Inuyashasitboy20: This is Chapter 2 of "Promise Ring"! Enjoy!! This
chapter is from Kagome-chan's POV.
Disclaimer: Inuyasha, Kagome and the other original Inuyasha characters still aren't mine...dammit.
Chapter 2: The Burial
I reached Kaede-sama's village and climbed off of Kirara. I grabbed Inuyasha and carried him toward her hut. Kaede-sama was asleep until the rustling of her straw door awakened her. She sat up and looked at me who was holding the dead hanyou.
"Child! What happened?!" Kaede-sama ran to me, as I was about to break down and cry again. "I-i-i-t was a d-d-demon..." I ran her finger along Inuyasha's face. Tear droplets fell on his face and I started to scream in grief. Kaede-sama leaned to me and supported me. I cried into her blouse for a long time while she stroked my hair.
Miroku-sama, Shippou-chan, and Sango-chan ran into the hut. Apparently Kirara had flown back to where they were before and picked them up.
"Kagome!! Are you okay?" Shippou-chan looked at me with teary eyes. "I thought you said you were going home..." "I am..." I returned Shippou-chan's sad look. "But I wanted to come here first to give him a proper burial..." I looked over at Miroku-sama, who nodded. "It is only best if we bury him in the proper way, isn't it, Kagome-sama?" I nodded an affirmative.
"Kirara, will you help me dig?" I asked the now-small Kirara. Kirara mewed and walked to me. I pet Kirara and she jumped on my head. "Sango-chan, will you and Shippou-chan go and pick some flowers for his gravesite?" I asked. They agreed. "What shall I do, Kagome-sama?" Miroku-sama asked.
"You could help me dig the grave and fill it with dirt again..." I said slowly. "Okay, I will. And I will also pray for him everyday." Miroku-sama said leaned to me. "Are you okay, Kagome-sama?" "Yeah," I answered.
"Arigatou, all of you..." I muttered. "Mew!" I picked Kirara off of my head and hugged her. "Arigatou to you too, Kirara..."
Kirara purred in my palms. She licked my fingertips and jumped onto Sango- chan's shoulders. "Come on Kirara, let's go outside and dig..." I said. "Kagome-chan, where are you going to dig his grave?" Sango-chan asked.
"At his favorite tree." I declared. (A/N: His favorite tree is the one that Yasha gang appears by in the 3rd ending theme, "Dearest".) I picked up Inuyasha and then Miroku-sama saw my ring.
"Is that a wedding band?!" Sango-chan exclaimed as she saw my ring as well.
"No, it's a promise ring," I said. "Hey, guys, I have something to tell you. Originally, both Inuyasha and I wanted to tell you, but," I glanced over at the body, "you can guess why he couldn't."
"What is it, Kagome? Tell us," Shippou-chan pleaded, tugging on my shirt.
"Okay...Well, Inuyasha and I are—I mean we were..."
"Come on, you can tell us." Miroku-sama smiled softly and placed his hand on my shoulder.
"We were...engaged." I said it. It was out. I looked over to my friends, and saw their blank faces.
"Ye two...were engaged for marriage?" Kaede-sama asked. "H-hai." I looked down at the floor so they couldn't see me cry. "Kagome-chan..." Sango-chan walked to me and turned my face toward hers, my tears running down my cheeks. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.
"I-I f-forgot...I was so happy to be with him as his fiancé and I just wanted to stay with him, so I got carried away and forgot to tell you," I thought back again to the day he proposed to me. "He told me to tell you guys the next day after he proposed to me so both of us could celebrate together that night. He told me he wanted me to be with me forever...but n-now...h-he's g-g-gone!"
I broke out in tears and walked out of the hut with the taijiya, the hoshi, the chibi kitsune, and the neko youkai. Sango-chan and Shippou-chan headed toward the well to pick flowers. Kirara and Miroku-sama followed me to Inuyasha's tree, Miroku-sama carrying Inuyasha. I carried the shovels and Kirara jumped on my shoulder.
"We're here..." I said as I dropped the shovels and stared up at the tall and skinny tree. Miroku looked up at it and then down at me. I had tears in my eyes, yet again.
"Th-this is where I sat him when I tried to treat his wounds from Yura of the Demon Hair. He had a deep gash in his chest from her oni's sword. When we had defeated Yura, Inuyasha actually called me 'Kagome' for the first time. Not 'Stupid Woman'. When he called me by my name, I was so happy and thought that we would be friends then."
I sat down against the tree and sighed. "The day after he proposed to me, I realized that the day he proposed was the 4th anniversary of my meeting him. Call me romantic, but I thought it was the perfect idea for him to propose to me on that day. And it was just last week, too. And through that whole week I was making plans for a wedding." I looked down at the ground again.
"Kagome-sama...gomen nasai..." Miroku-sama said guiltily. I turned to him quickly and shook my head.
"No! Don't apologize! I've been so grateful that you and Sango-chan and Shippou-chan have been with Inuyasha and me all these years. Especially you, because you were able to survive with us until the battle with Naraku and now you're cured! I've been so glad that you guys were with me for all that time!" I clutched his kimono.
"So onegai, Miroku-sama, NEVER apologize for what happened to him. Only apologize for what is truly your fault." I looked up into his blue-gray eyes.
"Okay, Kagome-sama. I promise." Miroku hugged me and I hugged him back. "Thank you for staying with us," I said. "No problem," Miroku answered.
I pulled away and stood up. I looked the other way so the others could avoid me crying again. "Well, Kirara, Miroku-sama, we better start digging!" My voice was weak. I grabbed a shovel and handed it to Miroku- sama, then grabbed one for myself. Kirara became her giant-cat form and began digging at the place that I indicated her to dig. Miroku-sama bent slightly and started digging at the same place. I started digging too, and then glanced over at Inuyasha's body. He was propped up against the tree, his head facing the opposite of mine.
I looked at his once-handsome face. It was scarred from the burns and cuts that he received from the demon that killed him. The demon had actually come after me, hungry for the whole Sacred Jewel. Inuyasha had stood in front to protect me, and got hurt in the process. He let me borrow his hoari to also keep me safe from the demon. Inuyasha had destroyed the demon's brother with the Bokuryuhaa, and demon wanted revenge for it's brother.
So the demon cut and burned him...badly. So badly, it kept doing it, until it killed Inuyasha. 'Why Kagome, why did you let it kill Inuyasha?' "I didn't!" I yelled out loud. Miroku-sama looked at me with a confused face.
"Um, Kagome-sama? Doijabu?" Miroku-sama asked me. "Uh, hai. I was just yelling at my thoughts..." Okay, THAT sounded stupid. I was YELLING at my THOUGHTS? Get a grip, Kagome. "What did they tell you? Your thoughts, I mean," Miroku-sama said.
"They asked me why I let that demon kill Inuyasha. And I said, as you can recall, 'I didn't!' Why would my thoughts say something that?"
"Maybe because you loved him so much, your thoughts make you feel guilty because that is what you are thinking. Maybe you thought that you couldn't have helped Inuyasha, so that is what led to his death." Miroku-sama assured. 'He's right.' I thought. "Yeah, I guess you're right about that." I said. I continued to dig.
"Kagome!! We're finished picking flowers!!" Shippou-chan yelled my attention away from what seemed like hours of digging. "Oh, okay Shippou- chan." I dropped my shovel and Shippou-chan handed me the bouquet of both his and Sango-chan's flowers. Sango-chan took over digging for me.
"Kagome-chan, you should rest," Sango-chan sounded worried. "Yeah, I guess I should...all that crying wiped me out." I sat down by the tree again and closed my eyes. Miroku-sama and Sango-chan gently grabbed Inuyasha's arms and legs and walked him over to the hole. Sango-chan lightly placed him into the hole, and Miroku-sama grabbed the shovel and started replacing the dirt into the hole. As I watched my lover being buried, tears formed in my tear docs. I quickly wiped them away and turned to try and rest. Miroku- sama prayed silently for Inuyasha and Shippou-chan started crying, along with Sango-chan.
Whispers of my friends sounded in my ears. "We shouldn't stop Kagome-chan from going home. It would be good for her to let her emotions out with her family. We should just let her go, even if it makes us grieve over her, too."
"But Sango--" Shippou-chan complained.
"She's right, Shippou. Kagome-sama has got to take her emotions out on her own and with her family. We have no right to keep her from expressing her emotions," Miroku-sama's voice sounded kind of sad, but serious. 'Wow. They must really feel sorry for me...I wish I didn't have to put them through all of this...' I thought to myself. I forgot about resting and stood up.
"Hey, guys," I said slowly.
"Nani? Kagome, I thought you were going to rest," Shippou-chan said. "I changed my mind..." "Kagome-chan, what is it?" Sango-chan asked me as she walked over from the grave. Shippou-chan placed the flowers on Inuyasha's grave.
"I-I...I've decided to go home now. I was going to stay for about another day, but I don't think I could handle it. I love you guys so much and I'm sorry that you guys have to go through this." I looked up to Sango-chan and I through my arms around her. "Thank you so much for being there for me when I needed you. I'll miss you so much."
I walked over to Miroku-sama. "I will miss you too, you and your perverted ways. You always tried to stop Inuyasha and I from fighting. You are kind of like a brother to me, and Sango-chan is like my sister." I hugged him and he hugged back. "I'll miss you too, Kagome-sama," he responded.
"What about me?" Shippou-chan jumped up to me and hugged me as I let go of Miroku-sama.
"I'll definitely miss you, Shippou-chan," I said and I rubbed my cheek against his hair. "You're like a son to me!" I said kind of cheerfully. Shippou-chan smiled. "I think that's good because my mommy passed away a long time ago so now I have another mommy!!" I looked at him with uneasy eyes, and saw his childish tears. "I'll miss you so much, Mommy!" I was shocked when Shippou-chan said that, and he could see it in my eyes. Then he could see the happiness that shone in my smile.
"I love you guys," I said and hugged Shippou-chan harder. "It's been so hard saying goodbye to all of you because it's like moving away from my family forever..." I struggled to say these words, thinking of how I would never see my best friends again.
"G-gomen nasai!" I yelled and ran off into the woods, headed for home. 'I'll never see them again...' I thought. I ran to Kaede-sama's hut, grabbed my backpack, and ran out the door to my permanent home, never to return to this era again.
Inuyashasitboy20: Well that's it for chapter 2!! I think this is going to be my longest chapter, but you never know!! I'll hopefully be finished writing and post chapter 3 soon!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Shippou, or Inuyasha so don't sue me or I'll come after you and shoot you with my hakama [sacred arrows]!
Disclaimer: Inuyasha, Kagome and the other original Inuyasha characters still aren't mine...dammit.
Chapter 2: The Burial
I reached Kaede-sama's village and climbed off of Kirara. I grabbed Inuyasha and carried him toward her hut. Kaede-sama was asleep until the rustling of her straw door awakened her. She sat up and looked at me who was holding the dead hanyou.
"Child! What happened?!" Kaede-sama ran to me, as I was about to break down and cry again. "I-i-i-t was a d-d-demon..." I ran her finger along Inuyasha's face. Tear droplets fell on his face and I started to scream in grief. Kaede-sama leaned to me and supported me. I cried into her blouse for a long time while she stroked my hair.
Miroku-sama, Shippou-chan, and Sango-chan ran into the hut. Apparently Kirara had flown back to where they were before and picked them up.
"Kagome!! Are you okay?" Shippou-chan looked at me with teary eyes. "I thought you said you were going home..." "I am..." I returned Shippou-chan's sad look. "But I wanted to come here first to give him a proper burial..." I looked over at Miroku-sama, who nodded. "It is only best if we bury him in the proper way, isn't it, Kagome-sama?" I nodded an affirmative.
"Kirara, will you help me dig?" I asked the now-small Kirara. Kirara mewed and walked to me. I pet Kirara and she jumped on my head. "Sango-chan, will you and Shippou-chan go and pick some flowers for his gravesite?" I asked. They agreed. "What shall I do, Kagome-sama?" Miroku-sama asked.
"You could help me dig the grave and fill it with dirt again..." I said slowly. "Okay, I will. And I will also pray for him everyday." Miroku-sama said leaned to me. "Are you okay, Kagome-sama?" "Yeah," I answered.
"Arigatou, all of you..." I muttered. "Mew!" I picked Kirara off of my head and hugged her. "Arigatou to you too, Kirara..."
Kirara purred in my palms. She licked my fingertips and jumped onto Sango- chan's shoulders. "Come on Kirara, let's go outside and dig..." I said. "Kagome-chan, where are you going to dig his grave?" Sango-chan asked.
"At his favorite tree." I declared. (A/N: His favorite tree is the one that Yasha gang appears by in the 3rd ending theme, "Dearest".) I picked up Inuyasha and then Miroku-sama saw my ring.
"Is that a wedding band?!" Sango-chan exclaimed as she saw my ring as well.
"No, it's a promise ring," I said. "Hey, guys, I have something to tell you. Originally, both Inuyasha and I wanted to tell you, but," I glanced over at the body, "you can guess why he couldn't."
"What is it, Kagome? Tell us," Shippou-chan pleaded, tugging on my shirt.
"Okay...Well, Inuyasha and I are—I mean we were..."
"Come on, you can tell us." Miroku-sama smiled softly and placed his hand on my shoulder.
"We were...engaged." I said it. It was out. I looked over to my friends, and saw their blank faces.
"Ye two...were engaged for marriage?" Kaede-sama asked. "H-hai." I looked down at the floor so they couldn't see me cry. "Kagome-chan..." Sango-chan walked to me and turned my face toward hers, my tears running down my cheeks. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.
"I-I f-forgot...I was so happy to be with him as his fiancé and I just wanted to stay with him, so I got carried away and forgot to tell you," I thought back again to the day he proposed to me. "He told me to tell you guys the next day after he proposed to me so both of us could celebrate together that night. He told me he wanted me to be with me forever...but n-now...h-he's g-g-gone!"
I broke out in tears and walked out of the hut with the taijiya, the hoshi, the chibi kitsune, and the neko youkai. Sango-chan and Shippou-chan headed toward the well to pick flowers. Kirara and Miroku-sama followed me to Inuyasha's tree, Miroku-sama carrying Inuyasha. I carried the shovels and Kirara jumped on my shoulder.
"We're here..." I said as I dropped the shovels and stared up at the tall and skinny tree. Miroku looked up at it and then down at me. I had tears in my eyes, yet again.
"Th-this is where I sat him when I tried to treat his wounds from Yura of the Demon Hair. He had a deep gash in his chest from her oni's sword. When we had defeated Yura, Inuyasha actually called me 'Kagome' for the first time. Not 'Stupid Woman'. When he called me by my name, I was so happy and thought that we would be friends then."
I sat down against the tree and sighed. "The day after he proposed to me, I realized that the day he proposed was the 4th anniversary of my meeting him. Call me romantic, but I thought it was the perfect idea for him to propose to me on that day. And it was just last week, too. And through that whole week I was making plans for a wedding." I looked down at the ground again.
"Kagome-sama...gomen nasai..." Miroku-sama said guiltily. I turned to him quickly and shook my head.
"No! Don't apologize! I've been so grateful that you and Sango-chan and Shippou-chan have been with Inuyasha and me all these years. Especially you, because you were able to survive with us until the battle with Naraku and now you're cured! I've been so glad that you guys were with me for all that time!" I clutched his kimono.
"So onegai, Miroku-sama, NEVER apologize for what happened to him. Only apologize for what is truly your fault." I looked up into his blue-gray eyes.
"Okay, Kagome-sama. I promise." Miroku hugged me and I hugged him back. "Thank you for staying with us," I said. "No problem," Miroku answered.
I pulled away and stood up. I looked the other way so the others could avoid me crying again. "Well, Kirara, Miroku-sama, we better start digging!" My voice was weak. I grabbed a shovel and handed it to Miroku- sama, then grabbed one for myself. Kirara became her giant-cat form and began digging at the place that I indicated her to dig. Miroku-sama bent slightly and started digging at the same place. I started digging too, and then glanced over at Inuyasha's body. He was propped up against the tree, his head facing the opposite of mine.
I looked at his once-handsome face. It was scarred from the burns and cuts that he received from the demon that killed him. The demon had actually come after me, hungry for the whole Sacred Jewel. Inuyasha had stood in front to protect me, and got hurt in the process. He let me borrow his hoari to also keep me safe from the demon. Inuyasha had destroyed the demon's brother with the Bokuryuhaa, and demon wanted revenge for it's brother.
So the demon cut and burned him...badly. So badly, it kept doing it, until it killed Inuyasha. 'Why Kagome, why did you let it kill Inuyasha?' "I didn't!" I yelled out loud. Miroku-sama looked at me with a confused face.
"Um, Kagome-sama? Doijabu?" Miroku-sama asked me. "Uh, hai. I was just yelling at my thoughts..." Okay, THAT sounded stupid. I was YELLING at my THOUGHTS? Get a grip, Kagome. "What did they tell you? Your thoughts, I mean," Miroku-sama said.
"They asked me why I let that demon kill Inuyasha. And I said, as you can recall, 'I didn't!' Why would my thoughts say something that?"
"Maybe because you loved him so much, your thoughts make you feel guilty because that is what you are thinking. Maybe you thought that you couldn't have helped Inuyasha, so that is what led to his death." Miroku-sama assured. 'He's right.' I thought. "Yeah, I guess you're right about that." I said. I continued to dig.
"Kagome!! We're finished picking flowers!!" Shippou-chan yelled my attention away from what seemed like hours of digging. "Oh, okay Shippou- chan." I dropped my shovel and Shippou-chan handed me the bouquet of both his and Sango-chan's flowers. Sango-chan took over digging for me.
"Kagome-chan, you should rest," Sango-chan sounded worried. "Yeah, I guess I should...all that crying wiped me out." I sat down by the tree again and closed my eyes. Miroku-sama and Sango-chan gently grabbed Inuyasha's arms and legs and walked him over to the hole. Sango-chan lightly placed him into the hole, and Miroku-sama grabbed the shovel and started replacing the dirt into the hole. As I watched my lover being buried, tears formed in my tear docs. I quickly wiped them away and turned to try and rest. Miroku- sama prayed silently for Inuyasha and Shippou-chan started crying, along with Sango-chan.
Whispers of my friends sounded in my ears. "We shouldn't stop Kagome-chan from going home. It would be good for her to let her emotions out with her family. We should just let her go, even if it makes us grieve over her, too."
"But Sango--" Shippou-chan complained.
"She's right, Shippou. Kagome-sama has got to take her emotions out on her own and with her family. We have no right to keep her from expressing her emotions," Miroku-sama's voice sounded kind of sad, but serious. 'Wow. They must really feel sorry for me...I wish I didn't have to put them through all of this...' I thought to myself. I forgot about resting and stood up.
"Hey, guys," I said slowly.
"Nani? Kagome, I thought you were going to rest," Shippou-chan said. "I changed my mind..." "Kagome-chan, what is it?" Sango-chan asked me as she walked over from the grave. Shippou-chan placed the flowers on Inuyasha's grave.
"I-I...I've decided to go home now. I was going to stay for about another day, but I don't think I could handle it. I love you guys so much and I'm sorry that you guys have to go through this." I looked up to Sango-chan and I through my arms around her. "Thank you so much for being there for me when I needed you. I'll miss you so much."
I walked over to Miroku-sama. "I will miss you too, you and your perverted ways. You always tried to stop Inuyasha and I from fighting. You are kind of like a brother to me, and Sango-chan is like my sister." I hugged him and he hugged back. "I'll miss you too, Kagome-sama," he responded.
"What about me?" Shippou-chan jumped up to me and hugged me as I let go of Miroku-sama.
"I'll definitely miss you, Shippou-chan," I said and I rubbed my cheek against his hair. "You're like a son to me!" I said kind of cheerfully. Shippou-chan smiled. "I think that's good because my mommy passed away a long time ago so now I have another mommy!!" I looked at him with uneasy eyes, and saw his childish tears. "I'll miss you so much, Mommy!" I was shocked when Shippou-chan said that, and he could see it in my eyes. Then he could see the happiness that shone in my smile.
"I love you guys," I said and hugged Shippou-chan harder. "It's been so hard saying goodbye to all of you because it's like moving away from my family forever..." I struggled to say these words, thinking of how I would never see my best friends again.
"G-gomen nasai!" I yelled and ran off into the woods, headed for home. 'I'll never see them again...' I thought. I ran to Kaede-sama's hut, grabbed my backpack, and ran out the door to my permanent home, never to return to this era again.
Inuyashasitboy20: Well that's it for chapter 2!! I think this is going to be my longest chapter, but you never know!! I'll hopefully be finished writing and post chapter 3 soon!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Shippou, or Inuyasha so don't sue me or I'll come after you and shoot you with my hakama [sacred arrows]!