Title: Koga's Heart

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Inu-Yasha cast. I do, however, own my own characters...

Warning: SPOILERS on Koga episodes...

A/N's: This is last chapter. R&R!


Chapter Three - An Opera of Tears
Koga, Ohaku, and Ko-Muzai raced on the dewy grass that solemn night, looking for a certain human girl who had stole Koga's wild heart. The wind pressed against them, trying to slow the determined pack down, but they threw themselves against it with all their might, as only the swiftest animals could. The moonlight shone down on them, coating them in veils of romantic auroras. They ran in a line, Koga at the lead, flying shadows of the night. Behind him the adopted cat andthe lazy guard flew along...But suddenly without warning, Koga slid to a stop. Ko-Muzai halted behind him, as Ohaku slipped on the grass and fell on his back. Koga turned around, looking back at their trail.

The pack..., he thought. Something's happening...

"Koga? Brother?"

Ko-Muzai's voice brought him back to the nighttime run. He shivered, as the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. A different, filthy scent was filling the air... like thick blood...

Koga stiffened. "The pack...Ko-Muzai...something is...wro-"

But suddenly that worry fled from the youkai's mind as Ohaku fiercely announced: "SMOKE! SMOKE!"

The poor guard was pointing to a place hidden by a hill, where smoke curled up from the ground like a silver, winding snake. Someone was camping. Koga sniffed the wind that had blown from that area. An intoxicating scent filled his nostrils. A scent of meadows, fresh flowers, the uncontainable forests, and...a dog!

Koga growled unconsciously. The scent was that of Kagome's, and from it he could tell that that insolent puppy, Inu-Yasha, was still near her. How he loathed that mutt, who always seemed to show him up atevery given chance! Kagome was going to be his! No matter what.

Koga bounded towards the smoke with his friends at his tail. All thoughts of the pack were gone. All thoughts of Ko-Muzai's sudden return was gone. All he cared about now was Kagome. He needed her to be at his side...forever. He would always take care of her. She was the missing piece of his cracked soul. Kagome would fix his heart. Kagome would make him whole again. Please, I just want to be whole. Oh, gentle Kagome!

But...

"Kag..."

...when he reached the camp, his dreams shattered with one single blow. Kagome was curled up near Inu-Yasha, sleeping silently. Their hands were clasped together...holding each other through the night.Their tiny fox demon friendandthe other demonguardianwere fast asleep next to the future girl.The demon slayerandperverted monkwere slumbering side by side, each warming the other with their own breaths. Koga just stared.

Kagome was smiling in her sleep; that with just one look, Koga could tell that she was content with where she was. Her hair laid in a black, swirling ocean over the ground, and she was clinging tightly to Inu-Yasha's hand. She sighed, and Koga's heart plummeted. Her lips parted gracefully in her slumber, as a somber feeling overswept the wolf demon who watched her...regretfully. She was Koga's missing part of his broken soul, and yet...she was also a part of Inu-Yasha. Only one man could have her. Only one man could come out of this traumatizing event happy. And Inu-Yasha was that one man. Kagome loved him. It was only right.

Ignoring the tear that had forced itself out of his left eyes, he watched as the fire's flames cast shadows that danced all over the human girl's pale skin. He knew that he could never make her as content as the inu would. He had realized the minute he had seen her lying so perfectly at Inu- Yasha's side that she would never let him come that close to her. She would never allow him to caress her angelic face. He had dared to love... and had lost. His heart was slowly wrenching itself from his chest. Turning around slowly, he walked out of the peaceful came. The six friends would awake in the morning to find footprints at the feet of where Kagome had made her bed and that would be all...

Ko-Muzai and Ohaku watched without a word as Koga ran back to his mountain home. Ko-Muzai let a silent tear fall down her cheek, expressing the hurt she felt. Then, taking no notice of her other childhood friend, Ohaku, she left in the opposite direction of Koga. Ohaku stood alone for awhile.

"Never have I ever seen anything so sad," he said after a moment of silence. "Koga, our brave and valiant leader, has fallen in love with a human girl, who will never love him. She has had her fragile heart stolen by a demon, who, if the rumors are true, cannot determine to whom he belongs: he must choose between his precious Kagome and another, a priestess who I have never seen. Koga is a fool, however, because he has ignored a lover, whose heart was so true, she tried to let him have anything he wanted, even if that meant he belonged to another. Poor Ko- Muzai. She'd do anything for her Koga. She has been beaten and walked on by others her entire life - just look at her bruises. And still she managed to live and come back, using Koga as her lifeline. Seeing him hurt was too much for her heart. She is gone."

Ohaku stood silently again, as a small, jewel-like tear crept down his face.

"Oh, Ko-Muzai," he whispered. "If only I had told you my heart... if only I had said what so many have not... if you I admitted that I loved you..."

And so Ohaku stared back to his home, crying silently all the way.

When he would reach the cave, he would find his brothers slaughtered and Koga gone.

"Inu-Yasha? Did you get up last night?" Miroku asked the next morning, seeming concerned about something.

"No," the half-demon answered, brushing the monk off.

Miroku stared at the footprints that were just at the foot of Kagome's sleeping place.

"Man! This place reeks of wolves, you know?" Inu-Yasha complained, not really noticing what that meant.

Miroku smiled gently, and thought, So that Koga was back. It seems, though, that he left without making a sound. He laughed sadly at what that meant. For only one whose heart was constantly thinking of love could perceive was Koga had done last night. "He let her go," Miroku whispered, as he packed up his things, ready to set off again. "He really let her go..."

And they left the campsite, where two prints still were imbedded in the dirt. Kagome began to hum as they went on their way, making Inu-Yasha secretly smile. Far away, in a tree, perched a silent shadow who would always watch her, because she was part of his heart... part of Koga's heart.


THE END