Chapter 4

Kagome sighed as the blue-ish light from the well faded away, placing her back in her time. She lifted her wrist close to her eyes so she could read her watch. 4 a.m. She hated leaving the Feudal Era so suddenly, and with out a word to Kaede or Shippo, but the tension that was between her and Inuyasha was unbearable. She couldn't be in the same room with him with out feeling her stomach turning into sickening knots. She needed time away from him, and she wanted to give him space from her.

She prayed silently to herself that Inuyasha wouldn't follow her, hoping the half-demon would give her the space she needed. But then again, those are only dreams. She wouldn't be surprised if he showed up in the next day or so. Biting her lip, she grabbed hold of the ladder and proceeded to climb out of the well.

Being as quiet as possible, she slid the door to her house open and stepped inside.

"Kagome? Is that you?" a voice said from the kitchen.

Kagome scrunched up her face and sighed. She tilted her head up to look at the ceiling, closing her eyes, silently praying to any god that would hear her to help. "Yea mom, it's me.." She slid the door shut and went to slide off her shoes and realized she was barefoot. 'Damnit, I left them back at the hut' she thought as she let out a defeated sigh and made her way to the kitchen.

Her mother was sitting quietly at the table, book in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. "What are you doing up so late and coming home at this hour?"

That's it? No Hi! It's nice to have you home! No of course not. It's in the middle of the night and here she is, standing in the kitchen in her summer pj's, barefoot. Kagome sighed, again, and sat down across from her mother. She put her arms on the table and buried her head in them. "It's a long story. Besides, what are you doing up at this time?" She muttered, her voice muffled.

Mrs. Higurashi face saddened. What has caused her daughter so much pain? She noticed the bandage on her shoulder and slight bruising around the neck. She really didn't think anything of it though. Probably just a run in with a demon. She would always come home with some kind of scratch or bruise from battles. She stood up and prepared another cup of tea. "I woke up from a dream and couldn't get back to sleep. Kagome, what happened? Something serious must of happened to force you back at this time and to leave all of your things behind." Mrs. Higurashi stated as she placed the tea in front of her daughter.

Kagome straightened up and wrapped both hands around the cup. She stared into it's liquid contents, feeling tears well up in her eyes. She blinked, demanding them to not fall. Memories of what happened in the previous week crashed through her mind like a freight train run off course. "It's all my fault mama." She whispered, surprised that her lips even bothered to move. Her body shook as her tears broke her walls.

Mrs. Higurashi was quick to Kagome's side, placing a gentle hand on her back and rubbing it in small circles. "Shhh. let's go up to your room and you can explain to me what happened."

Mrs. Higurashi closed Kagome's door quietly after her daughter fell into a fitful sleep. It took about an hour to calm her down. She prayed that Inuyasha would come speak with her soon. She knew he was outside the whole time, watching from the tree.

Inuyasha flattened his ears against his head as he watched Kagome through her bedroom window from the God Tree, sobbing in her mother's arms. Why did he have to drive her away? He stayed there watching until Mrs. Higurashi left and Kagome was sleep. A deep growl in his chest was let out in frustration as he jumped from the tree and started his way back to the well house. He froze at the entrance when he heard his name.

"Inuyasha?" the kind voice repeated. Inuyasha hung his head and turned around to face Kagome's mother. "Is everything okay?"

Inuyasha blinked and shook his head. "No, everything is not okay." He inwardly flinched at how harsh he sounded. He looked up. "Sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out that way." He shifted uncomfortably. "Look, I gotta go." he said silently.

Kagome's mother nodded and gently pulled him into a motherly embrace He tensed at first but relaxed. He closed his eyes, thanking the gods that they gave him another mother. That's what she was to him. A mother. She was so kind hearted and gentle, he was happy that he could have this experience again. "I don't blame you." She said quietly. Inuyasha gave her a quizzical look. She pulled away and gave him a warm smile. "You know where to find me if you need to talk, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha nodded his thanks and opened the well house door and disappeared back to his own time.

"Inuyasha, is Kagome coming back soon?" Shippo asked. He knew that what happened in the past two weeks upset Inuyasha, so he tried to stay on his best behavior and not annoy the hanyou. He had enough stress on him already, and besides, he didn't want to suffer major brain damage.

Inuyasha stayed silent at the question and continued to look in the wells direction from his spot on the grass by the river. Shippo looked down to his drawing and then to the village. He picked up his picture and held it up for Inuyasha. "What do you think?" the young kitsun asked.

Inuyasha glanced at the picture out of the corner of his eye. He saw a picture of the village and five figures. He turned his head and saw that the drawing was of them in front of Kaede's hut. Miroku and Sango arm in arm, Inuyasha with his arm around Kagome's shoulders, while Kagome was holding Shippo in one arm. All of them were holding up one hand with the victory sign, and smiling.

"Nice job." Said a familiar voice and the sound of metal jingling.

"Miroku!" Shippo jumped up onto his shoulder. "Where's Sango?"

Miroku placed the Shippo on the ground and sat down next to Inuyasha. "She's visiting some family in a village a couple of days travel away. I decided to come here to keep myself occupied while she was gone."

"She got sick of you that fast hm?" Inuyasha said.

Miroku laughed gently and shook his head. He looked around and gave Inuyasha a questioning look. "Where's Kagome?"

Inuyasha looked down at the grass. "She's home." Miroku recognized the sad look on Inuyasha's face. He turned to Shippo.

"Shippo, why don't you go show Kaede those pictures of yours okay? I have to speak with Inuyasha." Shippo nodded and ran off yelling 'Kaede!' all the way to the hut.

Miroku turned back to Inuyasha. "What happened? Does it have to do with what happened between her and Kikyo?" He noticed Inuyasha flinch at the name. He sighed when the hanyou didn't answer, so he continued. "You must go back and speak with her Inuyasha. She feels guilty, she most likely feels you hate her. Go put her fears to rest."

Inuyasha growled and stood up. "Whatever, monk." He muttered as he ran towards the woods. Put her fears to rest. "Feh!" he said out loud as he jumped from tree to tree. 'She killed my Kikyo.' He stopped in one of the trees that was by the well. That was it, they needed to get this settled. He jumped to the ground and ran towards the well. This time he was going to be honest with her. He jumped in the well as the blue light engulfed him.