Love's Bitter Poison

Summary - Kagome and Inuyasha are in love, but afraid to speak up. When Kagome finally sums up the courage to tell him, he rejects her, acting as though he could care less about her. However, Inuyasha soon realizes that his arrogance is killing Kagome and decides to tell her the truth. But will it be too late by then? R & R!

A/N: There's a bit of humor in this chapter, to try to lighten things up some.

Chapter I – Koga's Ambush and the Fallen Angel

The gang walked along quietly. It was a sunny day and they were traveling to find the next village. The sun shined on Inuyasha's hair making it shine the same way it did that night....

It had been a week since the rejection. Everyone seemed to notice how strangely Kagome was acting. She was not her usual, upbeat, arguing-all-the-time-with-Inuyasha self at all. She was suddenly like a lifeless doll: her eyes were glassy and empty, and in their recent demon battles Kagome was not very active at all and her heart was simply not in it.

No one noticed these changes more than Shippo.

"Kagome, what's wrong!?" Shippo said, extreme annoyance in his voice. Everyone turned and looked at Shippo. No one had dared to ask Kagome what was wrong, for fear that she might explode with anger. However, Shippo was a very close friend...

"You've been acting like this all week Kagome, and it's bothering us! Tell us what's wrong!!" barked the cute little kitsune.

Kagome looked down at Shippo in surprise. She hadn't realized that everyone had noticed her behavior. So much for trying to act normal...Kagome thought as she sweat dropped.

"Oh, hehe, it's nothing, nothing! Just...uh..." they were all staring at her expectantly. "Uh..."

She noticed that Inuyasha had his back turned to the group. Kagome bit her lip and swallowed hard.

"PMS!!" Kagome suddenly shouted without warning. Everyone fell over at her sudden outburst. "Oh, that PMS, it always puts me in a bad mood, hehe....he..." Kagome laughed nervously.

They all recovered and looked at Kagome, slightly disbelieving.

"I think it's best we keep walking," Miroku said, sweat dropping and giving Kagome a weird look.

"Yeah, you're right Miroku!" Kagome laughed nervously, blushing. They all turned and continued on their way. It was so hard to laugh, even if it was fake...

That was close...too close...Kagome thought, sighing with relief.

Kagome noticed Shippo glaring at her.

"Uh...something wrong, Shippo?" Kagome asked nervously.

"Yes, Kagome. I know very well that that's not what's wrong," the kitsune said in a quiet, irritated voice. "I'm gonna find out what it is too, Kagome."

"Uh....hehe...." Kagome laughed nervously once again. She had to at least look cheerful. She didn't want the others to know what was going on between her and Inuyasha. She had to smile a lot, try to act normal, and ignore the fact that this whole thing was killing her.

Shippo was obviously very suspicious. She would have to be careful around the nosy little kitsune.

Kagome fell behind slightly. Shippo ran ahead to yell at Miroku for touching Sango's butt again. Even though Sango's slap was punishment enough.

Kagome began thinking about that night, only a week ago...

"I don't feel the same, Kagome."

The words repeated in her head like a horrible song on a broken record player. Whenever Kagome thought about it, she lost all of her cheerful essence all over again. Every ounce of happiness just dripped out of her like the silent tears she cried every night.

She loved Inuyasha so much.....

"KAGOME, LOOK OUT!!"

Kagome snapped out of her thoughts as she saw something charging towards her. The thing sped right at her, grabbed her around the waist and ran away with her.

"KAGOME!!"

Kagome looked back to see Inuyasha running after her and her captor. Kagome looked up to see Koga carrying her off.

"Koga, what are you doing!? Put me down right now!" Kagome snapped.

She looked back at Inuyasha. She watched him run so swiftly, his Tetsusaiga raised and ready to chop Koga's head off.

Koga jumped at out of the way just as the blade had swung down; he jumped around and ran quickly and eventually lost Inuyasha. He jumped up on a rocky mountainous area and into a cavern where his pack was.

He set her down gently. She looked at Koga angrily. "What do you want this time, Koga!?" she snapped at him.

"I'm going to make you my mate, Kagome. You deserve better than that mutt Inuyasha," he snarled.

Kagome felt her face redden in anger. Through clenched teeth, she growled, "He is not a mutt...."

"Then what is he, Kagome? He's a lousy hanyou who doesn't even care about you. What do you see in him anyway?" Koga sniggered.

That statement somehow broke Kagome. Every word Koga said was true. Kagome felt her heart shatter into tiny glass pieces that cut her inside and made her bleed with pain.

"You're right..." she said quietly. "I don't know what I see in him. He doesn't care about me..."

Kagome remembered Inuyasha chasing after her to get her away from Koga, his long silver-white hair flowing behind him, his golden eyes set on her, his only goal then was to get her out of Koga's arms....

....and put her down and continue on his way.

That was all he would do.

"Fine, Koga. I'll be your mate. It doesn't matter anymore. If I can't have Inuyasha.....then I don't care," Kagome said in a bit of a whisper. She was giving in. She felt numb, as if the pain had dulled her so that she could feel nothing.

Koga grinned. "I knew you'd see it my way, my mate-for-life. Now let's get you in the den. It looks like a storm is picking up."

Kagome followed Koga and his pack into the den without paying attention to anything. It was dark and seemed so uninviting inside the den. So this is my new home....this is my new family...thought Kagome, her eyes shaking.

This was not what Kagome wanted. This was not what her heart wanted. But what her heart wanted, she could not have. And that was Inuyasha.

Perhaps it was better this way. She would be away from the questioning eyes of Shippo and Sango and Miroku....and she would be away from Inuyasha.

Kagome felt as though her soul had left her, leaving only her shattered heart and limp body. Kagome could not have Inuyasha, and it felt as though her soul had just died and left her with nothing....

"You'll sleep here," Koga said, pointing to a bed of hay.

Almost instantly, Kagome laid down on the bed and wished that she was Inuyasha's arms....

Forget about Inuyasha! Kagome scolded herself. You can't have him ever! He doesn't love you, so just stop thinking about him!

....But how can I forget his beautiful golden eyes that always glow with warmth whenever he's happy, even though he puts on an angry expression....or how gently he always picks me up whenever he needs to....

Without realizing it, Kagome had begun to cry. The pain was too much. She needed Inuyasha.

Night fell. Rain was pouring, thunder was clapping and lightning was flashing. Koga had fallen asleep beside Kagome. She had scooted away from him.

Everyone in the den was also asleep. Except Kagome.

She stood up and quietly walked to the opening of the den. She saw no reason to live anymore. She could not have Inuyasha. She had thoughtlessly agreed to be Koga's mate for life.

Kagome was going to let herself fall off the ledge and die on the ground below.

————

Inuyasha's eyes opened. Soemthing was wrong. Everyone in the hut was sleeping. They said that the storm was too rough; they would have to find Kagome tomorrow.

But Inuyasha felt the severe need to find her now. He didn't know why. But he had to find her.

His heart racing with a sudden and unexplainable fear, he left the hut and began running through the rain to Koga's mountain den. He had to find her.

————

She stepped out into the rain and was immediately soaked. She slowly walked towards the edge of the ledge on the rocky mountain. She looked over the edge, turned around, and leaned back. She fell.

The wind howled as it zoomed past her. Kagome suddenly hit her head on a jarred rock that stuck out of the side of the mountain. She tumbled down the rocky mountain, gaining cuts and bruises and finally a large, bleeding gash on her back. After this continued for a minute, she finally started to fall with nothing in her way. The rest of the way down would be painless. There were no more rocks sticking out of the mountain, so she had a clear path to the ground.

————

Inuyasha tried to run faster. The rain and wind seemed intent on pushing him away from his destination, but he fought back. The rain hit him like a thousand tiny needles as he rushed to get to Kagome. As he came closer to the mountain, he could smell Kagome's scent mingled with the scent of tears and...

...blood.

"Kagome!?" Inuyasha cried, his eyes widening as he saw her from a distance, falling.

————

If she was to die now, she wanted her last thoughts to be of Inuyasha. She thought of his beautiful golden eyes, his cute dog ears, his long, sweet-smelling silver-white hair.....his gentle smile.... She tried to remember everything about him before she hit the ground. But there wasn't enough time. The ground raced towards Kagome's weak and wounded body. She inhaled her last breath. Here it comes... Suddenly—

—There he was. He was running straight at her, with a look of fear and concern on his face. Kagome felt her heart pound. Inu...yasha?

Kagome could no longer think straight. She was dizzy from all the whacks to her head from the rocks.

Inuyasha saw her. She was like a beautiful, delicate angel that had fallen from the sky and hurt herself on the way down. He could not let her hit the ground.

"KAGOME!!" Inuyasha shouted as he ran faster and faster. He had to catch her.

Suddenly, time froze. Inuyasha and Kagome were a few feet away from each other. Kagome was upside down, falling, and Inuyasha was running towards her, rightside up. For only a second, they looked into each other's eyes as the rain fell. It was then that Inuyasha realized Kagome was trying to kill herself.

"Kagome..." Inuyasha said quietly. His eyes shook as he looked at her. Why would she do this to herself?...

Kagome's dark hair flowed behind her, as did the blood from the gash on her back. Her eyes were vacant, as if Kagome was not really there.

It felt like a thousand daggers had been stabbed through Inuyasha's heart. This girl....was going to kill herself because of him...

Kagome could hardly believe it. Here he was, right in front of her, staring at her with fear and concern.

Inuyasha's golden eyes followed Kagome's eyes as she fell into his arms. He caught her swiftly, and as soon as he did, Kagome lost conciousness.

The angel who had lost her wings fell, unconcious, into the hanyou's welcoming arms.

A/N: There you go! The first chapter! Tell me if you like it!