Disclaimer: Not mine.

Chapter Twelve - I Shouldn't Have Come

Kagome sat beside the river watching Inuyasha exercise. He was slowly gaining his strength back after his fight with Sesshoumaru. As she thought about that, she suddenly grew angry at the hanyou. In fact, she was downright pissed off at him. By the time he finished his workout and came over to join her, she was radiating fury. Inuyasha took a step a back in surprise.

"What's wrong?" He asked wearily.

"You." She snapped.

He blinked. "Me? What did I do?"

Kagome glared at him. "You didn't listen me! You almost died because you didn't stay put and watch the children like I told you to."

"I went to fight Sesshoumaru. It's a good thing I showed up when I did, otherwise he would have torn you and the boy to shreds."

"I was doing fine!"

"He had you on your heels."

"He did not. I would have been perfectly fine if you hadn't showed up."

"We're talking about Sesshoumaru here, woman!"

"Yeah, and? He wanted me to kill him."

The hanyou choked. "Nani?!"

Kagome sighed. "Sesshoumaru wanted to die because Rin was killed. He didn't want to live without her anymore. He knew I could kill him. When I refused he tried to force me to it. Then, when you arrived he turned on you knowing that you wouldn't hesitate. He also wanted to kill you because he thought you were the one who killed Rin. Your brother thought backlash from Tetsusaiga would kill you when it killed him."

"But Tetsusaiga didn't kill him."

"Which is why he tried to pull your heart out. He knew I wouldn't let him kill you. Of course, if you had listened to me in the first place, Sesshoumaru would be gone and you wouldn't have a hole in your chest."

"Well, so-or-ry. I didn't know I wasn't allowed to worry about you."

"Worrying and rushing off like a baka are two different things."

Inuyasha sighed. "Look, what happened, happened. I'm not going to apologize for wanting to protect you, wench. In case, you've forgotten, I swore years ago that I would protect you. I wasn't about to go back on that, even if it has been a year. I caught Sesshoumaru's scent and I went after him because I was afraid for you. If you have a problem with that then maybe you shouldn't be here."

Kagome looked like she'd been slapped in the face. "Nani?"

"You heard me. If you have a problem with the way things are then maybe you don't belong here. I mean, all I was trying to do was keep you safe and here you are pitching a bitch about it."

She just stared at him for a minute before slowly rising and trudging back to the village. Seeing the hurt look on her face, the hanyou cursed himself.

"Baka! Here you are dreaming about her staying with you forever, trying to come up with the perfect way to tell her how you feel and you had to go and tell her that she should leave."

* * *

Sango was washing clothes in front of the hut when Kagome came walking up.

"Do you need help, Sango?"

"No, thank you, Kagome-chan. I can handle some laundry."

"Would you like me to hang them while you wash? It'll be done a lot faster that way."

"I can handle it," Sango snapped. "I'm pregnant, not crippled."

Not saying a word, Kagome fled inside. The youkai hunter jerkily cleaned a bit more laundry before silently cursing at herself. Just because Kagome was offering to help doesn't mean she thought Sango couldn't do it. She just wanted to help. Dammit! It wasn't as if she was saying I couldn't do it now. Sango didn't even mean to snap at her. It was really just mood swings. She sighed. As soon as I finish up here I'll go apologize.

Inside, Kagome found Miroku meditating. Quietly, she crept around him to the fire and began preparing some tea. She really needed something to calm her nerves after her argument with Inuyasha and her encounter with Sango just outside. To her surprise, Shippou was nowhere to be found. The little kitsune had gone off to play that afternoon rather then sit on her shoulder and pester her all day. Not that she minded having the little guy there. Just then, Miroku opened his eyes and was startled to find her sitting there.

"Kagome-sama, I prefer to meditate in privacy. Not even Sango is in the room when I meditate."

"Gomen, Miroku, I didn't know."

"You would have if you'd asked," he barked.

The miko was taken aback by his anger. Rather then say anything, she simply placed the tea to the side, her hand shaking slightly, and left the hut. As she passed by him and Sango outside, her expression was carefully neutral. But once she had put a reasonable distance behind her, Kagome let tears fill her eyes. Apparently she was in everyone's way today. Coming to rest by a tree, she wandered if she should even have come back to Sengoku Jidai.

Watching her disappear out the door, a decidedly blank look on her face, Miroku cursed himself. It wasn't her fault she didn't know. It wasn't as if he'd ever told her. What did he expect her to do, disturb him just to ask if he wanted to be left alone so he wouldn't be disturbed? That would have been worse. And she wasn't to blame for his frayed nerves. As much as he loved Sango and the fact that she carried his child, her mood swings were beginning to get to him and he'd taken it out on Kagome. When she returns, I'll apologize. His thoughts were interrupted when his wife entered the hut.

"Where was Kagome-chan going?"

He shrugged. "I think I upset her."

She put her hands on her hips. "What'd you do now?"

"I snapped at her. I came out of my meditation and was surprised to find her in here."

Sango sighed. "It seems we both owe her an apology. I snapped at her simply because she offered to help with the laundry. Besides which, you never would have snapped at her if I had remembered to warn her you were in here."

* * *

Kagome sat in the forest a couple hours before coming to a decision. Pushing to her feet, she headed off on the path she knew so well. It was a mistake to have come here. She knew that now. There was no longer any reason for her to be in the Sengoku Jidai. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shayril: Okay, guys, what'd think? Send to tigerwitch13@yahoo.com. No SPAM!!!! I know, it was kinda corny to make everyone yell at her, but I couldn't think of any other way to make her feel as if she wasn't wanted in the Sengoku Jidai. So sue me! Bet you can't guess what happens in the next chapter. There's another little surprise too. I think you'll be really happy about it. Just like you're really happy about the fact that my little input at the end of each chapter has gotten shorter..... eyes narrow ..... Don't try to deny it! Just let me finish writing the next chapter so I can put it up....