You're not the best thing that I knew

Groaning as she emerged on the other side of the well, Kagome's heart dropped when she felt the soft thrumming of Inuyasha's youkai against her chest.

For the most part she didn't even notice, not really, Shippo, Kilala or Inuyasha's aura anymore unless she was purposefully looking for it. They had just become a part of her. It had taken an adjustment period to be sure when she first came to this era and her senses were suddenly assaulted by a near constant thrum against her skin in one way or another. To discern what each different sensation meant and who or what they were associated with. Now anymore the constant barrage of familiar heartbeats were a soothing balm amidst a world filled with chaos while the thrum of the jewel shards was more akin to a tingle. Anyway, yes, there had been many sensations that she'd had to get used to and which she could now ignore but Kikyo...Kikyo's presence still made her feel nauseous.

It was the fact she wanted to vomit right now that let her know Kikyo was closer than the soul collectors in the distance would suggest. Much closer. Kagome knew from personal experience that the undead miko's barrier had unique characteristics. Undetectable and strangely self-aware. It only let the select few enter and could hold out the rest. It didn't matter if they were human or demon or an alien from outer space. If she didn't want them in, the barrier read her thoughts on the matter and comply. Even Miroku couldn't do that although, based on the number of sutras she could sense surrounding the meadow, he had tried.

That wasn't all Miroku had done either. Much to her utter relief, she could still feel Inuyasha's youkai beating in time with his heart. It seemed to be based in the village which means her friends had the foresight to be waiting just in case InuYasha came back either of his own volition or otherwise. The fact that it had been almost two days hadn't made them get lazy but maybe it was Kikyo's presence that caused them to be on high alert. Not that it mattered. They'd done their job.

But...if Inuyasha's heart rate was any indicator he was pissed. Pissed and terrified. Not a great combination. Not a surprising one either. She hated that the feel of it against her chest was so sickeningly familiar. Inuyasha always seemed surprised she could read him so well but it was more that his aura betrayed him half the time. There were other times she just...other times she just...like that day...

Anyway, what was in the past was in the past and in the present..well, she was shocked he wasn't already there and forcing her back to where she came from.

The fact that he hadn't sent a chill down her spine.

How exactly were their friends keeping him there? Sure, he'd seemed to be well given that he'd left but had he pushed himself too far or were they keeping him there by force? Either way, Kagome was pissed. At InuYasha for coming through the well like an idiot. At herself for having gotten InuYasha into this mess in the first place. Most of all at herself.

His aura flared and Kagome climbed faster than she'd ever climbed in her life. Miroku and Sango had to have managed to run interference. Managed to stop InuYasha before he did the unthinkable and went to challenge or surrender to Kikyo. Alone. Like a complete dumb...

"Well that was weird," Kagome heard a soft mumble below that her freezing in place and slowly looking down into the depths with an incredulous glare.

"What are you doing here?" Kagome hissed as she narrowed her eyes down at the last person she wanted to talk to in that moment.

"I came to apologize and saw you rush into the well house with this panicked look on your face," Jiro clipped back exasperatedly as he folded his arms across his chest, "So I figured the InuYasha guy had managed to get here and you'd need backup."

"I have backup. You can go," Kagome huffed as she began climbing the vines again and threw a leg over the lip of the well, "Just how on earth did..."

The miko had exactly fifteen seconds as she saw the distinctive shimmer of a barrier enter the edge of the meadow Where Miroku's sutra line had offered minimal resistance.

"Stay down there," Kagome hissed as loudly as she dared down to an annoyed looking Jiro, "Wait until you're sure you're alone then go to the village. Ask for Miroku or Sango..."

"What the hell are you talking..." Jiro huffed as he cursed his weak upper arm strength before rolling his eyes when he saw Kagome slide of the edge of the well and heard her hurried footsteps.

"Okay, yeah, leave the guy trying to help who has no idea where he is or what those people even look like," Jiro grumbled under his breath as he continued climbing, "Why bother..."

It was Kagome's heart wrenching scream that had the words catching in his throat. Climbing a little faster, he gripped the edge of the well and watched for a moment before ducking down when another scream echoed through the meadow. Panting heavily as the screams continued, Jiro reached one hand out and grabbed the vine he'd been climbing with shaking fingers. This was not what he signed up for when he came through the well.

But, to be fair, he didn't know what he was signing up for in the first place.

~o~o~o~o~o~

"If I'm here where the hell do you think Kagome will go once she realizes I'm gone. She'll go after Kikyo that's where. I can't even smell the well thanks to those stupid sutras and your sorry ass is here so for all we know she's already...she's already...just take this damn thing off me!" InuYasha snapped as they basically dragged him into Kaede's hut. He'd be kicking and screaming if the sutra hadn't paralyzed everything below his neck. Bastards had...

"I'll go to the well," Sango offered as she shrugged to adjust the boomerang on her back while still firmly holding onto Inuyasha's legs, "But you're staying here. Kagome wouldn't be foolish enough to go after Kikyo al..."

"She is that stupid," InuYasha interrupted with a half-crazed laugh before he lifted his head and bared his fangs at the two so-called friends, "That is exactly the type of dumb shit she'd do. Do you guys even know her?!"

"I already said I will go back once we get you inside," Sango huffed in exasperation and Miroku nodded in agreement.

"There is no need to be concerned," Miroku comforted as he backed into the hut and shrugged the mat out of the way, "Surely Kagome will be able to locate your aura and know you are here in the village. Kikyo is still a fair distance from the well. In either case, I highly doubt that mere moments after you arrive Kagome would also. You would have noticed if she was anywhere nearby when you left, is that not so?"

To be honest, checking to see if Kagome was in the vicinity hadn't occurred to him. While true he'd been able to track her scent through that massive foul smelling city before, he'd been so preoccupied that a broader sweep was the last thing on his mind. He'd been more focused on who was in the house or shrine grounds because he was thinking of crawling into a warm, inviting bed that smelled like home rather than come back here to face certain death.

The monk's reassuring grin faded when the half-demon paled and didn't confirm. When they laid him down, Sango quickly hurried back to the well and Miroku knelt down beside the sulking half-demon who was glaring at him as if looks could kill.

"What was your intention in coming back?" Miroku asked softly as he searched Inuyasha's face, "Tell me honestly. Did you...did you hurt Kagome-sama?"

Inuyasha's glare intensified as he wrinkled his nose.

"I told you she's fine," InuYasha hissed although the haunted look behind his eyes betrayed him and the monk sighed.

"How badly was she hurt, InuYasha?" Miroku inquired knowingly, "Would she be able to come through the well without assistance?"

"I'm...I'm not sure," InuYasha admitted with a sigh of defeat after a tense moment, "When I woke up, she...she was gone. Could smell her blood all over my claws and...and my clothes. And her family left me behind so I couldn't..."

"They left you," Miroku repeated as a cold feeling seeped through his veins. Kagome-Sama had always said her family thought highly of Inuysha. They had to know how gravely his friend had been injured. They had to know and they apparently hadn't cared. Her injuries must have been grave indeed for them to do such a thing. His suspicions were confirmed when Inuyasha nodded meekly and turned his head away.

"I see," Miroku sighed, "Well, at least Kagome-sama broke the..."

"That...that wasn't her," InuYasha mumbled miserably as he closed his eyes and scowled, "My...my reincarnation was there. He cut them off."

"What?" Miroku asked as his own heart sank further.

"I said that little shit was there," InuYasha snapped as he whipped his head towards the monk, "Based on the scent he was there the whole damn night and he cut off the beads."

"He spent the night," Miroku asked barely above a whisper as his mind raced to find a spin to put on this news before a piece of what InuYasha said registered, "Wait he cut the beads off?"

"Yes," InuYasha huffed in frustration. Miroku laughed once despite himself.

"Did it never occur to you to cut them off yourself? That seems like where you would start," Miroku teased lightly earning a withering glare.

"Excuse me for never taking a knife and trying," InuYasha snapped back angrily, "If I couldn't break them with muscle, why would I think a knife woulda worked?"

"No offense meant," Miroku hummed before his face fell and he sighed, "So this supposed reincarnation was there and he assisted."

"Yeah," InuYasha mumbled miserably before clearing his throat and glancing at the monk, "I...I don't know why he...they seem serious Miroku. They...why else would he have been there? She told him...everything. Like..."

Miroku was extremely relieved that Inuyasha didn't seem to blame him for what happened. A part of him had been afraid. Deathly afraid that their friendship would be ruined. It was his idea, after all, for Inuyasha to approach Kagome in the first place. Instead, here he was trying to talk to him, really talk to him, about what happened and nothing else could have ever convinced him that nothing had changed. Well, between them anyway.

"Kagome would not have cast you aside so quickly or easily, InuYasha," Miroku cut in with a forced yet reassuring smile, "You know Kagome well enough to know that for certain."

"Then why was he there?" InuYasha asked miserably, "She told him about me. About what I am."

"And he believed her?" Miroku hummed skeptically before a thoughtful look came over his face, "You have said that this boy shares your scent and appearance. Could it be possible he is in fact not a reincarnation?"

"How do you mean?" InuYasha huffed as he lolled his head towards the monk and set his jaw, "What else would he be?"

"A boy who looks so much like you who believes in things like demons in a time when such things no longer exists..." Miroku began leadingly, "Perhaps he is not a reincarnation at all. Perhaps his appearance was not a coincidence. Perhaps he knew to be in that place at that time because he is..."

"You're so full of shit," InuYasha huffed exasperatedly as he rolled his eyes, "He was human. Human Miroku. Oh and courting Kagome. Even if..."

"Ah but is it beyond the realm of..." Miroku argued before InuYasha snarled and he wisely shut his mouth.

"I know what you're going to say. That asshole isn't my brat. I would've smelled someone else in him and, oh yeah, did you miss that he's freaking human?" InuYasha snapped angrily as he gave the monk a withering glare, "That's the stupidest..."

"No offense meant," Miroku sighed before coughing lightly and continuing, "So this supposed reincarnation was there. Did you discuss what occurred with Kagome-sama?"

"Not really," InuYasha replied sourly as he continued to glare at the monk from where he lay immobilized on the floor before a faint blush appeared on his cheeks, "She...she did kiss me though. In front of him. I swear I could feel...I don't know. It...it was everything I thought...but then he knew...Do you think that...that her kissing me means something? Not that I care. Just...just wondering is all."

The way he asked damn near broke Miroku's heart. Hopeful and yet small. Unsure. Defeated. Pleading. The half-demon wanted reassurance that all was not lost but clearly expected to be shut down. As the silver haired man averted his eyes and feigned indifference, Miroku sighed. Inuyasha could pretend all he wanted but he had always been endlessly forgiving and soft-hearted. Kagome could have ripped his heart out and he would still want her to love him. Given the awkward and painful relationship with Kikyo that had existed up until recently, it was unsurprising that he was willing to look past the fact the boy was there and merely needed someone else to reassure him that Kagome hadn't given up on him just yet. It was humbling to know that Inuyasha sought that reassurance from him. That he trusted the monk to be honest and not judge him harshly. So much had changed in the time they had known each other.

"I think it means what I have believed all along. She loves you," Miroku replied warmly and Inuyasha's face crumpled faster than he could mask it. The monk cringed and was uncertain what to make of that reaction as he continued, "Especially if the reincarnation was there as you claim and he did not protest. Perhaps he isn't what you believed him to be."

Inuyasha half-thought to argue that the kiss could've been out of pity or to settle him down or even as an apology that she had moved on but choose not to go there. He wasn't that desperate and there was no point really to going there with what he planned to do anyway. It would've been more pathetic than it already was to press the issue. Thank god no one else was here. At least the monk knew to keep his mouth shut about this shit.

"As I claim," InuYasha snorted bitterly as he glared at the ceiling, "His scent was all over the damn place and he was there monk. I think that says it all."

"Perhaps. Are you sure you weren't mistaking his scent for..." Miroku began leadingly and InuYasha glared.

"That's what you're focused on?! It's not the same as my scent idiot," InuYasha clipped back before adding with a faint blush and resigned sigh, "Just...just really similar. Like...like how Kagome kinda smells like..."

"So a slightly different scent. Perhaps mingled with a certain someone..." Miroku observed before trailing off when InuYasha gave him a withering glare. Sighing heavily, Miroku decided that he had enough of this evasive conversation and got back to what was important.

"Back to my original question then. Why are you here? What are your intentions?" Miroku asked again and this time InuYasha replied.

"I need to be the one to end this," InuYasha sighed, "She wanted...she wanted me to kill Kagome, Miroku. If...if he hadn't...I would have. I would have."

The last sentence came out barely above a whisper. Full of pain and fear and resignation. Miroku knew, in that moment, what he intended to do. What InuYasha was willing to do and why he felt it must be done.

"I will not remove the seal if your intention is to face Kikyo on your own," Miroku sighed as he got to his feet and sent his friend an apologetic smile, "It would not be for the greater good, my friend. The world is better for having you in it. You may believe you pose a threat to us. That this is the way to atone for whatever you felt you have done but you are mistaken. You have nothing for which to atone."

"She'll kill Kagome," InuYasha sighed as he glanced at the monk, "And...and let's just say Kagome does...that she does feel some kinda way about me. You really think Kikyo is going to let either of us be happy? I have to stop her. To end this. It has to be me. You need to let me go."

"No," Miroku replied quietly, "I need to keep you from making a grave mistake. Even if you never forgive me for doing so."

And with that he left, leaving a depressed and angry looking half-demon behind him.