Two Sides of the Same Coin An Inuyasha fanfic by Rikka
"I'm sorry, Hojou-kun...I..."
"You must have loved him very much."
"What? How...?" The boy across from her smiled sweetly, a resigned smile tinged with more than a little sadness.
"I'm not as na茂ve as you think me to be, Higurashi-san. I realized quite a while ago why you were so reluctant to date me in the beginning. You were in love with someone else, right? And suddenly accepting me...but you were never so happy as you were before. Something awful must have happened. Right?" As Hojou explained himself, he could see Kagome visibly cross a range of emotions: surprise, slight embarrassment, guilt, finally settling on the sad, depressed face that the girl had started the conversation with.
"I'm sorry for underestimating you so, Hojou-kun. Yes, that is all true. I loved him. It all ended a year ago, but it still feels like yesterday. That's why I just...can't, with you or anyone else." He nodded, and stared thoughtfully into his teacup for a few minutes.
"If you don't mind," he said hesitantly, "would you tell me what happened?"
"He...died. I killed him."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Walking home from the coffee shop, Kagome reflected on her conversation with Hojou. It had gone surprisingly well. She had been half-afraid that the boy would make some kind of scene, although in hindsight she knew that there had never been anything to worry about. Even had Hojou protested, he was certainly not the kind of person to do so loudly and in public.
At home, she quickly changed out of her uniform and finished what homework she hadn't done at school earlier. Grandfather was visiting friends at another shrine, Shouta was still at his soccer meet, and Mama was there cheering him on, so the house was eerily quiet. Even Buyo, the fat old calico, wasn't showing her face. Somehow, Kagome was grateful for their absence. Tonight would have been infinitely harder to handle if she had to deal with a cheerful or - even worse - sympathetic family. They just couldn't understand...well, perhaps Mama could relate a little bit, but losing Papa to an accident was a bit different than killing him yourself.
When everything was done, she changed again, into the old red and white miko's kimono; the same one she had worn on that day exactly a year ago. Around her neck, as always, was the Shikon no Tama, sparkling cruelly in the mirror at her, a constant reminder of her curse and her crimes.
As the last rays of the sun faded into the darkening sky, she stood before the Holy Tree, before the very spot where she had pinned his still-living body and left him to die. She had intended to stand vigil all night, to say prayers for his ghost and possibly beg to offer repentance. Instead, she simply crumpled to her knees and cried.
End.
originally writen: May 6, 2002, 2:30 am edited to "complete" the story: March 30, 2009, 7:00 pm