Deceitful Time
Chapter Twenty-Four: Twofold
Note: Koinu means puppy

It seemed silly and stupid of her to even bother but she still woke up in time to get dressed in her infamous school uniform—dawning on a longer pair of above-the-knee stockings to cover up her purple reminder of what occurred the night before. She had her backpack already prepped as she pulled it over her shoulder and took a shaky breath before she opened the door to her bedroom and pretend as if all was fine. She laughed as she greeted her brother, kissed her grandpa on the head, complimented her mother on breakfast and headed out with a proper 'goodbye'.

"Kagome, you're back!" They all cried as soon as she entered the room. Yes, yes, she was back, so she smiled to them and greeted all of them. Answering all the questions they had about what she had been doing while she was away and assuring them that even though she was still a little pale—and her heart was split into a hundred pieces—she was fine, that she felt a great deal better.

"I did it," her friend whispered to her as she leaned over.

With a lazy glance to the side and a cocked brow she asked 'what' without even spearing a word.

"I broke up with my boyfriend, I just started out saying 'we need to talk' and then before I knew it I was halfway through it and it felt great! It's so constricting to be stuck with the same guy for too long," she sighed as she sat back in her seat more.

She just smiled for her friend, yes… if only she had the same problems that could be solved as easy as talking about it. She had to linger after school longer than her friends, they offered to wait for her but she brushed them off. A stupid exam… that she surely failed, she hated missing school. If she didn't have to she wouldn't, if she stayed in her own world she would be a straight A student. She'd get into a good college; she'd make her mother proud…

But no, she didn't get to… but in the end, does it matter? She's meant to die young, that's what her dreams tell her so… school really doesn't mean a whole lot in the long run, now does it? Last night she had a dream. One of those that she knew was important but just couldn't remember what happened. The moment she shot up in bed, far before her alarm clock beckoned for her, she had to gasp for air and her hand was gripped to stretched sweater but by the time she stopped to think 'wait, what happened?' she couldn't recall.

Oh well, it was just a dream…

She pushed the door to the hut open and walked in, letting her backpack slip from her grasp and fall to the ground before she started to take small steps down the stairs. Her eyes wondered over every inch the well she had half-expected to be sealed once more but… it was opened, she thought he left last night to keep her there forever, to close the well but… nope. Did he not care? She gripped the edge of it with all her might as she shut her eyes to the disorder of the world.

"I'm really confused!" She exclaimed to nothing at all as she fell to her knees—feeling a brief spasm of ache in the process—to let her forehead rest against the wood of the well. She didn't know what to do… who to go to… where to stay… she didn't know a damn thing.

"That makes two of us," a cool voice replied only to get her entire body to jerk from shock and her to spin around, her feet slipping from the ground in the processes so she fell right on her butt and gripped at her heart to steady the overactive thing.

She let out the breath she had been holding when she saw the man she should have expected sitting calmly upon the second stair down, his feet upon the last step, his arms folded upon his legs while he leaned forward. His face rather blank of emotion… she hated to see him look at her like that, she wanted to plead for him to be mad at her, to be upset, to smile, to frown, to smirk, to do anything but look at her like that but she couldn't find her voice. Instead she looked away all together. Should she be bitter about the way last night ended? She was, deep down, but she couldn't seem to muster up the will to show it to him like she had planned on all day…

"You going back to back to Koinu?" he inquired with a slight tilt of his head, his golden gaze examining her like one would a small, scared, child.

"I don't know," she choked

Then he finally said it, "Kagome," and reached his hand out for her. Meekly, she peered up to him—the sweetest sadness in his eyes, what a clever trick. She never wanted to see him unhappy… she couldn't help but find a way to her feet in only a second to reach out and take his hand and leap into his arms. She wrapped one of her arms around his neck as her painfully purple knees collided with the wood on either side of his lap, her eyes closed ever so tightly as she grasped his hand into hers. He must have never wanted to see her so unhappy either, because he wrapped his free arm around her waist to pull her closer and kiss the nape of her neck gently.

He gave up then; he'd act with complete candor instead of trying to keep up his 'cool' façade that he showed to everyone. It was safe to let that down with just her, wasn't it? "Stay, stay, stay, Kagome," he requested with such unshaken need, "stay here with me, don't go. I love you. I love you. More than that koinu can, more than anyone can, I can't… without you, I can't go on," however pathetic that may be, he took a breath to continue, "I'm ill of the thought of your sugar laced kiss on his lips instead of mine. I know I'm not allowed to take your freedom from you but… is there a chance? A shred of hope at the end of all this that you'll change your mind? That you'll stay? If not…" he pulled himself just slightly away, just enough that he could see into her hazels that avoided his ambers, "I don't know if our fate's already sealed… and if even it is I'll still try my best to change it. To fight with it. If…" he pressed his lips together as his brows bent towards each other, she finally looked to him, "if I can't change your mind. I'll… I'll tear myself away from you, if that's what you need then there's nothing left to say… but if there's a chance… just a small, fleeting gleam of hope…" she leaned forward so her forehead was against his and he closed his eyes. "I love you."

"I know," she whispered, "I know, I know," she knew he loved her… she knew and adored to hear it, too. He adjusted their stance so his lips could meet her swollen ones, it almost hurt but she didn't care. She allowed him full access as her hands pried at his jet black hair and pulled him closer. She didn't want to let him go.

Either of them... Ever.

"I love you, too," she gasped after their lips parted. She wasn't so sure where her new boldness came from but she didn't care, either, as she pushed him back and scooted up his lap so she could for once be the one with the dominance in the situation. Obviously, he hadn't expected that or else he wouldn't have fallen against the rigid wood so abruptly to smack his head upon the edge of one of them. He flinched some as he reached his hand up to his skull.

"Sorry," she laughed lightly, "are you alright?"

"See, you are a violent girl," he taunted back, her lips weren't too far from his and he tried to reach them only for her to pull away—a smile lifting them.

"It's just payback for the bruises on my knees," she assured and much to her delight he chuckled at that.

"You're adorable even when you don't mean to be," he grinned before she leaned down to brush her lips against his. His hands all the while rummaging their way up her thighs, then she kissed him again, "I have to admit, the stupid school girl uniform has really grown on me." He got a laugh out of her before they rekindled their actions until his hands found their way under her green skirt to tug on her underwear.

That got her to push away and shriek, "Shiro!"

Right away, her hands snapped to her mouth and eyes widened, she hadn't meant to say that. She hadn't meant to call him anything since she hadn't figured out which he wanted… would he be upset? Did he want to be 'Inuyasha'? How come Shiro came out? But then she saw it, a surreal smile slid up his lips as his hands pulled hers away from her mouth.

"I guess I am Shiro," he admitted as he kissed her hands, "keep calling me that. Only think of me when you say that name."

A blush cascaded across her cheeks as she nodded, "alright," she'd only think of him then… he was her Shiro and she was Shiro's Kagome. He tugged on her hands lightly so that she'd lean down to kiss him once more. That sealed the deal.

{xoxoxoxoxo}

That… how should he feel about that? Hurt? Hate? Which? For which of them? He was supposedly him so… so seeing Kagome so intimately with the other meant… she was with him but no he didn't buy that. He didn't buy that that Shiro guy was somehow him. He just didn't. So he gripped the well tighter as he leaped out of it. There was no way in hell that Shiro hadn't noticed he'd been there for a majority of the time. To hear all his shit about how much he loved Kagome—his Kagome. Not that Shiro guy's, maybe he hadn't told her yet that he loved her, maybe he couldn't string his words in such a pretty fashion but that didn't mean that Shiro could take her.

He grabbed Kagome's upper arms and pulled her off of Shiro to glare at the man who only gave him a smirk back before he sat up to lazily lay one of his arms across his knee.

"In… Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped as she covered her mouth, her wide eyes stuck to the intense look upon his face. How long had he been there? How much did he hear? Why was he here? She wasn't supposed to return until tomorrow… she should have known better than to think that he'd allow her the two days she requested. He never did, he was always coming early and bickered about how long it was taking her.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Inuyasha growled to his cocky counterpart.

"Me?" he coaxed with that same taunting smile, "nothing, nothing at all. What is it that you think you are doing? Hm? Prying a girl from her boyfriend like that's very rude, Koinu."

"What did you call me?" He withdrew his hands from Kagome then to draw them into fists, more than ready to try and take on the demon in front of him.

"Ko-i-nu," he broke down carefully.

"Why you—!" He barked as he lifted his fist but Kagome got in the way, placing a hand on his chest and another in front of Shiro.

"Stop! Don't fight each other! That'd be ridiculous!" She protested, "can't we be civil and talk this out?"

"Of course," Shiro retorted as he took her hand that was out in front of him into his hand, looking at Inuyasha the entire time as he leaned in to kiss her finger tips. His past self only shook from fury at that moment as he lunged to grasp Shiro's fancy shirt collar. Luckily, Kagome got out of the way just in time to avoid getting caught between the time.

"Stop it!" She shouted but to no avail, Inuyasha still punched Shiro straight in the face—which meant, of course, that Shiro allowed that. He wouldn't be the violent one, the immature Inuyasha could. Even though his dearest Kagome was violent at times she hated to watch it and he was right, from the corner of his eyes he saw her cover her mouth and gasp. Really, what better way to show her that he was the best choice than to show her how he was the mature one? He was the one that could keep a cool head? He was the one that could take care of her?

"Inuyasha!" She shrieked, "stop!"

"I'm gonna kill you," Inuyasha growled below his breath as he jerked Shiro up more by his collar. The grin that Shiro kept on his lips only irked him more as he grasped his fists tighter, prepared once more to strike at him but this time Shiro grabbed that hand and twisted it with ease.

"Now, now," Shiro taunted, "how about we talk about this?"

"Let me go, you bastard!"

"Shiro! Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out as she covered her eyes. This was too much… she was glad that the last time she had to deal with both of them at the same time she was recovering from what the munashii did to her because this was just too much. "I can't take this! Maybe I should just stay away from both of you!" She jumped past them and ran out of the hut, she had enough sense to grab her backpack and slam the hut door behind her as she sped down the stairs and across the busy street—honking horns and pissed off drives were all she heard before she continued her escape. It took her no time to get to the first train station and hop onto which would leave soonest.

She had to get away… she couldn't deal with that. They were both being immature… didn't they even consider how hard it was for her? She sighed as she sat down on the only opening seat and hung her head low. Shiro was egging Inuyasha on, she could tell, and Inuyasha was well… Inuyasha, so he took the bait.

"This sucks," she gripped as she hugged her backpack. She didn't want to be around either of them… and she could run from Inuyasha with ease. He didn't get Tokyo and hopefully had enough sense not to follow her. It was only thanks to the fact that Shiro probably hadn't expected her to jet out of there that he didn't catch her and the fact that the train was just about to leave the station as she hopped onto it.

This wasn't going to be fun… did she have to make a choice now? Did she have to be so torn?

She supposed… in the end, she deserved this.

{xoxoxoxoxo}

Fine, she knew what she had to do. That's all she could do, figure out bit by bit what to do next. She couldn't figure out the future, she couldn't think too far ahead, she'd just think about the upcoming events. She would just take it all bit-by-bit, then again, when she was with Shiro last night she was only thinking like that… and when she was with Inuyasha in the cabin that's all she was thinking… now look how it ended up? She sighed as she let her head lightly slam against the café's table, her hand loosely looped around the warm tea.

"I'm sorry," she froze from the sound of Shiro's whimsical voice and the chair in front of her pulling out so he could sit down. Inuyasha and him had almost the same voice, identical, but she could always tell them apart—right? "Kagome, this must be really hard on you but… it's hard for me, too, ya' know? I love you, endlessly, I want to stand by you at all times. I'd be lonely without your light. I need you and to think that he could take you from me… it hurts. It kills me."

"Shiro," she whispered before she looked up to see him looking at her with bent brows, a frown etched into him, "I love you."

"I know… but… do you love him, too?"

She nodded before she sat up straight in her chair, her eyes upon her barley touched tea. How'd he find her? Should she even care to ask?

"Who… who's more important?" it was odd for the both of them to hear his voice so unsure, so weak. Only she could make him feel so insignificant, so puny.

"Please…" she whispered, she couldn't deal with that. She didn't… she didn't know. Did that make her an awful person? Shouldn't it be easy? Shiro was the one she'd been most intimate with, but she'd been through so much more with Inuyasha… so many trials.

"Kagome," he reached his hand out for her to take, her eyes flickered between him, her tea, and his hand before she bit the side of her bottom lip and took it. "Let's go home."

"I have to talk to Inuyasha," she sighed, that was the next step she knew she had to take. She had to face him and tell him all that Shiro and her had done together, maybe if she was lucky Inuyasha would be so repulsed by that he'd just give up on her… if one of them gave up on her then it'd be easy. The choice would be made for her… it'd hurt like hell fire but it would all finally be decided.

"Alright," he muttered as he helped her to her feet and took her backpack for her before they walked out of the little café right next to Harajuku Street. It was a place her and her friends liked to frequent, they rarely went down Harajuku Street; the fashion wasn't their style and there were always some strange people there that were trying to sell them shoes but they enjoyed sitting in the café and watching all the weirdos walk around.

"Hey," she cringed at the sound of the similar growl and closed her eyes. Seriously? Apparently she was far easier to find than she had thought…

"Oh my lord," she heard Shiro groan as his grip on her hand tightened.

"Get away from her," Inuyasha, she didn't dare open her eyes to verify that, growled as he took a step closer to Shiro. Then she finally did to see even though his arms were folded that he wanted to kill Shiro. At least he found a hat to wear… somehow she figured Souta had something to do with that. At least they were standing outside of Harajuku Street so it didn't seem too bad. Just the walk home would be… and he was barefoot, that got the most stares.

"This is embarrassing even me," Shiro bickered as he cocked and brow and looked around.

"What are you talking about?" Inuyasha grunted.

"Lordy," Kagome grumbled as she reached out to pry one of Inuyasha's hands out of his arms and pull him to her other side, she interlaced her fingers with his and he settled down some. Neither really enjoyed the fact that they were both hand-in-hand with Kagome, both would rather have that exclusive joy.

She spent the time just pretending like the situation was magically better somehow and ignoring all the stares. Please, gods, don't let any of her friends see her or else she'd have to explain it over and over again and that… would just be awful.

When they got home she'd take Inuyasha away and to the side and tell him everything she should… she'd give it up to fate. He'd either get super pissed by accept it and her or reject her and there—finally—she have her answer.

She'd just be with Shiro… in her world.

{xoxoxoxoxo}

Sirens were like a beacon to them as they began to edge closer and closer to her home. Then there was smoke and… her heart sank as she let go of both of their hands and ran towards the stairs and up them, both close behind her. Her house was fine, she sighed in relief as she reached her mother's side. Her mom took her into her arms as they stared at all that was on fire… the well house?

The fire department was working fully to try and put out the little hut… if the well burned down would it still work? How could just that be on fire… why would someone do that? It set in just like that as her body loosened with realization. Only… only one person would want to destroy the well. Only one person would want to keep her here so desperately that he'd do something so drastic. She turned her head slightly, to see a unreal look upon Shiro's face. He wasn't upset by the sight at all, the flames just reflected in his golden gaze brilliant as he stared unrelentingly at the burning, crackling, wood before him.

The well was gone… and he couldn't really hide that smile.

She couldn't take it, she pushed away from her mother and stomped over to Shiro to slap him across the face with all the power she had. He lied. He lied.

"You're a liar!" His eyes widened slightly as them moved finally to the furry stricken girl. His words… all he said early in that very sport that now faded in flames—along with her trust in him. Fire, fire… he set her soul on fire. He said he'd let her go if that's what she wanted—she never said that was but he just took the option away from her! How was she to trust him? She hated more than anything in the whole world when someone—anyone—made a decision for her like that! It wasn't fair, how could he? What made him think he knew what was best for her? Only she did! She's the only one that can decided which world she wants to be in, which lover she wants to live with, how dare he take that from her!

"K… Kagome?" Shiro questioned with a cocked brow.

"You did this!" She pointed to the settle flames, "you did it, didn't you!? You! How dare you! You jerk! How… how dare you!"

"Kagome," he coaxed, avoiding another hit from her, "I didn't."

"Why are you lying to me again?" She shook her head and her hands to keep him away, "leave! Leave! Leave! I don't want anything to do with you right now!"

"But—"

"I don't care, Shiro, get lost!" She pushed him out of her way, grabbed the dumbfounded half-demon by the hand and jerked him towards her house with him.

Get lost, huh? He couldn't help but feel the same way that hut did as he firefighters finally beat the fight and what was left of the wood collapsed… his eyes following her all the while as she slammed her door shut—Inuyasha's hand tightly grasped in hers.

He pressed his lips together, before he shoved his hands into his pocket and turned around to leave.

"Shiro…" Souta began as he moved away from his grandpa.

"Don't worry about it, kid," he muttered before he began down the stairs. If she wanted him to 'get lost' then fine… he would.

A/N: I was listening to Fine Frenzy the entire time I was writing this chapter, I bet it shows, huh? Almost Lovers is such a touchy song. I adore it.

Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoyed and please review!