Unrequited

By: InsomiAsylum

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha. All rights go to Rumiko Takahashi.

((Thank you; to all of those who have read and reviewed my fic, it is greatly appreciated. Nadia, you crack me up with your enthusiasm. :) Opalbrat, you've made me realize that I need to be clearer in my descriptions. Thank you both especially))

CHAPTER FOUR

The three of them stood around in her room just staring at each other. Yuki was still trying to grasp what Kagome had told him about the feudal era and this 'shikon jewel' thing, with a few interjections from Inuyasha on how things really went down. Inuyasha sat on the window sill, staring at Yuki as if he were going to pounce any second. Yuki sat cross-legged and arms folded in Kagome's desk chair. Kagome, tired from pacing her floor had sat down on her bed, wishing it would just swallow her up whole.

"So, this all happens when you jump down the well?" Yuki said finally, breaking the silence. Kagome nodded.

"Yes. It's like a portal into the feudal era. Only Inuyasha and I can use it."Kagome explained.

"How did you find this out anyway? Did you just, like, jump in one day and hope some dog-eared guy was gonna catch you on the other side?" Yuki asked, looking pointedly at Inuyasha.

Kagome had to stifle a small giggle, as Inuyasha's face went red and his eye twitched.

"No, that's not what happened at all!" Inuyasha chimed in.

Yuki shot a glance in Inuyasha's direction. "Then what did happen, since you seem to know all about it?"

Inuyasha blanched, gritting his teeth at Yuki, and then he went quiet, looking instead to Kagome. He never really knew how Kagome had come to the feudal era. On his account, she had just been there when he woke from Kikyo's arrow that held him to the God-tree. He narrowed his eyes at Kagome.

"How did you first come through the well?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome sighed, and thought back to that day. "It was my fifteenth birthday, and I was out and about around the mini shrine and my little brother was in there. He's not allowed to play in the mini shrine, so I went to get him out and he said our cat had wandered in. The well had been sealed a long time; all of my life, actually. Until I went down to look for Buyo." Kagome said, stopping to take a breath.

Inuyasha snorted. "So your cat opened the well?"

Kagome shook her head. "No it wasn't the cat it was-"

"How come it had never opened before the cat went in there?" Yuki interrupted.

Kagome's eyebrow twitched. "I said it wasn't Buyo, it was-"

"I know what! The cat jumped on top of the well's seal and he's so fat that he just fell right through, Right!?" Inuyasha suddenly mused, cutting her off once more.

"Well, he is a very heavy cat, maybe he-" Yuki started.

"WILL YOU MORONS SHUDDUP FOR ONE SECOND!?" Kagome finally shouted causing the two of them to jump and give her terrified looks.

Kagome sighed. "Buyo did not open the well."

"The well opened when Mistress Centipede burst through and grabbed me. The Shikon Jewel in my body must have reanimated her corpse from within, and she pulled me down into the feudal era. She bit open my side and the jewel was pulled out of my body." Kagome finally finished.

Inuyasha's eyes lit up as he smirked. "Oh yeah, I remember her. My talons made quick work of that one."

Yuki looked between the two of them in confusion. "Mistress Centipede?"

"A centipede demon," Kagome explained. "Human from the waist up and centipede from the waist down, but Inuyasha destroyed her after I set him loose."

Yuki nodded, still trying to grasp all of this new information. "So are all demons in that time like that; evil and cruel and just…evil?"

"No not all of them," Kagome stated. "Some of them are kind and sweet and considerate," she added.

"Thinking about Koga, are you?" Inuyasha spat.

"No, I was thinking about Shippo and Kirara," kagome pointed out haughtily.

"Good, because Koga wont lay a hand on you if I have anything to do with it. He ain't sweet either. We found him letting his wolves tear that village apart remember?" Inuyasha pointed out.

Kagome nodded. "That was awful, I'm glad you stopped them."

Inuyasha grinned smugly. "If I can't talk sense into a demon, they'll just have to answer to Tetsussaiga."

Yuki stood up silently with a strange look in his eyes and walked out of her room, shutting the door behind him.

"Was it something I said?" Inuyasha smiled,obviously glad Yuki had left.

Kagome shot him a death glare and stood up to follow after Yuki.

She caught up with Yuki outside, making Inuyasha stay behind (against his wishes) so she could talk to him alone. Yuki was sitting by the koi pond, throwing pebbles in absentmindedly and watching the ripples spread out across the water. Kagome sat by his side, staring at the fish that swam lazily, ignoring the pebbles being thrown in.

"I'll never be able to live up to any of that," Yuki said, suddenly breaking the silence.

Kagome stared hard into the pond, searching for words that she couldn't find to comfort him.

"All of this is just crazy, Kagome." Yuki said.

"At first, I thought it was all just some kind of joke, but Inuyasha is real. I saw him transform," Yuki said, looking to her.

Kagome stared blankly back at him. What could she say?

"I won't ever be able to hold you the way I want, or be able to protect you the way he can. How do I compete with a demon?" Yuki asked, more to himself than to kagome, who was now staring at him with sympathetic eyes.

"Yuki, you are a dear friend to me, and I don't ever want you to feel that you can't be there for me." Kagome said at long last.

"I can't fight off wolves and demons. I don't have claws, or fangs. I can't run at lightning speed, or jump to alarming heights, or even go through time just to be with you." Yuki said as if his words were poison in his mouth.

"Kagome, not only can I not compete with him at all, but you know it too. There's no way for me to feel good about being there for you when I know that somewhere, there's this super-demon you care for. It's about more than just him being altogether better; it's about 'how in the world will you ever be happy again'?" Yuki said, looking to her with a worried stare.

Kagome's heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean, 'how'-?"

Yuki hugged her close to him and held on tight. "If you love Inuyasha, now, this much, how will you ever move on when he decides he's done with you?"

Kagome took in a sharp breath, pushing back slightly from his arms.

"Not only me, but no other man either, will ever live up to your expectations, if you get hurt by him and try to move on." Yuki explained.

"I'm not GOING to hurt her, or leave her!" Inuyasha exclaimed, suddenly appearing from behind a tree.

Kagome and Yuki jumped apart instantly, staring at Inuyasha in horror at his intrusion. Just how long was he standing there?

"Another thing you twit; you think you're the only one that feels threatened? The only one that feels like he can't live up to her needs? Feh. You're dumber than I thought," Inuyasha scoffed at him, folding his arms defiantly.

Yuki eyed him carefully as kagome tried and failed to hide her reddening face.

"How could you possibly feel threatened by me?" Yuki asked.

Inuyasha's gaze softened. "Because you're human; you can be with her here, in her time and go out to do whatever you want with her, without the fear of being stared at, or sat, or embarrassing her. You know all about her time and you have things you can talk about with her. You don't have to worry that you'll look foolish when she has to explain things that should be simple."

Kagome's heart melted at his words. She never knew he felt that way…

Yuki nodded. "I guess I didn't see it in that light."

Inuyasha stared hard at him. "As for hurting her and leaving her, I couldn't do that. Even after all of the shards are collected, after we defeat that bastard Naraku, I won't ever just leave her… I can't." He said simply.

Kagome uttered a small, breathy 'oh!', and blushed immediately.

Inuyasha strode over and knelt down beside Kagome, taking her hand and scanning her face with his golden eyes.

"You're more than just a 'shard detector' to me Kagome, and I'm sorry if I ever made you feel that way, ok?" Inuyasha said, his eyes gleaming in the sunlight.

Yuki scooted away from the fluffiness, feeling awkwardly like a third wheel.

Kagome's eyes dropped in embarrassment, as she got swept up in the caress of his hand on hers and his warm eyes.

Inuyasha ignored Yuki's sounds of disgust at the mushiness that was unfolding and forced Kagome to look at him.

"Kagome, I can't leave you….. because I love you."

Kagome's heart almost exploded out of her chest, as her eyes filled with tears she couldn't hold back.

"I love you, too, Inuyasha," she said, burying her face in his chest to stop the tears.

Much later

Yuki and Inuyasha had come to a mutual agreement. Kagome was glad. Finally, she didn't have to deal with the stress of hurting one or the other. Inuyasha gave Yuki permission to be her protector in the present, while he continued to look after her in the past.

"But under no circumstances are you to lay a hand on her or else! She is my mate," Inuyasha threatened Yuki with a flash of his claws.

Yuki just scoffed and laughed. "Right, Mr. Dog-Man, I'm sure kagome would be pleased if you shredded me."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes and stalked toward Yuki with his claws at the ready. "I'll use you as a scratching post!" he barked.

"INUYASHA! SIT BOY!"

Kagome sighed at the Hanyou who was whining from the floor at her. This would seriously make for a more interesting life.

END