A/N-Wahahaha! See guys? I'm posting twice this week! Feel happy! I know I am! I'm glad so many of you people like this story! I love it. I miss cute little Kagome and Inuyasha playing ball in the forest though. Oh well, on to the story! I was going to update on Sunday. I had this chappie ready and everything but ff.net wouldn't let me log in for some reason. It's all better now though.

Thanks to:

Rasberries-They get back together. Don't worry ^_^

SwtAngl53-I updated twice this week! ^_^

Jill-Wow! Thanks! Your review made me so happy that I danced ^_^

Ame Tenshi-Go read it! The first chapter should be up now! I hafta go read your story now ^_^

Inulover-I have no idea but they do get back together. I know that.

Slycat-Hmm…Maybe…*Grins secretively* You are my faithful reviewer so I dedicate this chapter to you ^_^ I think you've reviewed every one of my chapters ever since I started this fic.

AzraelLight-Wow, your review made me happy ^_^ It does stink that I've only got sixty-one reviews. So pass the word and recommend my fic to your friends! ^_^

Disclaimer-You people need help if you thought I owned this stuff because I don't. So don't sue me because all you'll get are some used tissues (I have a cold right now) a Sharpie fine point pen that I use to outline my fanart and my other sketches and drawings, and a Revolutionary Girl Utena manga.

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When Did Things Get Complicated?

Chapter IX

(A/N-I think that's the Roman numeral for ten isn't it?)

Winter put the war on a brief hiatus. Neither side wanted to try to fight in the ice-cold weather and the biting winds, but as soon as spring arrived, the fighting resumed, much to the grief of families everywhere.

Kagome had tried to convince Shidosha to start negotiations for a peace treaty with the demons, seeing that Sango, Sango's mother, Kagome's mother, and so many others were always so worried and grief-stricken and her mother always looked so tired and sad, but he wouldn't listen. He just told her that they killed father and they deserved to die. She left out the part that she killed father and not the demons and that she deserved to die, not them. She did tell him that hate was not the answer to anything and war would do nothing but bring sadness and pain upon everyone-demons and mortals alike-but he wouldn't listen to that either.

"Shidosha, please listen to me!" Kagome begged one day as she visited him in his study, where he was once again bent over a map, sticking pins in certain areas where he knew where his troops were and where the demon troops were. She had just come from talking to her mother and saw her sad, weary eyes, streaks of gray in her once beautiful, raven-black hair, and lines upon her forehead that Kagome swore were not there just last year. "Father wouldn't want war! He never wanted it! He strived his entire life to prevent it! And now, once he's gone, you want to destroy the fragile balance and peace he worked his whole life for? Do you think he wants that? All his hard work, gone as soon as he leaves? How dare you crush what he created! For shame brother! If father were here-"

"Kagome!" he shouted. "He is not here! How dare you accuse that I'm ruining his work! I've heard quite enough!" he said coldly, dismissing her.

"But I-" Kagome protested, trying hard to convince him.

"I said, ENOUGH! I'll not hear anymore. Mother has cosseted you too much. You don't have proper etiquette and you don't realize when you've been dismissed," her brother said angrily, between clenched teeth.

Kagome sighed angrily and left his study, slamming the door shut behind her. Tears stung her eyes but she told herself that she wasn't going to cry. She wouldn't let anyone have the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Perhaps she shouldn't have gotten angry. It only provoked anger in him and two angry people solved nothing but she couldn't help it. Why wouldn't he listen? She pounded on the wall, trying to let off her frustration and needle-working, like her mother would tell her to do ("It teaches one patience and composure…") wouldn't work; she'd stab at the cloth with her needle, just making her angrier and earning her some sore fingers as well. 

She didn't even know her brother anymore. He used to be so patient and would listen to anyone. Is this what war and hate did to people? Kagome had hate in her; was she like her brother? She didn't want to be like him. When she had been little, she had wanted to be exactly like him and father but now she didn't want to be like Shidosha anymore-not while he was like this anyway.

She flopped down on her large, cushiony bed and buried her head in her pillow. What would she do now? She couldn't convince him so what now? Would the war be over when everyone dies? Is that the end her brother was waiting for? What happens if it's not the demon side that's eliminated but them? No, she'd have to convince him. She'd prove to him that she's just as determined and stubborn as him. So what now? Should she just walk into his study and refuse to leave him alone until he listened to her reasoning? That would seem a bit childish…Sometimes Kagome felt like it would be a blessing to be seven or eight years old again…Things seemed so much easier when you were a kid. Since when had things got so complicated anyway? Kagome asked herself.

She could go out and try to convince the nobles to not support the war, but then it'd seem like she was trying to steal the throne from her brother, which she certainly wasn't trying to do. She didn't want the throne anyway. But then how? Kagome sighed. She supposed she'd just have to keep trying to convince him, no matter how angry he got. He just had to listen.

Kagome looked out the window. There was no moon outside, shrouding the lands in darkness and shadow. Was this some sort of bad omen? Then Kagome scolded herself. Of course it wasn't an omen. It happened every month. She looked down at the forest. She reached underneath her bed and grabbed the sword and scabbard that was hidden beneath it. Her mother nor her brother knew about the sword. She had taken it from the armory, not expecting it to be missed and as far as she knew, no one even noticed it was gone. If she was going outside, she'd need it. Bandits and thieves roamed the forests at night.

 She turned around and left her room, creeping silently down the halls. Everything was different in the dark. The bright tapestries that hung along the halls looked dull and grim and the colored flower arrangements and vases sitting on pedestals stood in shadow. The only light Kagome passed was a sliver of light coming from beneath the door to her brother's study. She crept stealthily into the kitchen, careful not to wake anyone and walked out the door.

It was a late spring-almost early summer-night so it wasn't cold outside, even in the dead of night. She climbed the ivy wall, the very same one the demons climbed to kill her father and, after dropping to the other side, pressed herself against the wall and slid along it to avoid being seen by the sentries that were posted along the top of the walls. Then she hurried towards the village, but before she got there, she turned slightly to stand before the forest. She hurried inside. She needed to think and for some reason, the forest helped her think more clearly than being stuck inside an oppressing room. And she still felt drawn to this forest. She missed going there everyday.

Before long, she broke out of the cover of the trees and entered a clearing-their clearing. She sighed sadly and sat on the ground, her back pressed against a tree trunk, hugging her knees to her chest. She then buried her head in her arms and cried, much like she would have when she was seven and the noble children weren't being very kind to her because she didn't seem to fit in and was different from them. Why couldn't that still be her biggest problem? Instead, she had to try to stop a war and hate and deaths.

"K-Kagome?" someone asked quietly, upon entering the clearing and noticing that someone was already there.

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He held a lock of his black hair in front of him and looked at it. After a few moments of looking at it, he scowled at it in disgust. "Damn hair…" he muttered.

His black hair was the cause of much ridicule in the court. They all knew he turned human once every month. They didn't know when-except his brother and his father-but they knew he did.  His brother taunted him for years and still did. They all hated humans and they had always taunted him about his human half. He remembered crying when he was little because they all laughed at him behind his back. He hadn't had any friends at all until Kagome came. Demons didn't want to be friends with someone who was half human and human children didn't want to be friends with someone who was half demon. After he met Kagome, she told him that often she felt the same way as he did because she didn't quite fit in in her world as well. It had always made him feel better to know that he wasn't the only one with these kinds of feelings.

He climbed out of the tree and began to walk deeper into the forest. It was late at night. Everyone else was asleep but he had felt restless so he had gone outside and into the forest. He was deep in thought so he didn't realize where he was until he heard someone crying and he looked up. The person wasn't far away because if the person were far away, he wouldn't have been able to hear it since he didn't have his excellent hearing right then. He couldn't smell very well either. He had a human nose and ears that night. Walking towards the sound, he soon found himself on the edge of a clearing. He pulled back a branch and looked out over the green grass but didn't see anything.

He frowned. He could have sworn the crying was coming from here. Could his human ears really be that bad? He walked into the clearing and then spotted someone's shoe sticking out from behind a rock. He walked around it, keeping his distance and tried to see who was crying. It was a girl. He squinted, trying to get a better look and then jumped back slightly as he realized he recognized her.

"K-Kagome?" he asked, happiness welling inside of him.

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A/N-Yay! They're together in the clearing again! Too bad she beats the crap outta him…Just kidding ^_^ She doesn't do that. I'm listening to the Ranma½ first opening theme song right now. I love that song. It's so funny. Now I'm listening to "Hit Me With Your Best Shot." Anywho, now review people! Oh and the first chapter of my bounty hunter fic should be up too. Read it. I, personally, love it. Well, I would right? It's so much fun to write ^_^