Dee: All right, this Chapter is going to be totally off the top of my head. No planning. I think it'll be long, though, because I want this to explain what's happened in Inuyasha's time since Kagome's been gone. Like Kikyo, his markings, Naraku, all that good stuff.

Chapter Three

Miroku and Sango still shook with laughter as Inuyasha stomped out of the hut. He'd finally cut the rope after Kagome had attacked him with sits. There was a good sized hole that he had been in near the middle of the room. Kagome sat crossed-legged in her jeans on the ground against the wall opposite the doorway. Shippo sat next to her, trying to contain his own giggles.

"So, Kagome, what was that all about?" Miroku finally asked.

"He wouldn't cut the freaking rope, that's what."

"Are you sure he wouldn't, or was he teasing you?" Sango replied quickly, as if she had thought of it before.

Kagome gave her friend a you're-kidding-right look and answered, "Inuyasha doesn't tease people, at least not that I remember." She scratched her head, trying to think of a time when he might have. But she couldn't remember one.

Shippo nodded, instantly agreeing with Kagome. He knew how Inuyasha really teased people, and it was with his fists. Not the nice little teasing everyone understood.

"What did he do, Kagome, that's got you so angry?" Miroku inquired politely. He sat a few feet in front of Kagome. Sango knelt next to him.

She gave him a look of utter confusion mixed with a little disgust. "Besides the fact that he tied me up for a whole night, he refuses to let me go home to tell my mom not to fill the well with stuff that will make it impossible for me to go home. Then, when I try to show him a little compassion when he tells me about Kikyo's death, he bites my head off! I didn't mean to get him so angry, I even apologized! So, what was I supposed to do? Take it mildly? Not in this lifetime." She crossed her arms over her chest.

Miroku and Sango looked at each other, looks of sadness on their faces. Shippo hung his head.

"Kagome," Miroku began, "did he tell you how Kikyo died?" His tone was solemn and gloomy.

"N…no. All he said was that Naraku killed her." Kagome looked away. What had happened that made everyone so sad?

"Well," the monk looked at Sango. "Will you look at this one?"

Sango nodded slowly and opened her mouth to speak. "Kagome…did Inuyasha at least tell you that Naraku disappeared just a month or two after you went back to your time?" When Kagome shook her head, Sango sighed. "Then I'll start from the beginning.

"You see, when you left, Naraku started attacking more and more often until finally Kikyo tried to kill him. Inuyasha, after figuring out that Kikyo was actually near Naraku, jumped in just as Naraku set the house Kikyo was in on fire. He went after Inuyasha so he couldn't save her. She…uh…she died in that fire.

"Inuyasha was attacking furiously when we arrived. We must have distracted him, because Naraku caught him with some kind of poison attack on the sides of his face. But the markings didn't show up until Inuyasha used the Backlash Wave to blow Naraku up. We're not even sure if he's alive or not, but Inuyasha believes he is. Miroku's Wind Tunnel hasn't widened at all in the last three years, so we think he's dead. But we can't be sure."

Miroku and Shippo nodded.

Kagome felt horrible. Kikyo had died once again at the hands of Naraku. That had to rip Inuyasha apart. Especially since he had promised to protect Kikyo from Naraku. But that was three years ago. You'd think he wouldn't be so hostile about it.

Then again, I AM Kikyo's reincarnation. I probably bring back a lot of sad moments. He probably wouldn't act like this if I wasn't here. SO why does he want me here so badly? "I can't believe…that happened." She felt tears well up in her eyes but couldn't shed them. She blinked to hold them back.

There was silence until finally everyone left. Kagome sat by herself for a long time before standing up. She really was just making it harder for Inuyasha by being there. She would go home again and clog up the well once more. This time, she wouldn't let it be loosened so he could come and get her. She'd just go to America like she'd planned and then he couldn't find her even if he got through the well.

She poked her head out of the doorway and started to walk casually towards the well. She couldn't see Inuyasha anywhere so she walked a little faster, stopping to chat with Kaede for only a few more seconds. Then she started for the well once more. There was no noise in the trees, no rustling of his haori or any sight of anything red at all. Soon, she was at the well with no one to stop her. She swung one leg over and----

Inuyasha came out with a flash of bright light.

He looked at her and muttered, "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

X---X

He stomped back to the village, Kagome in tow. She was struggling unrewardingly to get out of his hold. "Let go, you oaf! Let go!" she shouted the whole time. Villagers stared at them, but didn't try to stop Inuyasha. They were obviously afraid of him. "Fine, don't let go. How about you just sit!"

Inuyasha hit the ground with an audible thump but kept his firm hold on Kagome's wrist. She was pulled onto the ground next to him. She let out an "oof!" as her nose hit the dirt. She tried to stand, but Inuyasha didn't let her go. He tugged her down even while she tried to rise to her knees.

"See how it feels? Being pulled to the ground forcefully even though you don't want to isn't so fun, is it?" He glared up at her.

"You deserved it! I didn't! I just want to go home to talk to my mother!" When she still couldn't get away, she remembered what her self-defense trainer had told her would work on anyone. She hoped that included hanyous.

She pinched him right where his shoulder and neck connected. He yelped and let go of her, giving her enough time to jump up and start running.

He followed, closing in until he was finally running next to her. "Stop running, you fool!" he shouted.

She didn't slow down. "Sit!" As he fell, Inuyasha yelled and screamed for her to stop, but she went on. Whenever he got too close to her, she'd say the Dreaded Word and he would fall to the ground until finally she was able to vault into the well. He, of course, was close behind. When she landed in her world, he trailed after her.

"Kagome, we're going back to my time, right now!" Inuyasha ordered.

"Kagome!" a voice shouted just in time to make Inuyasha pause.

Kagome's mother ran straight to Kagome and wrapped her in a tight hug, which pushed Inuyasha right into the well. He caught himself with his arms and legs in each corner of the well and pushed himself up. Kagome's mother was leading her up to the house.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled, following.

He burst into the house as Kagome and her mother sat down at the table. Souta ran down into the kitchen and hugged his sister fiercely. Inuyasha felt out of place.

"Sis! We were so worried about you!" Souta cried. "Your car was still here, but you weren't!" His arms tightened around her. Then he looked up and saw Inuyasha. The boy found his courage and stood protectively in front of her. "We should have known you would have something to do with this!" Far from the boy who had looked up to Inuyasha, Souta was openly berating him.

Inuyasha glanced down at the boy seeming amused. "Yeah? And why would you think that?" He crossed his arms inside his sleeves and leaned down to look Souta in the eye.

For a moment, Kagome thought Souta would back down, but instead, he took a deep breath and growled, much like Inuyasha did, "Because you always used to hurt Kagome." His glare seemed downright dangerous as he looked up at his ex-role model.

Inuyasha started at that, and then snarled, "I've never hurt Kagome once."

"Not on the outside, but whenever she came home she wasn't the same. You are the reason she's so different! Why don't you just leave her alone, anyways? Why don't you just go back to your time?!" He stabbed his finger into Inuyasha's chest. "No one wants you here."

Kagome didn't know who looked angrier at that moment, Souta or Inuyasha. Souta appeared ready to attack Inuyasha and Inuyasha seemed ready to tear him apart.

Kagome stepped around her brother. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, the front door slammed open. She knew it wasn't her grandfather because he was still busy at his antique convention or whatever, but she didn't know who would just come into a home without knocking.

"Kagome! Your mom just got a hold of us-----" Eri began before she saw Inuyasha. She pointed an accusing finger at Inuyasha and shouted, "You! You're the one who broke Kagome's heart! Why are you here?!"

Yuka and Ayumi were close behind and they gasped at him. "Leave!" all three of Kagome's friends screamed.

Inuyasha's ears drooped a little at the shrill sound. And that got the girls' notice. They all shrieked louder and pointed at his head. "What are those?!"

They didn't notice all those other times but they have to NOW?! "Girls, calm down. It's all right. Just go up to my room and I'll explain everything to you in a minute." If I can think of something that would make SENSE in that amount of time.

They shook their heads and Inuyasha turned to look at them. They all struggled for breath when they saw the markings on his face. "What are those?! Are they tattoos?!"

Yuka stepped forward. She aimed an angry finger at him and said, "You need to leave, buster. You broke Kagome's heart and we don't want you here!" She folded her arms over her chest and Ayumi moved forward to take her place at her left.

"Yeah. No one hurts Kagome and gets away with it."

Eri stood at Yuka's right and added, "At least not while we're around."

Inuyasha gaped at the three females but quickly covered it with a look that Kagome had only seen when they'd first met. The one that was so intimidating, it could make anyone shake right down to their souls. "I don't remember ever involving you girls. So why don't you just go run home before you get too scared." He waved them off, the expression still in place. And taking effect.

Ayumi was the first to look away. Eri scowled defiantly into his eyes before backing down also. Yuka, on the other hand, put her fists on her hips and said, "You can't scare us with your macho guy act. We all took our self-defense classes to heart and we remember everything from them. We could hurt you a lot more than you could hurt us."

Inuyasha threw back his head and laughed evilly. "Is that right? C'mon, try me."

Kagome moved between them to stop Yuka from doing just that. She couldn't win no matter what she used. He wouldn't stick in one spot long enough to let her. "That's enough you guys. Go home. I'll talk to Inuyasha myself. Remember who was at the head of that class," she reminded her friends.

They gave her a resigned look then nodded and walked away.

Kagome turned on Inuyasha. "I don't care who you think you are, but you have no right to treat my friends like that! Just go back to your time, Inuyasha. I've made a life for myself here. I can't go to your world anymore."

Inuyasha didn't answer. Instead, he picked her up under his arm and was out of the house before anyone could so much as think to run after them. He was at the well in moments, hurling them both into the dark abyss.

X---X

Kagome screamed her frustration as they toppled back onto the grass. "You idiot! I already told you I'm not coming here anymore! Put me down! Inuyasha, put. Me. Down!"

He didn't appear to notice her struggles. He just went to the Sacred Tree and hopped to the highest branch. He set her down next to the trunk and sat on her other side.

She turned to grip as much of the trunk as possible, hoping to climb down.

But Inuyasha held her to the branch. His hold was gentle but firm. "Kagome, you run again, I swear, this time I'll clog the well with a tree. Just sit down and shut up." When she opened her mouth to retaliate, he just repeated, "Shut. Up."

She groaned heatedly.

"Kagome, I wouldn't be doing this if you would just stay here." His eyebrows looked like one he was scowling so deeply. "Now, are you going to stay put?"

She shook her head and turned her head away, much like a spoiled princess. She even put in a little theatrical, "Humph," for good measure. If she started falling from the tree, she wouldn't move an inch of her body from that position.

"Kagome," Inuyasha warned, "don't start this. Please."

She turned to look at him. He looked so exasperated. "Fine. Go ahead."

"All right. Kagome, you know you made that promise to us." He paused as if thinking. "So why do you want to go home so badly? I didn't think you were the kind of person to go back on a promise."

Because I can't stand to see you with Kikyo. Even now that she's gone, it gets to you that I'm around. I don't want to be the one to make you feel so hurt all the time. I know when you look at me, you only REALLY see Kikyo. Or, at least, someone who looks LIKE her. And I can tell that it hurts you. So why should I stay and only make you feel worse about her being dead? I can't even tell MYSELF that I'm sad she's gone, but I still know that you're hurt by it. "Because I have a life back home that I need to get back to. You can't expect me to give that one up."

Then he asked the question that he'd obviously been wondering about for quite sometime. "Kagome, why did you leave in the first place? You'd gone months going back in forth between here and your time. So why then?"

She took a deep breath. "I'm not ready to talk to you about that, Inuyasha. I don't think I'll ever want to talk to you about that." She cast him a hopeless look. "Now please let me down."

He got angry then. "Kagome, don't you trust me at all?! Can't you tell me why you had to leave? Why did you leave that day?!" he demanded, his face inching towards hers.

"You want to know why?! Do you really?!" Kagome moved her face forward, too, and answered him. "I left because I couldn't stand you always going to Kikyo like a lost puppy! It hurt, Inuyasha! Every time you left, I wanted to cry!" She grabbed her hair and shouted, "I just couldn't take it anymore! There, are you happy? Now you know exactly why I left. I want to go home." She felt the tears coming, but refused to let him see them. She wasn't going to cry on his shoulder. No, she'd go home and go to America. Yeah, and then she wouldn't have to deal with any of this. She could just have a normal life. She'd only come back to the shrine to visit her mom, if she couldn't convince her to move to America, too. She'd get married to a regular guy and have a regular life.

But it didn't hold any real appeal. She would never be able to forget this place. America would seem dim in comparison. A normal life sounded boring and the shrine was her home. She knew she'd live there when she was old. And a regular guy wouldn't be right. He wouldn't be Inuyasha.

"Kagome," Inuyasha whispered. He reached an arm around her to pull her back to his chest. She stiffened and started to move away, but he held tight. "I'm so sorry, Kagome. I didn't know that I did that to you," he said into her ear. She felt herself relaxing, happy beyond the pain that she was with Inuyasha again. Then she shook her head. No, she wouldn't let him bring her back into his world. She shouldn't even be there. She didn't belong.

She finally jerked herself free. "Stop. Just…just leave me alone."

X---X

Dee: Sad chappie, I know.

Kagome: (tearfully) That's so sad. (turns to glare at Inuyasha) You better not ever do that. I swear, if you do….

Inuyasha: (a little frightened) N…no, Kagome. I won't.

Kagome: (happy with her progress hugs Inuyasha) Thank you.

Miroku: As Kagome has often said, you are SO whipped.

Inuyasha: (growls)

Sango: Well, it IS true. She has you wrapped around her finger.

Shippo: (snickers) Yeah, Inuyasha. Next thing you know, she'll be dressing you like a little girl does a doll.

Dee, Kagome, Inuyasha, Miroku & Sango: (sputtering) Wh…what?!

Dee: (turns to Inuyasha) You don't let her dress you, do you?!

Inuyasha & Kagome: (blushing furiously) Of course not!

Miroku: (laughs) Inuyasha would love that.

Kaede: (appears out of nowhere and hands Sango enchanted beads before disappearing again)

Sango: (puts necklace on Miroku) SIT!

Dee: (after the resounding crash) Well, we'd better go before Inuyasha is dressed like Little Bo Peep and Miroku does another face plant. See ya.