Author's Note: Thank you for the great reviews!
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, his friends, or even his enemies!
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Chapter Three: The Hut in the Clearing
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"We have to leave." Kikyou told Inuyasha when he showed up for breakfast one morning. He looked at her questioningly. "Your trips to the village, and to that girl have been noticed. Your scent is being followed." The miko's face was expressionless, but her voice held the cold edge of steel, and a hint of anger.
Inuyasha flushed and looked away. "Kikyou, I... " He stopped, he didn't know what to say. There really wasn't anything he could say. "I'm ready whenever you are." He finished lamely.
Kikyou stood staring at him for a long time. He wouldn't look at her, but then he didn't need to. She understood him too well. Maybe, just maybe this latest development would work more to her advantage. "We can head for a temple some distance from here. If we stick to the trees, that pack won't be able to find the scent to follow."
"Pack?" He asked curious. He wondered fleetingly how she knew so much.
The woman nodded, watching him for any reaction. "That wolf youkai and his two remaining followers." She almost smiled when he growled low in his throat. "And your two friends from that village. The monk and that youkai exterminator girl with her youkai pet."
Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. Sango and Miroku teaming up with Kouga to follow him? What was happening? What were they thinking? He felt a painful stab deep in his heart and tried to shake it off. They had betrayed him. But he knew in truth, they were doing what they had set out to do when he had met them. It wasn't they who betrayed him but he who betrayed them. His head lowered in a sudden sadness he didn't want Kikyou to see. He growled out roughly, "Let's go then. I don't want to meet up with that wimpy wolf."
Kikyou's eyes grew speculative as she watched him. He hadn't reacted in the way she expected. She thought he would get angry, wrapping the hurt around his heart as he always had. Instead, he put on this gruff mask and made as if it hadn't affected him in any way. She left the room quickly to gather her things in preparation to leave.
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Kagome's first day of training left her drained, and thinking of how she use to think the traveling they had done was rough! There was nothing worse than the deep introspective workout Kaede had put her through. Combined with the beginnings of herb lore, and healing. She groaned. 'Oi... I hope tomorrow is better. And I use to believe math was worse subject possible!"
As hard as it seemed at first, Kagome's days did get better. Kaede's training covered all the basics of a miko's life. From start to finish they covered how miko powers came into being, and the importance of control over those powers. She taught Kagome simple control methods, and simple spells, demanding she work them over and over until she had them mastered. Kaede didn't have powers as strong as Kagome, but the methods she taught were universal enough to give the girl what she needed.
When Kagome wasn't learning more on how to be a miko, or assisting Kaede with her many duties in their village, and surrounding villages that didn't have a miko, she spent with Shippou. The little kitsune was growing up. He seemed more like a human child of eight than the baby he'd been during the time she'd known him. They spent much of their time in the forests surrounding the village. He taught her what he knew of the woods, and how to spot anything unusual and out of place. Kagome found she enjoyed this freedom with Shippou; whether it was in the woods, or laying in the meadow near the well. She felt at peace, and while pain still haunted her heart, she wasn't paralyzed by it any longer.
Sango and Miroku returned nearly a month later. Both looked dejected and discouraged. Neither wanted to talk about their trip, and both sported injuries half healed. They had said they could only stay for a week, and then Kouga would be back to pick them up.
Walking to the bathing pool with Sango, Kagome talked quietly about how her time was spent. When they both had lowered themselves in the water, she finally asked, "Did you find him?" not looking at her friend.
Sango stilled for a moment, and deciding not to lie, she replied, "They had left before we got there. We followed but lost the scent. Kouga went crazy trying to find it again. He was going to try and contact another pack to see if they could help. At least in locating the pair."
The younger girl nodded, watching the water swirl around her. "Could you… I mean, would you, please take of him for me?" Her voice so soft it almost couldn't be heard.
The exterminator watched her in silence, not trusting herself to answer. Finally she gave an answer. "Kagome, I would do anything for you. But I'm more tempted to kill him than anything. I cannot stand seeing what he's doing to you."
"Oh but he's not!" The girl cried. "He's not the one hurting me. I am the one who keeps clinging to this hope. The hope he'll return to me." She wiped the few tears that streaked down her face away with an impatient hand. "He may be the initial cause of my pain in … in choosing ... her instead of me. But now I think I understand why. Regardless, I still love him, and never wish him ill."
Sango nodded her head and smiled at her friend. "In that case, I will. He might wear a few lumps and bruises, but he'll live." They both laughed, knowing the older girl would do just that.
The days went by quickly. Their together week was almost over when Kouga would come. Sango and Miroku went to visit with Kagome as she practiced in the clearing. They found her there often, working on her latest lessons from Kaede, laying in the grass doing her school work from her era, or simply staring up at the sky watching the clouds pass. Usually Shippou scampered about or could be found napping while Kagome was busy. The four friends became closer, forging bonds from love, shared pain, and broken trust.
They were in the clearing, laying with heads touching, arms intertwined, talking of nonsense things, and remembering their past adventures when Kagome asked, "When you come back next time, could you help me build my own place? I want to stay out here... I want to live here in the place I love."
Sango sat up to look at her friend. "Kagome-chan? Why do you want to be on your own? Don't you want to learn from Kaede-baba any longer?"
The young miko nodded, giving her friend a smile. "I do, and I will. But there are so many things I want to do, and I like the idea of having a home of my own." Her eyes became misty and a little dreamy, "If I were to stay in my world, I most likely would have a small apartment on my own. But I don't want to stay in my world. Not right now." She looked at all three of her friends. "I want a place for all of us to stay. A place we can call home." She lay back down and watched a cloud laze by.
Shippou crawled over to her, and snuggled up on her neck. "Kagome, can I live in your home too?" His eyes were wide and serious.
She smiled and hugged her little friend to her. "Always, Shippou-chan. You are my family, and I'd never leave you out."
Miroku thoughtfully added, "I think it's a great idea. We can start on it right after the next search, or you can even get some of the villagers to help even sooner. It will take some time to build." He seemed pleased with the idea. He had established roots in this village, but staying too long in a crowded place made him feel uncomfortable. A hut in the middle of this clearing would be just great.
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Inuyasha prowled the temple grounds. He was bored, and he wanted to go search. Kikyou had brought them to a temple where more wounded soldiers were being brought in every day. He wanted to know why they were wasting their time in some temple when they could be out looking for that fucking bastard. He started growling. Everytime he approached Kikyou with leaving, she looked at him with a sadness in her eyes.
"I will know when to leave, Inuyasha. We cannot leave before then. He will come to visit soon, and we must be ready." She took his hand. "I need you. Please don't leave me."
The hanyou closed his eyes. He couldn't leave, but he didn't like it. This staying in one place and letting the enemy find him wasn't his way. He fought for control over his rising temper. Finally, when he thought he wouldn't snap, he said, "I'm not going to leave you. I just can't stand this waiting. I'd rather be out there searching."
Her laughter rankled him even more. "But Inuyasha, you would just run in circles and never find what you're looking for. His castle is hidden, but he cannot stay away from me. He finds me through the connection with Onigumo, and that's what will lead us to him." She looked at him again, her eyes softening. "If you must do something, see if the villagers need help. There are always some problems plaguing villages. I know you and your friends helped out several."
Inuyasha stared at Kikyou. He had to keep reminding himself she wasn't Kagome, and he wasn't leading his friends on another shard hunt or to search for Naraku. Kikyou didn't understand why he and his friends helped so many villages and humans. She didn't know the way Kagome had helped ease him into thinking of others, and with helping others, she had given him a sense of peace, and a sense of self. The longer he was with Kikyou, the harder it was for him to remember why he loved her in the first place.
He had watched her, both here and at the last temple they stayed at, and some of the villages along the way. She always tended to the sick, helped with the wounded, and worked with the children. At first he felt how right it was. She was a miko, and part of her duties were to see to their care and well being. The more he watched, the more he felt that's what it was for her, a duty. She was always kind, always soft-spoken, but she didn't have the heart he was use to seeing in Kagome's eyes, the passion that girl would give to everything she did.
He closed his eyes and turned from her. He had to get out of this place. He left it at a run, and ranged through the forest with a vengeance. Wishing something would cross his path so he could take it down, he ranged farther away, ending in a tree, many miles from the temple. He didn't want to go back, but knew he would return after nightfall.
He thought of his friends, and how much he found he missed their companionship. He remembered the times he'd used them, and abused them, and wished he could go back and change it. He thought of Miroku and his understanding friendship. Inuyasha never understand Miroku's use of girls and his hentai leanings, but he knew the monk was a good man. Even Sango's betrayal could be forgiven. He knew why she had stolen Tetsusaiga, and had hoped Sango would come to him before she would betray them again. He wondered where those two were, and if they truly were following Kouga.
Inuyasha's lip curled. That fucking wimpy wolf. Why did he have to come along and cause so much trouble. He was always getting between him and Kagome. Didn't he know when a woman... Inuyasha slumped. He'd never made any claims to Kagome, only offers of protection. She deserved more, and he, Inuyasha, denied her even that. He had taken so much from her, and the only thing he could lay claim to was keeping her from death. Except he was the one who put her in death's way in the first place.
As much as he hated to admit it, he even missed Shippou. That brat got on his nerves, but he was like a little brother he never had. Inuyasha knew the kitsune's teasing was his way of showing love... at least to him. He smiled thinking of how the kit and Kagome held an instant attachment for one another, and the kit had no qualms in showing his love for the girl.
Sighing, the dog demon couldn't figure out how his thoughts always brought him right back to the same person: Kagome. She was forever in the fore of his thoughts. As often as he wanted to banish them, they were there. He fell asleep with her name on his lips, and woke with dreams of her still in his head. He was going crazy.
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