"What Could Be"

An Inu Yasha Fanfic by Nozomi

[A/N: Sorry for the delay, work has been hectic.  Everytime I start to work on this fic, I get dispatched a new case.  At home, my brother hogs my computer.  Grrrr…

Okay, somebody commented I lack fluff.  -_-  Gimme a few more chapters, please.  If I start with all the fluff now, I'll be ending this fic sooner than I planned…  ^_^

Damn.  Now you know how this will end (Duh, as if the "Romance" genre didn't tip it off already…).

Creativity: Oh yeah, you're right.  Thanks for reminding me!  Hehehe, I've made the changes to the bits about Tenseiga and Tetsuaiga.

NamelessMoonshine: It took a lot of editing for me to get the italics in.  What I can't seem to figure out is how to center my text.  -_-  Anyway, if you're using Microsoft Word, just save it as an HTML file, then use any HTML editor to find and replace any instance of italic words.  Microsoft will format them using syntax that FF.NET will not recognize, so just correct it with a basic HTML italics tag. ]

Disclaimer: I do not own Inu Yasha and company, though I beg to differ…

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Chapter 6: Camp

When they arrived at the bottom of the mountain, it was devastating to see that the forest below was not spared from the destruction that Naraku's jaki had caused.

It was a wasteland at the top of the mountain where their final battle had taken place.  The last surge of evil energy when Naraku ingested all those new demons had killed all vegetation that had been thriving up there.  Here below, it was not much different.  True, the immediate area around the mountain had already been withering away to begin with since Naraku claimed the mountaintop, but it was worse than before they had climbed their way up to the castle.

Despite the sun already beginning to set over the horizon, they did not wish to linger too long in such depressing surroundings so they moved on until it was too dark to continue.

They made themselves busy setting up camp in a small enclosure of trees.  Kagome had laid some semi-large stones around in a circle in the center of the clearing.  Shippou went with Kirara to look for some dried twigs and branches they could use for a fire.  Sango and Miroku had volunteered to try to catch some game for their supper.  Up in the trees, Inu Yasha kept watch over all of them as he always did.

Inu Yasha's senses remained sharp around him, keeping his ears out for Miroku and Sango while he stayed close to Kagome.  He didn't have to worry about the kitsune brat and Kirara.  They were both demons, and Kirara could watch over Shippou if the need arose.  It didn't really matter though, as he doubted that any demon might come to attack them tonight.  But considering that Kagome had the now-complete Shikon no Tama in her care, he wasn't taking any chances.

When Naraku was close to completing the shards, they had encountered very few demons along their way.  Myouga had previously disclosed to them that many weaker demons were in hiding, because they did not want to be absorbed by the evil jaki that had been rampaging throughout the lands, collecting strong demons and absorbing them in its wake.  They knew that this evil jaki had control of a great number of Shikon shards, and they weren't messing with unknown enemies.  So they hid.

Well, that bastard is gone now.  I'm sure many have felt the evil presence disappear.  Those who had hidden away may decide that it would be safe for them to try to claim the Shikon no Tama from a lesser threat, Inu Yasha mused, as he glided agilely from treetop to treetop.

He kept this up for a while until he finally heard the voices of two humans approaching their camp.    Silently, he jumped down to stand beside Kagome, who was already starting to light the campfire with some matches.

"Sorry it took so long, it's not easy to find much game in these parts," the monk apologized as he held up two fowls.  "I think a lot of the animals have moved away from this area."

Shippou nodded.  "It's not hard to see why.  Even Kirara and I took awhile to find decent wood for burning."

"Here, I'll get started on those," Sango's hands grazed lightly over the monk's fingers as she took the game from him, earning her a smile.  She blushed prettily and kept her head bowed as she walked to a spot where she planned to prepare their food.

Kagome decided this was a good time to start a bonding session with the older girl, so she left Inu Yasha's side with the excuse that she was going to help.

Kirara had curled up on the ground at the base of a tree, and Shippou was resting his head on the cat demon, their long trek obviously having worn him out as he had decided today to "grow up" and walk together with them instead of riding on their shoulders as he used to do.  Miroku walked silently over to Inu Yasha as they watched Kagome and Sango huddle into a section of the clearing and start whispering.  Inu Yasha wanted to listen in on their conversation [A/N: dog hearing, remember?], but a comment from the other boy put his mind elsewhere.

"So what are you going to do about Kagome now, Inu Yasha?"

The question frazzled him so much that he had to ponder about it before pretending indifference.  "What do you mean?" he crossed his arms over his chest, assuming his I-don't-care position.

"Don't play the fool with me, Inu Yasha.  We've traveled together too long for that to work.  If you don't make a move soon, you're going to lose her."

He tried not to let on how Miroku's words put a twinge of fear in him.  "Lose her how?  It's not like anyone's going to take her away from me, I'll protect her as always.  Naraku's gone, and we have the Shikon no Tama.  Humans aren't a threat to any of us since she's human too, and I can beat them easily.  The only demons I have to worry about are the ones who are after the Shikon no Tama, and as long as I'm with her…"

"Until how long will that be?" Miroku interrupted.  The monk's question gave Inu Yasha pause from his tirade, so he pressed on.  "Remember, the Shikon no Tama is whole now.  There's no reason for Kagome to stay here.  Don't you see?  She no longer has an obligation to anyone in this era since the jewel is whole.  There aren't any more shards left to find."

"B- but someone… she needs to stay behind to protect the jewel…"

"Any miko can protect the jewel, Inu Yasha.  As soon as someone else can take on the responsibility, she can continue her life back in her old world.  And if I recall correctly…"

"Without the Shikon no Tama in her hands, she can't cross over to this era…" Inu Yasha finished weakly.  The dog demon was silent for a while until he noticed that Miroku was observing him.  He quickly went defensive.  "Keh!  It's not like she needs to stay here, you know!  She's free to do whatever the hell she pleases.  Not like I care that she's going back, I'll finally be free of her."

But he finished his statement halfheartedly.  He was lying and they both knew it.  He did care.  In fact, he cared a whole lot.  They had just finished their quest and now Miroku was presenting him with questions he didn't feel ready to tackle just yet.  As he and Miroku continued to look blankly at each other, Inu Yasha wondered if the monk had any idea how Kagome made him feel.  He shook his head.

"I'll keep watch.  Call me when we're ready to eat."

Miroku sighed as he watched Inu Yasha leap up to the nearest tree and continue on to nearby branches, starting his nightly patrol.  He wondered if the dog demon would think about what they just discussed.  Inu Yasha was his friend.  After all, you can't travel with people for almost three years without nurturing some sort of friendship, can you?  With such a small group, certainly it would be obvious when two members liked each other, wouldn't it?  It's a friend's duty to give their friends opinions (based on observation, of course) and look out for them, isn't it?

He absently rubbed his neck.  He hoped he was able to at least *get* the dog demon to *start* thinking about sorting out his feelings for Kagome.  Glancing at the pair of heads still whispering to each other on the other side of the campsite, he thought about taking his own advice.

Kagome and Sango had been whispering contentedly about nonsense, keeping their banter light, when they noticed Inu Yasha take to the trees.  Knowing that Inu Yasha would no longer be able to hear them whispering, Kagome turned to her friend.

"Sango-chan," the quiet seriousness in her voice causing Sango to look at her with a puzzled expression.  "is everything alright?"

This wasn't the first time Kagome asked her that since they left the mountaintop.  "Yes, of course, I'm just fine."  The older girl averted her eyes so that Kagome would not see that she was lying, but she had been unable to mask the pain in her tone of voice.  She put on a bright, fake smile.  "It's good to be able to breathe safely again."

Kagome nodded, understanding what it meant.  Chasing after Naraku these last three years was something like being suffocated in the dark.  Never knowing what would happen to them, always worrying about danger lurking everywhere they went.  It was if they had been trudging along a deep cave, unable to get out into the light.  Until a few days ago…

She looked at her friend again and tried to think of how to put a smile on her lips.

"Miroku has been very helpful to you, ne?"

She succeeded.  The corners of Sango's mouth turned upward into a soft smile.  "Yes."

They sat there together, not saying a word, the comfortable silence between them occasionally being disturbed by the sound of game fowls being cleaned.

"Kagome-chan, what will you do now?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, will you be going home now?  To finish… school?  Will you be staying in your time?"

Kagome sighed.  "To be honest, Sango-chan, I don't know yet.  I didn't want to start thinking about that until we got closer to the village."

The taijiya nodded, understanding completely.

"What about you?

"I- I'm not sure.  I was hoping Kaede-baba would let me stay in their village with them, seeing as I haven't had a village to go home to for a while now."

"I believe you will be most welcome with them, Sango-chan."

"Thank you."

"What will you do about Miroku-sama?"

"…"

"Gomen, gomen…" she apologized.  "It's probably none of my business…"

"No, Kagome-chan, it's just… I don't really want to think about the future too much either, same as you.  He and I have become close over the years together, but after all that's happened, I'm not sure if I want to bridge the gap between friends and lovers just yet," she smiled ruefully at her friend.  Kagome smiled back.  "Besides, he has not made his feelings known to me yet.  I believe he cares for me deeply, but…" she paused, glancing over to the monk who was still standing in the spot where he and Inu Yasha had been talking, apparently lost in thought.  "I have yet to…"

Her eyes widened.

Kagome chuckled.  "I was wondering when you were going to notice that you admitted it to me.  I really thought you were going to deny it."

Blushing furiously, Sango resumed preparing their meal.

She had just honestly admitted to Kagome how much she liked Miroku.

"Kagome," Shippou approached them, rubbing his eyes.  "Aren't we going to eat yet?"

"You sound like Inu Yasha," she admonished, standing up.  They were done quickly, all they needed to do now was cook it.

The kitsune did not like this.  "I DO NOT!"

She grinned at him to show she was joking, and he pouted.  "I'll go call Inu Yasha.  He won't like it if we start eating without him, and the food's ready to be cooked.  Shippou, please stay here with Sango and Miroku."

"Take Kirara with you, we don't know how far he is," Sango called out, poring over the camp fire.

"Thank you!" she tossed them a wave and went out in search of the dog demon.  The campsite was already beginning to smell delicious.

[A/N: Ah heck, this didn't end the way it should have.  -_-  I'll put it in the next chapter. ]