A/N: Yes, I had to make them have a spat starring the loveable Kouga! *squeals and hugs a Kouga plushie* Sorry, I just love him madly. *cough* Anyway, they will make up so have no fear of that. This is an Inuyasha/Kagome fic, after all. Let's see, I don't think there is anything else important I need to rant about, so we'll skip my little paragraph and get to the good stuff! Enjoy!
Leomae: Yes, stubbornness can be both infuriating and endearing. I actually like writing for them because they are both such strong willed characters. It always makes for interesting conversations. I'm a romantic, so I like the classic 'Prince Charming killing things and saving me' avenue, though I do absolutely adore Kagome as well. If I were her, I wouldn't tell him how I felt either, due to the Kikyo factor. God, I hate that woman. I do kind of pity her though, I would not want to be in her shoes, but I do think she should just leave Inu the hell alone. Anyway, thanks for the review!
LilNezumi Lilinu: Here's the next chapter for you. Your wait is over, for the time being. Enjoy! And Thanks for reading and the review.
Sierra: Yes, I didn't have her hit him, but she did cry a little. Fear not, 'Yash will get his when the time comes around. But I had to make it dramatic, and I do sometimes suspect Inuyasha of being self-destructive. Thanks for reading!
Sweet little country girl1: LOL, oh man, that's harsh. Don't feel ashamed, it's ok, we all forgive you. Inuyasha can be a freak sometimes, as Leomae put it 'Inuyasha is unfortunately not the brightest crayon in the box when it comes to people skills or anything besides fighting that requires brain usage' so it's alright to get upset with him sometimes. Yes, Kikyo will get hers when the time comes, and the time will come, hehe! Thanks for the review, I was laughing for twenty minutes.
Josie: Sorry, I had to make them have a fight, for drama's sake. And Kouga was just an instrument at my disposable, but he's not a bad guy! In case all of you who are anti-Kouga, damn you all! I love him, and I made him a good guy in this story, so nah! Fear not, they make up in this chapter. I'm not a hateful writer, I'm too much with the love. Thanks for reading!
Kakera No Yume: Yes, he got a little chilly there, but he can't be all at ease and cheerful so I made him a tad fridged. He gets better, fear not! Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Shorty40: Well, she told him her middle name somewhere along the way. I just added it to be dramatic. Yes, she is alone with Kouga for much of the afternoon, but nothing happens accept Kagome getting some advice. KOUGA IS GOOD PEOPLE! Thanks for the review!
Miko Sakura-sama: Yay, pocky! *eats pocky while doing review response. Fear not, I plan to update at least one more time before the new year because I'm going to a party that night. Thanks for the review, by the way and Happy New Year to you as well! I'm glad I could help cure your writers block and I'm glad you like my story. Thanks for reading! *waves with the pocky*
Angelgurl2: I'm so happy that you like this story, thanks so much for reading and for reviewing as well. Is it really that good? I don't think it's that great, but if you do, than I am most grateful. Here is an update that I dedicate to you, and another one will be up in a few days, honest!
Kaze no Kizu: I'm so grateful that I'm good enough for your favorites list, I really am. Here is an update for you. Thank you so much for reading and for reviewing.
Anti [.] Poptarts: I love your name, lol. I'm so happy that you like my stuff. A lot of people tell me that they like my stuff, and I never get tired of hearing it, lol. Your reviews matter a lot, at least I know you like it! Yes, poor Kagome, but she doesn't stay down long. Kagome always bounces back. Inuyasha can wallow in guilt for a while, he deserves it. Here's the next chapter. Thanks so much for reading and for the review!
Wolf Rain: Thanks for reading, I'm glad you like it! I don't know if this story is good enough for a lot of reviews. I notice it's the High School dramas that get the most reviews. This was a story close to my heart that I wrote for myself and those who like a new idea every once in a while. Don't hate Kouga, he's not competition, only…revelation. Yes, I made Inuyasha a little cold last chapter, for dramatic purposes. I'm so happy that you got so emotionally involved, lol. Yes, I will be dropping subtle hints in the next few chapters as to the depths of their feelings for one another, Kagome especially. Here's an update and I will put out another chapter before the New Year. Thanks for the review!
Lilo: Yes, he can be self-destructive at times. Shh, don't give away my secrets! You'll see my plans when the time comes, just give it time. Here's the next chapter for you, enjoy. Thanks for the review and for reading.
Name1: I updated! Thanks for the review and for reading.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. If I did, you think I'd still live at home?
A Fighter's Story
Chapter 10
Kagome stalked down the hill, getting as much distance between her and the cabin--and Inuyasha--as she could without breaking into a flat out run. She dried her eyes, vowing not to shed one single tear over him. He was an idiot and wasn't worth it. Of course, she did cry, just a little, but that was only because of what he said about Hojo. Inuyasha had no right to invoke that over her. At least she had enough class not to say anything about him and his ex-fiancé. What was her name again...Kikyo? Kagome shook her head, raking finger through her hair.
"Stop thinking Higurashi," she scolded. She let out a loud breath and then stomped off louder down the path. "God, I hope he fucking loses tomorrow. I hope he gets his ass kicked! I hope he gets beat so bad that they'll mock him for the rest of his natural born life!" She punctuated these yells by jumping up and down in her anger. It was either this, or knock out the first person she passed on the road.
"Wow, remind me never to get on your bad side."
Kagome scoffed, but that turned into a chuckle and then a laugh. After a moment of letting her anger out, Kagome just pressed her hands to her face and turned. "Hi Kouga," she said with a smile.
He gave her a little wave, and pushed off from his position of leaning against the wall of the nearby cabin. "You look upset," he commented sympathetically. "Something happen?"
Kagome sighed and rolled her head back to look up at the sky, hands held up dramatically. "God hates me," she said.
Kouga snickered. "I hear ya."
She fell backwards on to the leafy ground, limbs spread-eagle. "I should have stayed home," she said at last. Kouga had moved to stand over her, looking quizzically down at her.
"Why's that? I thought you liked it here."
"I do," she said quickly. "It's not here that I mean. I just shouldn't have come to Japan at all."
"Elaborate," Kouga commanded, sinking down to sit beside her on the ground.
"You got the time?"
"All you need," he said kindly. Kagome sighed again, but she smiled too. She was really starting to like Kouga Ataris.
"The only reason I came was because Inuyasha asked me to. I would have been very happy to sit in my apartment and eat Hagen Daas until he found his way back to the states, but I'm an idiot who'll go anywhere or do anything if a friend says that they need me there."
"That's not being an idiot," Kouga said with all seriousness. "That's being a friend."
"Oh?" Kagome asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes," he insisted. "Where I come from, friendship and family are the most important things in the world. We all live and work together as one unit. Our loyalty is unquestioned and our love is what makes us strong."
"Sounds like a nice life," Kagome said softly, almost dreamily.
"It is," Kouga said wistfully. "We live our entire lives alongside one another. If anyone is hurt, we all help until they are well again. If anyone dies, we all grieve. If a child is born, we all rejoice." He closed his eyes and leaned back, falling into the leafy grass opposite Kagome. "It was a hard decision among our community of who would be the one entered into the circuit this year. When I was picked, it was the greatest honor I ever received. The invitation to the Kiyomatsu Tournament came just a little over a month ago and when it did, I thought my father was going to die of pride. Everyone back home was excited and they'll all pull for me, but sometimes I wonder if I should really be here at all."
"What do you mean?" Kagome asked. "If you were invited, you have to be a great fighter."
"I am a good fighter," Kouga said with a smile. "I was trained my entire life for it. I just don't know if this is the life I want for myself. Tournaments are one thing, I can still have a life on the side, but all the training and touring of circuit fighting is just so overpowering."
"It can be," Kagome agreed. "It helps if you have nothing on the outside to live for. When you're split between lives, it can be a very difficult thing to concentrate."
"You speak from experience?"
"I was on a tour back in the states for over three years."
"Is that how you became a coach?" he asked with a smirk. Kagome laughed.
"I'm not really a coach. I'm just his sparring partner and his friend. He asked me to come because...well, I don't think he had anyone else to really ask."
"I'm sure that's not true," Kouga remarked. "He probably asked you to accompany him for the same reason I would have, if I had known you longer."
"And what would that be?" Kagome asked with a half-smile.
"You're a good person who cares a lot for her friend." Kouga leaned up on his elbow and smiled. "That's all. Plus, I'm sure you make a wonderful cheerleader." Kagome laughed and sat up.
"Well come on then," she said at last. "We have a grand tour to embark on." Kouga smiled. Kagome hopped to her feet, dragging Kouga with her.
***
Inuyasha stayed in the same position for several hours, attempting to smother himself with his own pillow. He really couldn't understand what had possessed him to behave like he had. Maybe it was heat of the moment? Maybe he was just damaged in the head? Or, that little voice in his head reasoned, he was jealous. That thought entertained the back of his mind for a while until he growled and curled into a little ball.
He was immensely surprised when the door opened and Kagome breezed in lightly. "Hey, suicidal boy," she said, tugging the pillow off his head. "Why aren't you getting ready for the banquet?"
He blinked up at her with a look of utter shock on his face. "Aren't you not speaking to me?" he asked, bewildered.
"Do you want me to not speak to you?" she asked.
"No, I just thought...and you said...I'm confused."
Kagome laughed. "I had a talk with Kouga during the time you spent brooding here and I came to a decision." He watched, waiting for her to continue. "If you apologize for saying what you said, I will apologize for saying that you're jealous and we'll continue as if nothing has happened."
"Why are you being so nice?" he asked, suspiciously.
"I am always nice to you," she said indignantly. "If you want me to hate you, I'd be more than happy to torment you in many ill ways. For example, there is a fireplace in the bedroom where I could accidentally-on-purpose burn all the Ramen in the house."
"You wouldn't dare," Inuyasha threatened, horror-stricken.
"Apologize and there will be no need," Kagome shot back, pure evil glinting in her eyes.
"Evil wench," he hissed.
"Like you would have me any other way," she laughed. He had to admit that she was right, there. "I'm still awaiting my apology."
"I'm sorry Kagome," he said as serious as he could. And he was sorry. He shouldn't have said any of what he did. But he found this method of groveling much better than what he had been originally planning.
Kagome reached over and patted him on the head. "Good boy." Then she headed off toward the bedroom.
"Hey, where's my apology?" he called after her.
"You don't deserve one," she called back. "Get ready for dinner, we're leaving in half an hour whether you're dressed or not." Then she slammed the bedroom door. Inuyasha was forced to use the only shower in the cabin after her, when all of the hot water was used up. He grumbled loudly and Kagome only smiled as she readied herself.
The Fighter's Banquet was the biggest event of the Kiyomatsu Tournament, next to the award ceremony when the winner was given the Shikon Jewel. Everyone attended the dinner, dressed in their best. It was the only time where all the fighters could appraise one another before battle in the morning. It was held in the Temple, in the enormous entry room. If Kagome remembered correctly, even the Dovon would eat with them.
Now, Kagome had known for a long time that she was not a beauty, she was a fighter, but tonight she did even herself proud. She didn't own many dressy things, since her waredrobe consisted mostly of jeans and fighting gear, but she had located one dress in the mall that day she went shopping with Sango so long ago that she had gone back and bought. This seemed to be the only time she'd get to wear it, so it was now or never. The same color black as her hair it was, and it fell long which most dresses didn't on someone as tall as she was. It was long sleeved, with a wide curved neckline. Simple and elegant, the taste Kagome always seemed to gravitate towards, just like herself. There was nothing special about the dress, just as there was nothing all that special about the wearer.
She donned a pair of black boots, the same she normally wore for better occasions. Her throat was bare since she never did wear much jewelry. The only makeup that Kagome had ever felt comfortable wearing was a touch of black eyeliner which brought out the blue of her eyes all the more. Her hair, which possessed a natural curl, was held back tonight in a silver net. The very same one that she had worn at her wedding and continued to use at any and all special occasions. Yes, tonight she outdid herself.
Inuyasha was planning on wearing a pair of jeans and a nice shirt, but when he saw Kagome's dressed laid out on the bed while she was still in the shower, he thought that casual may not be the best way to go. Of course, Kagome had drilled into his brain that the opening banquet was a time to look your best, he never real felt comfortable at his best. He was scruffy, he liked scruffy, why deny his scruffiness? But if Kagome was going to look her best, he didn't want to embarrass her, so he dragged out the good clothes she had made sure he brought.
It was simply a pair of black pants and the same white shirt he had planned to wear to begin with. Oh wait, there was a jacket too, he'd forgotten that. It was black with a gold insignia on the pocket. Casual, but polite casual, was how his brother always described it when they were growing up and he had to monitor what Inuyasha wore to parties. He brushed out his long hair ad pulled it back, giving him that cleaner-cut look even if he couldn't be clean-cut. Once he was clean and dressed, he had to admit that there was a nice feeling to knowing that you looked good. And Inuyasha was not ignorant of the fact that he was one God damn good-looking man, not that he was conceited or anything.
He waited for Kagome to finish in the living room, lounging on the couch. "Inuyasha," she yelled at him when she finally emerged. "Will you quit laying around like a slug! You're wrinkling." He didn't respond because he was too busy staring. She only raised an eyebrow, hands on her hips, and a very annoyed look on her face. "Yes, I am in a dress with makeup on and my hair looking orderly, can we go now?"
"You look great," he said when he could speak. Of course, he was not all that great with words. Had he a more poetic soul, at the moment, he could have chosen a better phrase. But he was dumbstruck and that took all of his brain. He couldn't help his eyes from lingering, mostly because in all the time he'd known Kagome he'd never seen her wear a dress. Sure, she looked nice as hell in a pair of tight jeans or her workout gear, but he didn't know she could look so chic if she tried.
"You don't look so bad yourself," she teased with a smile. "Come on, before we're late."
He got up and followed as she made for the door. "No, seriously Kagome," he insisted, still trying to be gallant. "You look gorgeous."
"Hey 'Yash, I thought we established that I forgave you," she laughed. "There's no need for flattery."
"I'm not trying to be flattering," he muttered as he followed, but he knew arguing about it would only make the situation worse. So he did something that he almost never did. Inuyasha shut up and did what he was told. He followed after her like a lost puppy, and was more than happy to swallow his pride to do so. It was a short walk to the Temple, a walk that was done in silence because Inuyasha was utterly without conversational skills and Kagome was deep in thought.
That afternoon, after their soul-searching in the grass, she and Kouga had gone for their walk. The grounds hadn't changed much with the passage of twenty years, but Kagome reveled in all things like she had as a child. She even took Kouga to the place she remembered loving the most.
There was a hill on the western border of the grounds, a hill with a view of the entire grounds. Kagome and her father had discovered it one sunset, and Kagome had gone back every night they were in Japan. She had wanted to show Inuyasha that place, but she was still angry at him then, and was even thinking of leaving the grounds for Tokyo until she could get back home. Thoughts whirled in her mind as she reached the top of the hill with Kouga.
"It's beautiful," he commented, looking out over the grounds with a smile. "The perfect view."
"I loved this place best of all," Kagome commented as she sat on the ground, hugging her knees. "It always seemed so serene up here."
Kouga settled down next to her. Sensing her unhappiness, he leaned in closer. "Still upset?"
"I had a fight with him," Kagome said quietly. "I don't want to make it out like a big deal since we fight all the time, but he said something...something that was very wrong of him to say."
Kouga was sympathetic, he truly was. With a small sigh, he looked up at the passing clouds, trying to think of something philosophical to say. "We all say things the we shouldn't sometimes," he settled on at last. "Most of the time we don't mean it."
"I know he didn't mean it," Kagome responded. "Inuyasha is very good at speaking before he thinks, especially when he's angry. The point is that, he shouldn't have said what he did."
"I bet he feels bad about it now," he offered.
"I bet he does," she replied. "But it doesn't mean I have to forgive him."
Kouga snorted and nodded. "That's very true, but I'll tell you something that my mother told me. My father, you see, he always wanted to make me into some kind of perfect being. I could never be good enough for him unless I was the best at everything, so I was always trying my hardest to make him proud. My mother, she was the most wonderful person I ever knew and she always told me that a person is only as good as they were meant to be. It's wrong to try and change people to our own device, but it's even worse to try and change ourselves to be good enough for someone else."
Kagome looked up at him. Kouga had a far-off look in his eyes as he looked out over the grounds, and a small smile played at his lips. "What's your point?" she asked after a moment, still not grasping what exactly he was trying to say.
"My point is that we are who we are. There is good and there is bad in all of us. We make mistakes because we're human. Every person has flaws, but those who can forgive the flaws of others is one who is truly good." He turned toward her and smiled. Kagome felt the blush rise in her cheeks, but she smiled back anyway. There was just something so infectious about Kouga. "It's easy to blame and to be angry, but every person has the ability to be the best they can be. And that's not just with forgiving him for a fight. It's also you coming here for him."
"That makes me a good person?" Kagome asked.
Kouga nodded and took her hands in his. "That makes you a great person Kagome. And I know that you would never care about anyone who wasn't a good person, so that must mean Inuyasha is good as well." Kagome smiled. It made sense now. To Kouga she was a good person, and maybe Inuyasha thought she was a good person too. She certainly thought they were both good people. Maybe that was why she liked them both so much.
So when she'd gone back to the cabin after leaving the hill with Kouga, Kagome had forgiven Inuyasha. She felt better about it now, and knew that he was truly sorry he had said anything about Hojo. Now she thought about Kouga and all he had told her. A lot of wise stuff came from that guy. It would really bother her if she had to root against him, if he ever fought with Inuyasha, but she'd jump off that bridge when she came to it. Right now, she'd enjoy the dinner with her fighter.
Or at least, she would have.
When they got to the Temple, it was as she remembered it to be. The entry room was decorated in orange and gold, the room lit by candle fire, and the rich smells of food wafted to meet them. Of course, Inuyasha was much more content inhaling the soft lilac scent of Kagome's perfume, but food was the second best thing. The other fighters stood around, talking amongst themselves, all dressed in their Sunday best. Kagome looked over at Inuyasha and he sheepishly smiled at her. He would have felt a fool if he'd come in jeans.
Kouga met up with Kagome a few minutes after their entrance. He said a polite greeting to Inuyasha, who replied stiffly, and then said he saved seats for the two of them next to him at the table. Kagome thanked him, and promised to follow soon. She wanted to mingle with some of the other fighters first.
Inuyasha was happy to see Kouga go, the little worm. He'd been weaseling up to Kagome all afternoon, and now he wanted her to sit with him at dinner? The nerve of some people! But he had to admit that she handled him with such ease and tact, dismissing him without seeming snobbish or haughty. She'd never been so well-mannered with him! Just another thing to add to his ever-growing list of reasons to disembowel Kouga with a wooden cooking spoon.
That was when a flash of violet caught his eye. Inuyasha followed it until his eyes fell upon a sight he had never again thought to see. She stood in the very center of the Temple, as she had always stood in the center of every room at any party. The looks of all the people in the room gravitated toward her, the same as they always had. She hadn't changed in four years. He hadn't really expected her to, but part of him had hoped that she would have changed just a little bit. He had changed so much over the years, it seemed unfair that she could stay the exact way he remembered her. Same dark hair piled expertly on her head. Same dark eyes and angelic face, like a vision beheld by a dying man when he thought to reach heaven. Her clothes may have been different, but it was the same woman now as he had always know.
"Kikyo," he said under his breath. Kagome looked up at him, and then followed his gaze. It was the woman that she had spoken with that morning, Naraku's girlfriend. She stood in a circle of candlelight, as if it had been set for her alone. It looked as though she was waiting for Naraku to join her. Kagome had to admit that she made a stunning vision, and everyone in the room was taking in the sight of her. But there was an expression n her eyes, an almost smug smile on her face, it made Kagome think that the impression of the room had been the only thing that determined her presence at all.
"I talked to her today at the ceremony," Kagome told Inuyasha. "She seems like a nice person, but a little dependant on attention if you ask me."
"She's vapid," Inuyasha said harshly. "All she cares about is making sure everyone knows she'd here."
"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked worriedly, placing a hand on his arm. He flinched and she pulled away as if she'd been burnt.
"That's Kikyo," he said at last, still not taking his eyes from her. "My Kikyo."
"That's Kikyo?" Kagome asked in shock, turning to the woman she had met that day. Kikyo was watching them now, some unreadable expression on her face and in her eyes. That was when Naraku came up beside her, a drink in his hand. He handed it to her, placing a kiss on her cheek before looking up to see what his girlfriend was looking at so intently. Inuyasha went ridged when he saw Naraku with his one-time love, and Kagome knew that this would not be a good thing at all. She made a split second decision then, and grabbed Inuyasha's arm to steer him into the crowd. He struggled with her at first.
"What the hell are you doing Kagome?" he yelled at her.
She let go of him when they were far enough away, then rounded on him. "Stopping you from making a bone-headed decision, you moron!"
"What are you talking about?"
"I saw what was going on. Yes, Kikyo is here, but if you do anything stupid--like pick a fight with Naraku for instance--you'll get your ass thrown out of this Tournament so fast your head will spin!"
"I wasn't going to pick a fight," he argued. "I wasn't going to do anything."
"Anything but stare at them for another hour?" Kagome shot back, feeling something burning straight through the pit of her stomach. She was jealous, Kagome wasn't conceited enough to hide the fact from herself, but at the moment she was more concerned with the fact that he might seriously blow this because of that woman.
"I wasn't staring, I was just startled," he defended himself. "And what business is that of yours?"
"The fact that if you get thrown out, I do too," Kagome sighed. "'Yash, this is me, Kagome." She made sure he was looking her straight in the eye now. "You can not do anything stupid."
"I'm not going to do anything stupid," he insisted. With a sigh, he turned to go back into the fray.
"Don't go near her," Kagome cautioned.
"And what will you do," he said, looking back. Kagome stood quite still, a frown on her face and something like despair in her eyes.
"Is there anything I can do?" she said at last. Then she answered her own question with a shake of her head. "No, because people are only as good as they are meant to be, and people like you and me don't change 'Yash. We can say we do, and we can convince other people we have, but when it comes down to it. We're always the same as we were before."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, almost dreading what she would throw at him next. Her words cut a little too deep, were a little too real.
"It means that you're still in love with her. A little bit of you always will be, no matter what she's done to you. It's a weakness that will be exploited on you if you give them the opportunity to use it. So go ahead Inuyasha, give it to them, but when it falls apart on you again, it's not Kikyo who'll be waiting in the wings."
Inuyasha went to say something else, but Kagome only smiled a little smile and left him standing there. She first went to Kouga, patting him on the shoulder and kissing his cheek. "I'm taking off," she whispered in his ear. "I'm not feeling very well tonight."
"I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked.
"First fight, I'll be in the stands. Later kid."
"Take care Kagome," he wished her well as she departed. She could almost feel Inuyasha's eyes on her as she left the Temple. And it didn't take a genius to figure out when he started following her. After the third time he fell over with a loud curse, she turned and helped him up.
"You suck at stealth," she told him with a roll of her eyes.
"Then you shouldn't drive a man to stealth," he replied, brushing himself off.
"Don't piss me off and we wouldn't have these problems," she reminded him, moving ahead of him again.
"Where are we going?" he asked, noticing that their cabin was in the other direction.
"A walk," she replied from a few feet in the lead. "I don't feel like being inside right now. Even though I'll probably regret this when I look at my boots in the morning." Inuyasha stayed silent as he followed her. Whatever she was doing and wherever he was going, he'd follow her. Seems like he'd have to grovel anyway. Damn his luck to hell. "We're here," she announced when they came abreast of a hill. They stood on a rather tall hillside with the expanse of the entire Tournament grounds at their feet.
"Wow, that's a view," he said with awe.
"Yeah, it really is pretty up here." The lights of all the cabins were on, making them glow against an otherwise dark countryside. It made a pretty picture.
"So, are you going to talk to me?" he asked finally, coming to stand beside her.
"Do you deserve it?" she asked without looking at him. That made him hang his head, until he heard her laughing. Then he quirked an eyebrow in her direction. "I didn't want to talk there, too many ears around."
"So what are we going to talk about?" Inuyasha inquired, crossing his arms over his chest.
"You have to promise me something," Kagome replied, turning to meet him head-on. "You have to promise me that you won't seek her out." Inuyasha sighed and looked at her with that look that parents give children trying to stay up late.
"Kagome-"
"Inuyasha, this is not the work of a jealous woman or someone trying to save you pain. Frankly, I don't care about whatever happens with her and you, but what I do care about is you throwing away this chance because of her." He still didn't look convinced. Kagome grabbed his shoulders. "Inuyasha, she took enough from you, don't let her take this from you too."
"She won't take anything from me," he insisted, covering her hands with his own. "I swear that she'll get nothing else from me."
"You can't promise me that if you go after her."
"Why not?"
"Because she has a piece of you that I can't touch," Kagome yelled at him. "She has that part of you, that huge part of you, that took so long to heal over. If you go near her, it'll just open up again."
"Why are you so convinced that she has this much power over me?" he asked at last, looking a mixture of betrayed and lost.
"Because people like us don't change," she said with a lost smile of her own. "You think if Hojo were alive, if he suddenly came to me when I was on the tour, that I wouldn't have given anything I had to be with him again?"
Inuyasha pulled away from her, taking a few steps back. "But that's the difference between Kikyo and Hojo," he explained. "She left, but he-"
"He left too," Kagome threw at him. "Maybe Hojo didn't want to go, but it doesn't change the fact that he's gone and I will never have him back. Maybe she left, but that doesn't change what was there when she was with you, just like it hasn't changed for me." For a long moment, the two of them just stared at each other. There really were no other words to say, nothing they could do to change what lay behind them, too afraid to alter what was before them. Finally, Kagome spoke. "Please," she whispered. "Please promise me you'll stay away from her."
Inuyasha took the three strides there was between them and wrapped his arms around her. "I promise," he said at last. That was one promise he planned on keeping. Kagome hugged him to her, and just prayed to anything that may hear her that he'd beat this tournament, for the sake of his soul.
A/N: Here were are, the end of Chapter 10. Chapter 11 is on the way, so please be patient with me. I'll get it out quick as lightning, muhaha! Next chapter marks the beginning of the tournament, and we'll see just who has what it takes to live!