Disclaimer: I do not own anything regarding Inuyasha, no characters and whatnot, just the story line

A Promise Made is a Promise Kept

By: StarryNightSky17

"talking"

'thoughts'

Remembering the Past: part 2

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After their "run in" with one another, Inuyasha couldn't help but be drawn to the miko. He contented himself by assuming it was because of the Shikon jewel. About a week after their first meeting Inuyasha had had enough; he didn't like the feeling of him being "pulled" towards something but he was beginning to not mind Kagome too much, which really irked him because he wasn't supposed to trust anyone. Yet, since they had met she never looked at him with disgust and called him a "dirty half breed" but had done quite the opposite, smiling warmly with recognition and always using his name.

He'd had enough of this and was getting confused, so in an attempt to end his confusion and to achieve his original goal he had run towards the girl and snatched the jewel that hung around her neck. She seemed a bit surprised, but quickly regained her wits and ran off after the hanyou, bow and arrows in hand.

The moment she saw silver and red fly through the trees she let loose two arrows. She immediately ran to her target and gave a triumphant smirk. Inuyasha was pinned to the tree, the two arrows securely holding him in place with on in each of his sleeves. The jewel, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is it?!"

Inuyasha was glaring at her, "Well, no thanks to you a stupid crow demon flew by me and took it when you pinned me to this stupid tree!"

"Argh! Well if you hadn't taken it in the first place we wouldn't be in this predicament!" shouted the retreating miko.

"Hey wench! Where are you going?! You can't just leave me here! Come back!"

"Watch me," and with that, Kagome disappeared out of sight.

Inuyasha sat there cursing his luck. With Kagome, she had found the bird that was trying to quickly retreat from the scene of the crime, but she couldn't let this happen. So with a prayer, she let loose a single arrow...it hit its mark...but unfortunately releasing a great bright light as well.

Kagome saw something shiny falling from the sky and ran to catch it. When she caught it she gasped. She was holding a shard of the jewel...a shard as in not the whole jewel.

She began to walk back silently, thinking about what to do. When Inuyasha caught her scent he yelled for her to release him. She walked to him with a vacant stare and he shuddered a little, because stormy blue eyes that usually held laughter were now almost lifeless and distant with no emotion showing through. She released him from the tree and continued walking back towards the village. Inuyasha followed behind and concentrated on studying her. Something was wrong...her scent was not as strong, as if she was pulling into herself, she walked trance like with those dull emotionless eyes, she even seemed to be much more pale and she wasn't chattering cheerfully as was her usual countenance. All these changes bothered Inuyasha, but then he noticed her fisted left hand...she was holding something...something small...

They reached the village and Kagome went straight to Kaede. Inuyasha jumped into a tree and waited for the young miko to come back, the jewel forgotten. A couple of hours later a miko emerged from the hut, but not the one Inuyasha was waiting for.

Kaede had a solemn face and Inuyasha jumped down, "Kaede, I demand an explanation now!"

After Kaede Inuyasha of what Kagome had told her he visibly paled and walked to the doorway of the hut and stood there, shocked. Kagome was resting, Kaede explained her condition of how she was in shock and it had taken Kaede an hour to snap Kagome out of her daze to get an explanation and afterwards she opened her palm to reveal the single shard she had been holding. Kaede informed Inuyasha of the situation that lay before them with the shards vulnerable to be taken by beings who would use them for evil purposes. She explained that Inuyasha and Kagome would need to find all the shards and restore the jewel to prevent any evil from using the power of the jewel.

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Inuyasha remembered it all. He was reluctant at first to help, but then he realized that if he didn't he would never get the jewel, so he complied with Kaede's request.

Since then, they had gained three more companions: a demon exterminator named Sango, a monk named Miroku, and a young kitsune named Shippo. At these memories he let a slight smile grace his face, even his eyes lit up. He refocused on Kagome. She was still sitting there peacefully, but he was surprised that she didn't sense him with her miko senses. Then he saw her stiffen and he began to move toward her to protect her, but then he smelled it; wolf.

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Early on in their search for the shards of the jewel (and before they met Sango, Miroku, and Shippo) Inuyasha got to meet one of Kagome's friends...or rather, her stalker.

Kagome had recovered from the shock of the jewel being broken so she decided she needed to go for a walk. Inuyasha decided to follow at a safe distance where, in her state, she wouldn't sense him, yet close enough to protect her from any demon coming to attack. Then he smelled something and began to run towards Kagome, but then he saw something...or rather, someone already standing next to her...holding her hand!

From where he was, Inuyasha could tell that it was a wolf demon, and seeing as he didn't seem to pose a threat to Kagome, he decided to sit back and watch...even though he felt a slight tug at his heart seeing the wolf so close to the miko.

"Kagome! How are you my love?"

#sigh# "Koga, I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood to deal with this right now. If we can hold a conversation without you filling it with flattering words then maybe I can deal with you."

"I'm sorry Kagome, but you know I can't help how I feel."

Kagome knew this all too well.

She had known Koga since she was about seven, when she accidentally stumbled into the wolf tribe territory in search for herbs. She was young and had no idea of how far she was from her village. It didn't help that she was distracted by a colorful butterfly and began chasing it without taking in her surroundings. Koga had smelled her since he was helping on guard duty. Sure he was young, but he was a demon, so he was old enough and strong enough to start taking on such a responsibility as guard duty. He was ready and eager to kill the intruder, but stopped when he saw a little girl with raven hair and piercing stormy blue eyes. Koga was intrigued and followed this girl the rest of the day in an attempt to learn more about this particular human.

At the end of the day the little girl began showing signs of being lost, so Koga decided that now was the time to make his appearance.

"Um...hello?"

"Hm? Oh! Hi, I'm Kagome." said the young girl with one of her dazzling smiles.

'Her smile is so welcoming...and I'm a demon. Shouldn't she be afraid?' "My name is Koga, prince of the Northern wolf tribe."

"Nice to meet you...um...you wouldn't by chance know where we are, would you?" she asked, her voice laced with uncertainty.

Koga smirked, "Lost?"

A slight blush appeared as Kagome replied, "Erm...yes..."

"Thought so, here, I'll take you back to your village."

They spoke some while Koga guided her home and once they reached the village Kagome thanked and hugged him and ran off towards her hut. Koga stood there in slight shock before he regained his senses and then took off in a whirlwind.

Since then Koga had dropped by at random times to see Kagome, and eventually his feelings went beyond friendship, but hers did not. The wolf, determined to have Kagome, became more open and obvious regarding his feelings for her, but Kagome merely ignored the comments and attempted to keep conversation as far away from the topic as possible.

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