Authors Note: There's more on the way! Please let me know if I'm doing ok with the characters!
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Stupid Inuyasha. How does he always manage to make me so angry? All I wanted to do was talk to him! Kagome sighed, which seemed to be a habit when it came to the youkia. Every time she tried to talk to him about something personal, he threw up every barrier he could muster. Sometimes Kagome wondered why she even tried anymore.
Kagome angrily wiped a tear from her eye. Well, she'd show him! If she found the Sacred Jewel shard first, then he'd have to realize that he still needed her. She hoped.
"Now, where is it?" She stopped on the path, trying to locate the shard. "That's odd. Before it was right in front of me, and now it's behind me. I wonder when I passed-" as Kagome turned, she saw a misshapen shape lumber onto the path. His skin was a dark gray, and his eyes were a piercing yellow. He smiled, a row of wicked teeth gleaming even in the pale light.
"Thank you for making this so easy!"
Kagome quickly shook of her initial surprise. "Easy? I'll show you easy!" and reached back into her quiver for an arrow.
But the demon was too fast. Before she could notch to arrow he was behind her, pinning her arms to her side.
"Hey! Let go of me!" But the demon was stronger than she was. As she struggled to break free, she could feel him digging into his shirt. Knowing that whatever he found there would probably be used to harm her, she pushed even harder. Still unable to break free, the girl knew that she needed help, fast. So, with time and options running out, she did the one thing that might bring help. She screamed.
Inuyasha had been stomping through the woods for several minutes before he finally came to a halt. He threw a dark look back the way he had come, half expecting to see Kagome standing there. As his eyes took in the empty woods, disappointment flooded through him. "What am I doing?" he asked aloud. "She's just some stupid girl. Why am I even still here? I should be long gone!" But even as he said the words, he knew he couldn't leave. There was something about that damn girl that just wouldn't let him. At first, he had simply dismissed it as her resemblance to Kikyo. As time went by, though, he realized that the pull she had was something completely unique. The fact that she could maneuver past his barriers drove him insane. The fact that he let her...
He didn't want to become attached to a girl who shouldn't even be here. She belonged back in her own time, safe and sound. Not in his time, where every day was a struggle to survive. And as soon as the Sacred Jewel was reassembled, Inuyasha planned to see Kagome back where she belonged.
Lifting a branch out of his way, the half-demon wandered through the trees. That's why he had been so rough on her the last few days. With all the battling they had been doing lately, it was getting more obvious that Kagome was having troubling keeping pace. She was used to her own time, where life was easier. She deserved to go home, but until the jewel was whole again, Inuyasha knew she would remain with him. By being so harsh with her, he hoped that when the time came, Kagome would be more willing to return to her own time.
But not yet. Inuyasha silently berated himself for being so hard on her earlier. As much as he hated to admit it, he did still need her, and not just to find the jewel shards...
Making up his mind to go back and find her, Inuyasha turned to retrace his steps. To his surprise, he realized that he was already back on the trail where they had parted ways. At some point, while lost in thought, he had unconsciously turned himself around. Inuyasha took a deep breath and was preparing to take whatever grief the girl gave him when he heard the scream. "Kagome!!"
