I'm quite happy, even though I've been very busy.

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha. It's like Purgatory, only funnier.

Saving a Lost Hanyou - Savior

Chapter 7

Sango smiled as she spotted the couple climbing out of the taxi, and waited until they were close enough for her to hug them good-bye. Miroku smiled as well, before he saw the look on InuYasha's face. He'd look like something bad had happened, and didn't get any sleep because of it. He looked at Kagome, and sighed. She looked racked with guilt, and looked equally as tired as he did. Had they gotten into a fight? Miroku knew that the couple almost never had an argument, and when they did, it was about silly things; they were always able to laugh about it afterwards. He only hoped Sango wasn't seeing the same thing he was.

InuYasha could feel his friend's eyes on him, and knew that he could immediately tell that something was wrong. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, causing Kagome to look up at him. She looked forward and found their friends looking at them, one smiling, the other frowning. 'Ah, that's why…' She looked deep within herself and tried to gather together what strength she could to smile at them. A facade. As they finally reached the waiting friends, Kagome and Sango threw their arms around each other, and chattered about the plans for the trip, Sango demanding more souvenirs, and Kirara mewing in response.

Miroku smiled briefly before he turned to his friend, a frown appearing on his face. "Did something happen, InuYasha?" he asked in a low voice. He waited patiently for a response, if any, as InuYasha inhaled deeply and closed his eyes.

With the discussion that occurred earlier during the night, neither of the two was able to sleep. InuYasha was too upset, and Kagome too depressed and guilty. She had tried to comfort the hanyou after her story, reaching a hand to his cheeks, but he only looked away and slid off the bed, mumbling that he was going to go out for a walk. She made to follow with him, hoping to fix everything, but he suddenly barked, "ALONE!" before grabbing his jacket and slammed the door. Kagome felt her heart break, knowing that this was all her fault. She didn't know what to do with herself after that. She wanted to cry, feeling the tears already starting to gather, but she willed herself not to, swallowing hard and blinking them away. She wanted to follow InuYasha, but she knew that he needed this time to be alone. And even if he wanted her by his side, even in silence, she doubt she could bare to be around him without crumbling. So she remained in their bedroom, sitting on the floor besides the bed, staring at everything before her, yet nothing, he mind a thunderstorm of thoughts, false hopes, and confusing emotions. She wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there, but her senses returned when InuYasha suddenly reappeared in the bedroom and mumbled, "Get ready." She sat there for a few extra moments, feeling the bed sink a bit. She turned slightly to her right to find him sitting on the edge, face buried in his hands. Her heart broke again. She made to reach out to him and touch his arm, but her hand stopped midway as she heard a threatening growl coming from the half-demon. Slowly, she took her hand back, and looked down, before she slowly but obediently went to get ready.

As InuYasha recalled this, his anger only grew, but the hanyou still remained himself by sheer strength of his will alone. Finally, he shook his head, knowing full well that his friend could tell his eyes were beaming with hatred behind those closed lids. But it was his voice he didn't trust. Sure, he was down-right PISSED, but InuYasha was trying to use it as a front, or rather, it was the more dominating emotion. If he allowed himself to be submerged in his confusion and heartbreak, he knew he wouldn't've been able to handle himself. Anger seemed far easier to deal with than any other.

Miroku sighed softly, wanting to put an end to whatever was happening between the two, but at the same time, not wanting to push beyond the boundaries he knew existed and lose one or both friends.

As the friends said their farewells and parted, silence hung between both parties. Finally, Sango spoke.

"Miroku… did something happen between them? It looked like they had a bad fight or something.'

"I'm not quite sure, myself, really. InuYasha wouldn't say anything." Miroku didn't know what to make of the situation, and only sighed again. "We can only hope that this will be resolved before they return. Or else they'll both end up hurting each other-"

"And we'll be there to witness it." Sango finished, absent-mindedly reaching up to pet Kirara, who nudged her hand gently.

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Once the two departed from their friends, InuYasha immediately allowed the rift between Kagome and himself to grow more and more, though they physically still walked together. 'No, that's not Kagome..' his mind corrected exhaustedly. He half-glared at the woman beside him, and stepped a few inches away from her. She had gotten the hint, and stepped a few ways away herself, sighing softly. InuYasha snuffed at this, turning at the gate where they were to board their plane. They walked over to a section of empty seats and sat four seats apart from each other, waiting silently for the boarding call. But it was no sooner did InuYasha start checking his watch every so often. They were a whole hour and a half early. 'Damn… Give me a break!' He tried remembering everything that went on earlier that morning again, for sake of passing time.

After he left the apartment, he was too confused and upset to think. He didn't want to think. "This is some kind of sick joke from Naraku, isn't it? He still laughing at me, even in his damn grave!" he growled, his fists balled up so tightly, his palms began to bleed. But he didn't care. He just wanted to be alone. Walking aimlessly and lost in his emotions, he hadn't realized that he had stepped into the small clearing of his old hiding place. When he came to his senses, he growled and made to leave, but his body wouldn't obey. Instead, it sat itself on the ground at the base of his old favorite tree. It may not have been as big or as comforting as the Goshinboku tree at Kagome's house, but he made no qualms otherwise. InuYasha muttered a light curse on his body for ignoring him, but soon sighed and rested his weight against the tree, smiling sadly as it seemed to have remembered him well. But that short moment of peace soon faded, as the memories of moments ago soon began to invade his thoughts again. He cursed. "What was she thinking, fooling me like this. She should've told me then and there!" His anger began to build, and his body began to shake, but he quickly ignored it, as his thoughts no sooner began to consume him again. He wanted to forget what he heard, every nagging thought that currently ate away at him. All of it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small jewel and stared hard at it, his eyes full of mixed emotions. He wasn't sure which he wanted to be lost in, but he knew that this jewel was the last thing he wanted to be away from. "Kagome…" he whispered softly with a hint of raw pain and sadness. 'How could this have happened? Why did it happen this way? Kagome…' He gently pressed the jewel to his forehead, as if to transfer his thoughts into it. Finally, one single thought stood out from the rest, as he recalled when she had said earlier, with a pained expression, but a strong, confident voice. "I'll help you, so long as you allow me to. Hate me, if you so chose, but please… don't make me leave your side…" Sighing, InuYasha stood, tucking the jewel safely back into his pocket. He looked at his watch. 'I guess I should head back. Things won't be the same anymore…' He thought sadly, as he realized how long of a walk back it would be. He looked up at the tree, and gently patted before he turned and made his way back to the apartment.

Even now, he was still heavily burdened by everything, and he knew that it wouldn't be easy to simply ignore them and move on. He shook his head, and looked at his watch again. 15 minutes passed since he last checked it. Muttering softly to himself, he stood and left to walk around.

'Great, he can't even stand to be in the same area as me anymore…' she though as she watched his back slowly disappearing within the crowd. 'Then again, what did I expect? I knew this would've happened eventually.' She looked back down at her hands, balled up in her lap. They were shaking, and she was trying desperately to make them stop. She recalled the days when she had first gotten to know InuYasha, how hard it was to get him to open up. And when he finally did, she knew that neither of them regretted it. The fight with Naraku that night had proved that. However, her heart had sunk when she met the mysterious old priestess during her family's trip. The priestess had revealed something so bazaar, and yet Kagome knew that she wouldn't be able to deny it for very long. Somewhere in her heart, she knew that what the priestess said was true. She had wanted to tell InuYasha the day they returned, but… for some reason, the words wouldn't come to her. ' Why didn't I just tell him back then? I'm such a fool…' she thought bitterly. She closed her eyes. She could feel tears forming, but she didn't care. She was a fool for putting it off for so many months. And now her worst fears had become a reality. She didn't know if she could bare the pain any longer.

Just as she was about to allow her tears to fall, she felt sudden warmth sitting on her hands and lap, and she opened her eyes in surprise. 'When..? What..?' There sat a brown bag which no doubt held food from a fast-food restaurant somewhere in the airport. She raised her head a little more and found InuYasha before her, holding out a drink to her, a slight annoyance on his face as he stared at his seat. Kagome stared at him, trying to question him with her eyes, but his face hardened, still refusing to look at her. He shook the drink a little, urging her to hurry up and take it. She complied, and watched him retreat back to his seat, a bag of food waiting for him. "Why did he…?" she asked softly to herself as he opened the bag and pulled out a sandwich. His ear twitched, and she took it as a hint. She smiled bitterly. Even now, they were still communicating, even if it seemed like one didn't want anything to do with the other. She inhaled deeply and returned her attention to the bag on her lap, and began to eat.

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'Finally.' InuYasha pushed open the door to their hotel room and quietly set the bags down. Kagome walked in soon after him, and sighed. There was one bed, which they would've shared. But now that things were the way they were…

"You can have the bed."

Caught off-guard, Kagome turned to InuYasha, who seemed to be preoccupying himself with the luggage. "But… what about you? Where are you sleeping?"

"Outside."

Kagome frowned. She didn't like the idea. "No. Please, just share the bed with me! I sear… I won't do anything…" she ended quietly. But InuYasha seemed like he had already decided on it, and would accept no arguments about his decision. Kagome looked down, slowly turning to the bed and setting her stuff on it. 'This is all wrong…' she thought as a single tear fell down her cheek.

Alright, there we have it. Sorry for the late update. I've been really busy, and it seems that that won't let up, so… expect an update at least every two weeks. Sorry everyone.

Also, I know this chapter seems a bit conflicting, I think. But it sort of made sense to me while I wrote it, so please bear with me.

But please leave me some REVIEWS!!

~Kage no Kogoro