Chapter 2. Misunderstandings

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A very grumpy Inuyasha was waiting beside the well while tapping his feet impatiently.

"Keh. The wench should've been back by now," he looked at the sun that had began to set, "I wonder what she's doing though… does she- does she really mad at me?"

"Inuyasha, wouldn't it be better if you go to Lady Kagome's time and get her?" said Miroku. "

"And probably apologize to her." murmured Sango.

Inuyasha's ears twitched. "What do you mean apologize, Sango? I ain't doing anything wrong!"

"Sure you are, Inuyasha…" said Sango as she rolled her eyes.

"Keh." He replied, acting arrogant as usual.

But he couldn't help but to began to think that he was really the cause of Kagome's lack of cheerfulness.

'Kagome, did I… or is this because of… Kikyo?' Inuyasha thought to himself as he continued to stare at the well.

.

.

"Kagome, look at me!"

"Hm?" answered the raven-haired girl as she took a slurp from her ice cream.

"I'm Mr. Kentucky, young lady. Hohoho." Hojo mimicked an elder person's voice. His ice cream had accidentally sputtered on his face earlier. He then smeared the spilled ice cream over his mouth and below his chin to make mustaches and beard, and also on his eyebrows that it made him looked like an old guy.

Kagome laughed at his poor joke attempt. "Hojo, that's dirty, you know! Here, have my tissue."

'But he did that to make you happy, you know.' Said her conscience.

'Inuyasha didn't even have to try but he makes you happy just by staying at his side.' Protested her other conscience.

'But he hurts your feelings repeatedly, too…' the other one didn't seem to be willing to admit defeat.

Kagome frowned. 'This is not the right time to think about that jerk.' She said to herself.

"Hojo?" she asked.

"Yeah, Kagome?" the boy answered as he tried to wipe the ice cream off of his face.

"It's been really great today… Thank you, I really enjoyed today. But's almost dark now…I'm afraid we need to get back soon." said Kagome slowly.

'It's just feel not right, being with him when all I think about is Inuyasha.' She thought.

Hojo looked at his watch and gasped. "You're right, I was having so much fun with you that I don't even keep track of the time!"

Kagome smiled. Seeing the pure joy on the boy's face somehow made her feel better.

'At least, there's someone who actually care about me that much.' She thought to herself.

.

"Ha-choo!" Kagome sneezed for the second time as they walked back home.

Hojo looked at the girl beside him in concern. "Are you cold, Kagome?"

Kagome shook her head. "Nah, I'm fine, Hojo. But thanks for asking."

The brown haired boy then took off his jacket and put it on her. "Here, you should wear this."

Kagome smiled at him warmly. "Thank you, Hojo, you're so thoughtful."

However, a frown began to form on her face when she remembered the very same act that Inuyasha had done for her not long ago.

"Wear this, you'll catch a cold." Inuyasha said as he put his read haori to cover Kagome.

Kagome was about to say her thanks when she suddenly sneezed again.
"Seems like you caught one already." Inuyasha sighed.

Kagome smiled and shook her head. "No, someone is probably gossiping about me."

Inuyasha frowned. "Idiot, nobody will gossip about you." He put his hand on Kagome's head and comparing it to his own, trying to see if she indeed had a fever.

"It doesn't seem like you have a fever…" he said.

Kagome smiled and laid her head in his shoulder. "Thanks for worrying, Inuyasha."

Kagome shook her head, trying to shake off the memory.

'It isn't fair for Hojo if I keep thinking about Inuyasha while being with him,' She thought, angry to herself.

Few moments later, they finally reached the Higurashi's shrine.

"Here we are, Kagome." said Hojo with a smile.

Kagome smiled back to him, "Thanks Hojo. I had so much fun today."

"You're most welcome, Kagome."

.

Meanwhile, back in the feudal era, Sango was threatening Inuyasha with his hiraikotsu to go apologize to Kagome.

"Geez, I know I know! Sango, get your gigantic boomerang the hell away from me!"

"Well you better go get her now, Inuyasha!" Sango glared at him.

"I agreed." Miroku nodded. "Lady Kagome's not the one to break promises, you know. Unless you made her really mad…"

"Yeah yeah, I'm going!" Inuyasha grumbled.

'Stupid monk, always blaming everything to me…' he thought as he headed to the well and hopped into it. He jumped out of the well and tried to sniff for Kagome.

.

"Well then, see you later Kagome."

Kagome smiled at him. As she saw him began to walk away, she forgot that she hasn't return his jacket back to him.

"Wait, Hojo!" She tried to chase after him. "Woa-" she slipped her feet, just for Hojo to caught her in time. Their eyes locked with each other for a while before the young miko heard a low growl behind her.

She looked at her back and gasped. "Inuyasha?" she asked in disbelief.

"What the heck are you doing here, Kagome? I thought you're going back yesterday… And who the hell is this wimpy guy?" He eyed Hojo accusingly. He was beyond pissed. 'So Kagome's not going back because she's with some other guy.' For some reason, it really hurt him that Kagome would rather spend her time with some human boy than being with him.

Kagome bit her lips nervously.

"Hojo, I think it's best if you leave now." She said carefully.

"But-Kagome…" argued Hojo as he stole a glance at the weird looking guy beside Kagome. Who is he?

"No, Hojo, please…? This guy right here is my friend, too. He just got a bit of a temper." Kagome pleaded.

Hojo sighed in disappointment. "Alright then." He walked away, but not before grasping each of Kagome's hands in his own, much to Kagome's surprise. Inuyasha's eyes widened at this.

When Hojo was nowhere in sight, Kagome turned to look at Inuyasha who had his eyes covered with his bangs.

"Inuyasha..?" she asked carefully.

"Is this some kind of revenge, Kagome?" he started slowly. His tone was dangerously low.

Kagome flinched a bit.

"You know, Kagome. You shouldn't promise me you would stay by my side if you really can't bear being with me. You could've said it right in front of my face, instead of playing angelin front of me and go sneak around with other guy in your time." He told her coldly.

The coldness in Inuyasha's voice felt like an ice to her heart. But she gathered her courage and speak up. "Tell me, Inuyasha. Why does it bother you so much that I'm going with Hojo?"

Inuyasha froze. He didn't expect her to question him back. "I-" he stammered, looking at the woman before him, "Stupid. Who said I was bothered with you playing around with some wimp? I was only pissed that you didn't came back yesterday as you promised!"

Kagome's eyes widened in shock and hurt, and Inuyasha instantly regretted what he said. 'You moron.' He thought to himself. 'You just don't want her to be with some other guy…Why can't you tell her that?'

"Inuyasha," Kagome breathed deeply, "I'm not leaving you. I promised that and I swear I won't ever broke it, but," she paused as if she wasn't sure to continue, "But doesn't mean that I'll keep waiting for you like love sick puppy… nor will I…. try to keep my feelings for you anymore."

For a moment, Inuyasha could've sworn his heart stopped. Feelings for him..? Kagome? Did she mean that… she loved him…?

Inuyasha was dense and all, but he was not stupid. He had long known that Kagome held some kind of attraction to him. What else could explain the sadness and jealousy that he could see in her eyes every time he went to Kikyo?

'But being the fool I was, I kept hurting her. And now she's giving up on me…. 'No,' he thought frantically, 'This is not the way things supposed to be!'

The hanyou lunged to the young Miko and engulfed her small frame in a tight embrace.

Kagome gasped in surprise, "Let me go, Inuyasha! What are you doing?" She struggled to push him away.

Pain shot through his chest when he realized that she was struggling to get away from him. "No, Kagome, don't say that. Please… I- I love you!" he admitted.

Kagome stopped her struggle, and just as Inuyasha loosened his embrace on her, she pushed him away with all her might, her bangs covered her eyes.

"Ka-gome..?" Inuyasha whispered in a broken tone.

"Liar…" She murmured darkly, "You're such a liar, Inuyasha."

"I'm not lying, you wench!" Inuyasha growled angrily. Here he was, finally have the balls to proclaim his love for her, and she just accused him of lying?

"No. I don't wanna hear it. You're lying, Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed.

As she raised her head, Inuyasha could see a few tears had rolled down from her beautiful brown eyes.

"If you truly love me, why would you go after Kikyo all the time?" Seeing that Inuyasha remained speechless, Kagome decided to continue, "I might be Kikyo's reincarnation, Inuyasha. But I'm not her. So don't you dare go telling me you love me only after you're sure that your one and only beloved Kikyo had truly ceased from this world! I'm not some kind of replacement, Inuyasha! I wanted to have someone who would be there only for me, not someone who chased after his DEAD girlfriend!" She paused to wait for any reply from him. But Inuyasha just stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Inuyasha, I'm tired, I'm tired of being second best," Kagome confessed, "What does she have that I don't, Inuyasha? What does she do for you, that I didn't? If it weren't for me, she wouldn't even have the chance to wonder in this earth anymore, Inuyasha. If it weren't for a part of my soul that is inside her clay pot body- that woman wouldn't even exist! Why can't you understand that?!"

Inuyasha still kept his mouth shut, and Kagome became frustrated. "You- why aren't you answering me? You're such a coward, Inuyasha. Well you know what, Inuyasha? I'm glad I decided to go 'sneak' around with Hojo as how you put it. You're so pathetic. No wonder Kikyo hates you so much."

And that was the last straw for Inuyasha. His eyes widened, and began to darken. And Kagome knew that she had crossed the line. She didn't really mean it to came that way, though, but her emotions had gotten the best of her.

"Inuyasha..,?" Kagome asked carefully, suddenly regretting everything she had just said to him.

Inuyasha gave out a low chuckle. "So you finally revealed your true nature, eh Kagome?"

Kagome felt her knees go weak at his unusual, dark tone. "What do you mean, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha glared at her. "Do you need me to explain it to you? I thought you would know yourself the best. Since the beginning, you only wanted me to yourself. You despised it every time I went to Kikyo. And now you probably just wanted to get your revenge on me by messing around with some other guy after I told you how I felt. Hell. You're probably very happy right now that your little plan had worked perfectly, aren't you?" He said mockingly.

Kagome opened her mouth, but nothing came out. 'Why is he saying such things..?'

Inuyasha continued on. "I had always thought that you're so innocent, Kagome. And thinking that I was always the one who hurt you really killed me inside. But then again, I think I was wrong," he paused again and chuckled darkly, "After all I had done for you, jumping in front of a damn blade to save your sorry ass countless times, now you're repaying me by breaking my heart. I guess that can't be helped that you're such a selfish woman, hmm Kagome?"

Kagome flinched. That was not what she meant! "Inuyasha!"

"Save it Kagome, I don't want to hear any of it," he growled dangerously, the darkness in his heart and the hatred he felt for humans because of his past memories began to resurface because of her hurtful words. "Seriously, if I knew that you're going to give me so much trouble, I should've just killed you the first time we met."

However, almost instantly, he regretted what he said. He knew he wasn't thinking when he said that.

Kagome's widened before she slumped to the ground, "Then do it Inuyasha." She said weakly, "Kill me now. I don't mind. If that could make you feel better, so be it."

'Besides, you're killing me inside already.' She added to herself.

Inuyasha just stared at the young miko in front of him. His words died in his throat, and he didn't know what to say.

"You- you stupid woman!" He finally snapped, "Have you gone insane? Asking me to kill you now?"

"I gave you so much trouble, right? You hated my guts, right?" Kagome cried brokenly.

'And I don't think I'll be able to live another day, knowing that you hated me…' She thought to herself.

Inuyasha's eyes widened, "You…" He groaned. "Forget it, I give up on you, Kagome. I just don't know that to do with you any more." Inuyasha sighed in defeat.

He turned around and began to make his way to the well.

"I'm going back. You can do what you want." he said, his tone was final.

Kagome stared at Inuyasha's disappearing figure as he leapt through the well. That moment, she knew everything wasn't going to be the same anymore between them.

.

.

After that day, Inuyasha spent most of his time alone in his favorite tree, while Kagome always try to avoid him. Inuyasha was even grumpier than usual, and Kagome seemed to lose her cheerfulness. They began to talk less to the others too. It didn't take long before Sango, Miroku and even Shippo noticed the tension between them.

"Hey, Houshi-Sama," said the demon slayer carefully that night. She had made sure that Inuyasha was nowhere in sight and couldn't possibly hear her, and Kagome was sound asleep.

"Yes, Sango?" The monk answered.

"Don't you think… That there's something really serious going on between Kagome and Inuyasha?" she asked.

Miroku inhaled deeply, "I believe so, Sango. Inuyasha and Lady Kagome seemed… so much distant lately."

"Agreed Miroku!" said Shippo suddenly.

"Shippo? You're not asleep?" asked Miroku in surprise.

"Shhh… keep your voice down!" whispered Sango.

"Kagome was being so unusually gloomy and quiet lately. And Inuyasha didn't even hit me for mocking him!" said the kitsune, "I wonder what happen with them."

"Me too, Shippo." sighed Sango. "Whatever their problem is, I really hope they can work it out soon…"

Miroku nodded in agreement. He knew that his two friends were hurting themselves inside.

.

It was a pretty usual day in the feudal era; Miroku groped Sango, Sango slapped Miroku, and Shippo kept nagging on Inuyasha. Only this time, Kagome didn't make any comment on Miroku's lecherous acts, nor did Inuyasha hit Shippo for bothering him.

'Okay… Things are really wrong.' Miroku, Sango and Shippo thought at the same time.

Suddenly, Inuyasha's ears perked as he started to sniff around.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" asked Miroku, the red hand mark on his right cheek was still clear.

"I smelt blood," he answered, "And there was a lot of it."

"What? Where does it come from?" asked Sango quickly.

"There…" Inuyasha pointed to a small village.

.

.

A wicked grin was formed from the corner of the evil half demon lips as he stared at the magical mirror in front of him. All he saw was another one of his incarnations- heartlessly killing those worthless humans. He smiled in satisfaction.

This incarnation was different from the others. Her cold brown eyes narrowed dangerously as she went from killing one to another, her thick raven hair waved freely as she dodged a man's sword and strike him dead with one slash from her sword. She was special. Naraku could've swore, she was the best thing he had ever created.

"Enjoying yourself, Naraku?" came the sensual voice of the wind sorceress.

"Kagura… I must say that you did your last job very well. This jewel right here," he touched the face of his new incarnation on the mirror, "could't ever exist without you. Ah. Such a beautiful creation out of poor desperation, sadness, and hatred…"

Kagura was not really interested with that new incarnation, but she figured she could ask something from him now…. "Then how about you give me my heart back, eh Naraku?"

Naraku turned his gaze to the red-eyed she-demon in front of him and smirked. "Do you think that I was that easy, Kagura? You might play a big role in capturing Kagome's weak side… But still, that was still not a good reason why I should free you." He chuckled darkly, "That rejected feelings that she bear in her mind for so long without she even realize it, eventually come out of the surface with a bit of my help, and look. I've created the perfect monster… One that I'll be sure gonna finish Inuyasha."

Kagura rolled her eyes. "And why are you so confident about this Naraku? Inuyasha is not as foolish as you think he is. What makes you think he wouldn't notice your scent on that new incarnation? And he wouldn't think twice to destroy her. I mean, he would realize that thing is not the real Kagome."

"That's the point, Kagura…" answered Naraku, eyes still locked on Kanna's mirror. "What can I say…. This demon and Kagome are not a different person. Well, yes, but not really yet. But soon."

At this, Kagura raised on of her eyebrows in confusion, "What do you mean, Naraku?"

"You see Kagura, this demon was created from a part of Kagome. Just like Kikyou was resurrected from a part of Kagome. Do you think Kikyou and Kagome are the same person?"

Kagura shook her head.

Naraku grinned evilly, "That's the point. Kikyou and Kagome have no real physical relation whatsoever- besides the fact that Kagome was Kikyo's reincarnation. Kagome will never feel Kikyo's physical or emotional pain, and neither is Kikyo. Their feelings, except the one for that half breed, are different."

"And your point is…?" asked the wind sorceress, getting impatient with his complicated explanation.

Kagome and this incarnation of mine… Well. You can say that this demon is the portrayal of any bitterness that she had felt. Her human emotions, the growing bitterness towards Inuyasha will make this demon stronger… And because she and the demon were bonded by this," he stopped as a sly smile curved his lips, "This demon's existence can never be erased unless Kagome stop feeling human emotions. Which in her case as a human, is not possible to happen unless she perishes from this world, or… she herself turning into that demon who portrayed her."

Kagura's eyes widened in realization as a smirk began playing in her lips. "You truly are evil, Naraku. In other words, it's either that woman dies, or turning a demon and fight against Inuyasha."

"Correct, Kagura," Naraku licked his lips, "and knowing Inuyasha, he would rather let himself be killed before he let anything happened to that woman. It's a win or win battle for me."

.

.

A rather gory, yet nothing unusual sight greeted them as the group finally arrived to the village. Bodies of dead people were scattered everywhere. But what made it rather odd was that most of the victims were young women.

Kagome gasped and covered her mouth as she saw the body of a dead young mother, clutching her equally dead baby close to her side.

"How cruel…" Sango muttered quietly.

"And who might be responsible for this?" said Miroku as he inspected the wound in the corpse of a woman.

Inuyasha just kept silence as he looked around, trying to see if there was still any trace of the enemy.

As if on cue, an elder man suddenly ran to them.

"Help, help!" he cried hopelessly.

"Calm down, old man. What happened here? Who killed these people?" Inuyasha asked.

"I don't know- Me and some other men were out hunting in the forest… And when I got h-here, that demon was already here… Killing off the women and a few men that were trying to save them! Please, you must do something! They killed my daughter!" The man cried as he knelt before Inuyasha.

"Hey, get a grip already. Don't kneel in front of me!" Inuyasha was growing irritated. But still, he wondered what kind of demon might be responsible for this heartless slaughter.

"We'll try our best to find this demon, sir." Kagome said as she approached the poor old man.

The old man was about to say his thanks to Kagome, but he gasped when he saw her face. "You- you heartless monster! Why are you still here? Are you trying to kill the rest of us? Aren't those innocent bloods you dropped enough already? Get away from this village, demon! Get away!"

To say that the group was shocked by the old man's sudden outburst was an understatement.

But of course the one who was the most shocked was Kagome. "What? I'm not a demon!" Kagome protested, still confused. Why did this man calling her a demon?

"Hey! Kagome's not a demon you stupid old man!" Shippo defended Kagome.

"I think there must be some kind of misunderstanding here…" said Miroku.