kagome backed away and faced him, staring at his eyes. "There are a lot of things you don't say, Inuyasha, but I know it's true! You treat me like I'm a burden. You only protect me because you can't lose your little jewel detector! That's all I am to you! You don't even care about anybody else either! You push Shippo around like you're doing him a favour! And you couldn't care about Sango or Miroku because they can get themselves out of trouble. But me? I can't do anything! I can only detect jewel shards! Well, you know what? I'm sick of it! I'm sick of finding jewel shards! I'm sick of fighting demons! I'm sick of being around you! I'm sick of getting hurt!"
Kagome left no time for Inuyasha to respond, instead, she flung the bottle on the floorboards and ran. She left Inuyasha looking down at the broken bits of glass and the half of the Shikon Jewel. Inuyasha turned to watch Kagome's legs take her as fast as she could to the well.
The leaves hid his face from the wondering eyes of Sango and Miroku. Inuyasha felt safe, shrouded by the thick foliage. He liked climbing up here to think.
It had been a little under an hour since Kagome had stormed out on him. he frowned as he turned the jewel half in his hands. He ran his fingers over the jagged surface. He felt a twinge of pain and turned over his finger and inspected it.
A round, red drop of blood formed on his fingertip. He sucked the blood off and folded his hand back into the large sleeve of his haori and forgot about this. There were other things on his mind. Like Kagome.
He didn't understand why she had just flipped out on him like that. She accused him of treating her like a burden. He frowned. He never felt that way about her. Hadn't he always been willing to get her out of trouble? He may have hounded her a bit at times, but he never meant any harm. Besides, he argued with himself, why would I harm someone I would protect?
But he knew that Kagome didn't think that way. But he was angry. Angry that she would assume that he only protected her because he needed her to detect the jewel shards. That was true in itself, but he was not using her solely for this purpose. He didn't want to admit it, but he liked having her around. He liked…he didn't know what he liked about her, but something in his heart began to prod at him, slowly urging him to do something about this mess.
