What Relationship?

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Note: Inuyasha is not mine and belongs to the respective copyright holders. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

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Chapter 18: Theorizing

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"Kikyou..." Inuyasha said.

Standing by the doorway, Kikyou approached Inuyasha with her two young shikigami, Kouchou and Asuka, following behind her. Kikyou moved her head and started staring at Kagome. She then turned to face Inuyasha. "Kikyou, I thought you were gone. What happened? Why did you disappear for three months?" Kagome asked.

Kikyou said nothing and just continued to stare at Inuyasha. Inuyasha found himself speechless but finally spoke. "Kikyou... answer Kagome's question. I want to know what happened." He said.

Kikyou remained silent as the others waited for an explanation as to what happened to her. She departed without saying a word. Inuyasha chased after her. "What's going on?! What are you doing?!" Inuyasha yelled out as everyone else gathered outside Kaede's hut.

"Inuyasha... Kagome seems... happier. We don't want her to be sullen during the battle against Naraku." Kikyou replied as she departed with her young shikigami.

Inuyasha stood confused. "Why does she care if Kagome is unhappy when we fight Naraku?" Inuyasha found himself asking the others.

"Perhaps Kagome-sama's powers would not be at their peak if she were unhappy." Miroku theorized.

"Kagome's power isn't something to trifle with. I imagine my sister knows what she is doing and needs Kagome's power to accomplish her goal." Kaede responded.

"So how did she hide herself for so long?" Sango asked.

"I imagine she did it the way she always does. She wanted to stay in hiding until she felt Kagome-sama's power risen due to her happiness." Miroku stated.

"So... what happened to make Kagome so happy?" Shippou wondered.

Kagome found herself blushing and turning away from the others. "Eerr... we don't need to talk about this, do we? C'mon, we have to defeat Naraku." Kagome said, desperately trying to change the subject.

"Kagome... what happened?" Shippou jumped on her shoulder and asked as he poked her cheek.

Inuyasha found himself getting annoyed at his friends' antics of berating Kagome. "Knock it off! Let's go kick Naraku's ass!" Inuyasha shouted out.

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. The group was on the road once again to defeating Naraku. But as Kagome stared at Inuyasha, she wondered what he was thinking. Kikyou was back. But he seemed to act differently around her. Inuyasha had remained rather adamant on defeating Naraku over anything else. Kagome came to a realization. Inuyasha was focusing all his efforts on Naraku to avoid any sort of conclusion about herself and Kikyou.

To Be Continued...