Disclaimer: Blah blah blah, don't own Inuyasha. Blah blah blah, don't press charges. Blah blah blah, poor. You get the drill. Anyways, I hope none of you are too offended by the crappiness of my work; I'm generally not good at this sort of thing.

Chapter 1: Memories of a Goodbye

Kagome sighed as she shuffled through the papers on her desk. 'It's probably been about 2 and a half weeks since I came home.' She thought, slumping back in her chair and staring out the window. 'Naraku is dead and the Shikon no Tama complete, I really don't have any reason to go back, right? I can finally get back to having a normal life.' A breeze blew outside, ruffling some leaves in the tree outside. Kagome sat up with a start and leaned out the window, one leg on the desk. 'I could have sworn he was out there. Well, there's one way to make sure.'

"Sit!"

There was no scream of "Bitch!" followed by a loud crash. No barrage of insults following the inexistent crash. She sat back down, and tried to get to work, but quickly realized it was hopeless.

"You know you'll never be able to keep the job if you don't get your work done," came her mothers voice from the door.

"Yeah, I know, but I can't seem to get to focus." Replied Kagome, not bothering to turn around.

"You're just tired, you'll be better in the morning," she walked forward; putting her hand on Kagome's shoulder, "now get some sleep." she said, turning around and leaving the room.

"I guess," muttered Kagome, getting up and turning off the lights. She lay down, and rolled over, pulling the blankets over her. "I'll be better in the morning," she repeated, then closed her eyes.

"I...I guess this is it, huh?" Kagome tilted her head upward to look at Inuyasha.

"Yeah, I guess so." he replied in a near whisper.

"Well, I.I guess you should be going, right?" Kagome replied, turning around.

"I don-" Inuyasha caught himself before finishing his sentence, stifling an emotion of some sort, as usual, he to turned around and replied, "I suppose so. G-goodbye." Then jumped down the well, Shikon no Tama in hand.

Kagome stood still for a second, then dropped to her knees and buried her face in her hands. He had left, probably for the last time.

BEEP BEEP BEEP. 'God I hate alarm clocks,' Kagome thought to herself. 'Why do I keep having that dream?' She stood up and stretched, then opened the window and walked downstairs.

"Happy birthday Kagome," was the first thing she heard when stepping into the kitchen.

"Oh geeze, I can't believe I forgot my own birthday."

"Oh Kagome my girl! You're all grown up!" her grandfather sobbed, having stopped throwing graffiti around for a second.

Souta, having gotten the obligatory "Happy Birthday" out of the way, was busy bargaining with his mom for Kagome's room. Kagome, meanwhile, sat down at the table, amazed at her own forgetfulness.

"Oh, here Kagome, your present." Her mother placed a many holed box wrapped in a childish sort of wrapping paper with a large red ribbon tied around it down on the table. 'Great, something alive.' Kagome thought, twisting the ribbon absent-mindedly around her finger. She pulled on the ribbon around her finger, and tore the wrapping paper off in fake anxiousness. Lifting the top off, Kagome looked inside the box, where a puppy lay asleep, curled up in a ball. It was a golden retriever, with a down-like fur. It's ears perked up at sound and it stirred awake, looking up at Kagome.

"So, how do you like him?" her mother questioned, patting the little dog on the head. "He's named Shiro. Not much of a name for a dog, huh?"

"H-He's cute." Kagome replied. She ran her hand over the dogs' head, stopping when she got to the ears, scratching them a bit. Her mind flashed back to the first time she'd seen Inuyasha. It must have been 2 years ago when she fell through the well and come out in feudal Japan where she'd seen Inuyasha, bound to the tree by Kikyou's arrow. Kikyou. Now that she was gone, Kiykou was probably dragging Inuyasha down to hell right now, if she hadn't already. 'Would he really go with her though?'

"Hey Kagome! Earth to Kagome!" Souta's obnoxious voice snapped Kagome out of her thoughts and into the present. "Don't you have a job to go to?"

"Oh shoot! I'm gonna be late now!" and at this she ran out the Door.

A/N: Sorry for the shortness. If you like it, I'll write more for the next chapter. R&R, though you've finished the first I hope. Or do you just like Authors Notes?