Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-yasha or the Cranberries. If I did, I would be filthy rich.


Previously in our fic: The jewel is finished, but certain important decisions still need to be made...


"Just An Animal" - Chapter 7 Chapter Song: Put Me Down - The Cranberries

Oh, this land in which we live

where people love and are meant to forgive

and you always prove me wrong

~*~

"So, the Jewel is really complete now?"

The group nodded dumbly in response to Kaede's question. They sat gathered around her fire, the glow flickering warmly over the dark hut.

The journey back to Kaede's village had been painfully silent. Even Shippo, normally bouncy, had noticed the palpable tension in the air and was subdued by it. Unspoken questions lay on everyone's lips.

Inu-yasha sulked in a shadowy corner of the shack.. He had hardly spoken three sentences since they defeated the demon sisters.

Kagome glanced sadly at him every few seconds, constantly fingering the gem at her throat.

Miroku massaged his own palm absently, fingers feeling the absence of the void over and over again.

Sango stroked Kirara's fur, frowning and sighing frequently, very unlike her.

Kaede glanced around the hut, taking in the anxious faces, the secret glances, the sighs badly hidden as yawns. What had happened on this journey, she didn't know, but she knew if she didn't ask what everyone wanted to know, they would all mope around here until the end of time.

"So, what do you plan to do next?"

Kagome winced. She'd been avoiding this. "I suppose... I'll give Inu-yasha the Jewel and head back to my own time," she sighed, not daring to glance at Inu-yasha now. To her left, she heard Shippo whimper, and Kagome hung her head in shame.

Kaede turned to the hanyou, his face barely visible in the shadows, half-hidden in his long mane of hair.

"And what do you plan to do, Inu-yasha?"

Inu-yasha was silent for a second. Kagome's words had twisted like a knife in his chest. He felt he might be sick. She really is. She's leaving.

But if any expression crossed his face, noone could see it. "Feh. What do you care, old woman?" he spat viciously.

"I care greatly," Kaede retorted, her wrinkled face becoming hardset. "The fate of the Jewel is of the utmost importance to me." And the fate of Kagome, she added as an afterthought, looking at the girl's sullen face.

Inu-yasha stood suddenly. He really did feel like he might be sick. He could almost smell the anxiety in the room, it was overpowering. He wanted to be alone.

Alone... but you're always alone, the voice in his head hissed. Or at least you will be once Kagome goes through the well. She'll be happier there anyways, rather than here with you, half-breed. The knife in his heart twisted a little more.

"Inu-yasha?" Kaede asked, worry tinging her voice. He realized he'd been standing there in silence for a while now.

"It's no business of yours what I do! Just leave me alone, hag." He left hurriedly, shoving aside the bamboo curtain that led outside and making for the forest.

Kagome stood up. "I... I have to go after him," she explained, her voice breaking suddenly. She paled and covered her mouth with her hand, then rushed out of the hut.

Shippo started sniffling. "Kagome's leaving us?" Sango and Miroku looked away, flinching. They knew there was little that could be done now. If only Inu-yasha had had a little more time to convince her to stay... or the slightest idea how... but it was too late.

...

Inu-yasha had intended to go sit in the Goshinboku, as was his usual, but he had to pass the well to get there. The residual scent of Kagome that lingered around the well caught his attention and now he stood staring at it, the wind blowing his hair lazily around.

Another, fresher scent wafted by on the breeze and he turned as Kagome fought through the thick grass to reach him.

Kagome quailed at the sight of the hanyou standing, fists clenched, gazing down at the well. The moonlight that shone down on them turned his white hair into molten silver and made his honey-colored eyes glisten. He's so... beautiful... The tears she'd been keeping back on the walk here threatened to rise again. I don't want to leave him.

"Inu-yasha..." she started, struggling to keep the shakiness out of her voice. She knew he hated it when she cried.

"Couldn't wait, huh?" he said bitterly, not looking at her.

"What?"

"You couldn't wait to go home, could you? Is that why you're here?" He snarled and kicked the well.

"No! That's not..."

He looked her in the eye then. "Then what do you want, Kagome?!"

I want you! Her heart screamed. "I... I want you to be happy." She pulled her necklace off over her head and held it out towards him. "With this, you can wish for Kikyo back. Give her a real body, and a soul, and you two can live your life just like you planned to fifty years ago."

Inu-yasha stared at her hand for a moment, seeing the Shikon Jewel dangling from it. Kagome breathed deeply, amazed that she had gotten through that speech without a single sob. She'd practiced it the whole way here.

Inu-yasha scowled suddenly. With a snarl, he knocked the jewel from her hand and she had to dig for it in the grass.

So that's all she thinks of me? That I do this only to restore Kikyo to life? Can't she tell that I care for her? Doesn't... doesn't she feel the same way, even just a little? He could smell the scent of Kagome's tears, thick and cloying in the still night air.

"Inu-yasha..." she said, holding the tears back as best she could, "I don't understand! Isn't this what you wanted? I thought..."

"You don't know what I think!" he snapped, cutting her off. "You don't know what I want, Kagome, and you'll never understand. So fine! Just go home! I don't need you here anymore anyways."

Now the tears started to come. "Inu-yasha..." she sobbed, her fist clenched tightly around the jewel.

"Go home! I don't need you!" he screamed, then bodily picked her up and tossed her down the well. She vanished into the darkness, speeding five centuries forward in time.

"I don't need you, I don't need you, I don't need you..." He repeated to himself like a mantra, hoping that if he said it enough times it would be true. Inu-yasha covered his face with shaking hands and sunk down into the grass. I don't need you, Kagome...

...

Kagome hissed in pain as she slammed into the bottom of the well in her own time. For a while she just lay there in a crumpled heap, sobbing into the cold, hard dirt.

Finally she raised her head and stood shakily, wincing at her aching muscles. The night wind cut cruelly through her clothes as she climbed out of the well.

She shut the door on the wellhouse, and her sorrow gave way to sudden anger. "Inu-yasha, you bastard!" she screamed at the silent walls of the shrine. "I hate you! You hear me? I hate you!" She flicked the tears away, and became aware that the Shikon Jewel was still in her hand. The well is still open.

Her eyes narrowed. It doesn't matter because I'm never going back. Ever.

Moments later, she was in her room, picking up the phone and dialing a number. "Yes, Hojo?... I'm glad I caught you... About that dance tomorrow night..."

...

Oh, and why do you think I go

because you know it can never be so

and you always prove me wrong

because you're always putting me down

~*~

Author's Note: The sadness! Oh! But I swear it's an InuKag, wait and see. You reviewers are all the best! I can't believe that this many people like my story! Wheeee! *feels loved*

kitsunefire - Yes, the title becomes more important in upcoming chapters... like, say, the next three.

Valese - In the anime, it's translated 'Kilala,' but in the original manga (which I base all my writings off of), it's 'Kirara.' So they both work.

It's because in Japan, they have no letter 'L' and use 'R' instead. So R = R and L = R, making it tough for American translators to know which letter they meant to use in the first place.

FukashiOni - yeah, they are idiots, but I'm sorry... I intend to drag out the drama as long as humanly possible. No fluff yet. It's because, as established in previous chapters, I'm evil.


Coming up next: A confrontation with Shippo goes too far... and Kikyo finally comes calling (what, you thought I'd leave her out of this fic?). What will happen? Find out in Chapter 8!