Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, the manga or the anime. Nor do I own a plushie but that's ok...I love everyone anyways.

Giving Up On What Was: Chapter Two

    Kouga was sitting on the courtyard bench when Inuyasha and I saw him. But he was sitting with a girl and not only that but he was kissing her! I automatically knew who the girl was. Sango. How could she?

    She saw me before Kouga did since his back was turned to me. As soon as her eyes reached mine they widened in recognition and most of all in fear and pity. She pulled away from Kouga's embrace and mouthed my name. Maybe she said it aloud but I couldn't tell, because at that moment my breaths were coming out as ragged attempts and tears were piercing my eyes as the entire world seemed to be dulling out.

    At least it was doing so until Inuyasha's voice cut through the air screaming, "What the hell are you two doing?" I guess he was just as surprised as me.

    Kouga finally noticed me and the look he gave me was heart-wrenching. He wanted forgiveness, just like a little puppy that had been caught digging through the trash. "Kagome." I heard Kouga's pleading voice as clear as anything I've ever heard in my life. But I didn't want to see what would happen next and so I ran, hard and fast. I heard him call after me and I knew he was running to catch up but a few seconds later I heard him fall to the ground. And I didn't have to turn around to know that Kouga had been knocked down by Inuyasha. Kouga wasn't clumsy enough to fall on his own. He was strong, always, and I was a fool to think that he would need me.

    The tears were pouring down my face now and there was only one place I wanted to go. I had to go to the Mizaki Gardens. They were only a block from the school and with my hastiness I would get there faster then a cheetah.

    I stopped, eventually, and collapsed on my knees. I let sobs escape my lips and shallow breaths supply me with air. Thankfully there were no bystanders to stare at me in bafflement. Why? Why would He do this? Why would Sango do this? Why?

 "Kagome?"

    I was glad that it was Inuyasha's voice that reached my ears. Though I didn't want to talk to anyone at the time, he was better then Sango or Him right now.

"Hey Kagome. Are you okay?" His voice sounded solemn and worried. This must have reminded him of when Kikyo cheated on him with Naraku.

    "I'm fine." He didn't need his demon senses to hear the crack in my voice and the ragged breaths I was taking. He didn't need his demon senses to tell that I had been crying. And he didn't need his demon senses to realize that I had jumped into his arms searching for comfort.

I don't know how long I cried but by the time I was seeing through clear eyes and breathing without sobs, Inuyasha's shirt was drenched in my tears.

"Sorry." I whispered as I moved away from the arms he had brought around me when I had leapt into them.

"Keh." It wasn't crude or hurtful. It was more of an acknowledgement that I had spoken. "So...are you going to hed back to school?"

SCHOOL! That hadn't even crossed my mind. But I must have been late by now, even if I had gotten there earlier. "I just won't go." I replied.

    "Imagine that, Miss Perfect Attendance missing a day...and all because of some inconsiderate lowlife who cheats on her." He didn't mean that to be derogatory either. He was just trying to cheer me up by putting Him down.

    "Not yet Inuyasha." It was too soon. Too soon to be joking around with Inuyasha about Him. And I had gotten so used to defending Him from anything Inuyasha could say. I had a comeback for everything. Well anything except for that last comment.

"I'm going to go home right now." I told him, voice never rising above a whisper.

"Are you going to walk all the way there?"

"No..."

    "Then I'm driving you there." I looked up at him. Wasn't he His best friend. "Look, I ain't going to leave you here all alone to cry. You'd probably get kidnapped."

    When I gave him a glare he continued with a grin, "Besides I think your mother likes me. What would she say if I left her precious daughter all alone in this state?"

    I gave in and nodded. But then it hit me that to get to his car, we would have to go back to school. It seemed he read my mind because he told me that he would go to school and then drive back to pick me up. 'I have more then enough money for gas,' he had said.

    The time alone was good for me because I could reflect on recent events without the haziness in my mind that one has when crying. So...He had cheated on me. It's normal I suppose. I mean it's happened to girls around me before so why should I be any different?

Because you thought he loved you.

So? Many people think that their boyfriends love them.

But you believed that their love was 'puppy love.' And that yours was real.

I'm an egotist. Why should my boyfriend be any different from anyone else's? Because he's mine? I'm pathetic.

    I didn't want to think anymore. This train of thought was depressing as it was. So I just sat there. Waiting. Waiting and watching as the rain began to fall. The rain was cold and fell at a slow and steady rate. The rain had always felt cold to me. It always reminded me of someone crying. As a kid I used to believe that when it rained, it did so because too many people in the world were crying at that moment and the clouds couldn't take all the weight. Maybe I pushed the rain overboard. Because, I noticed, that I was crying again.

    Inuyasha finally arrived and he drove me home. We barely talked. Though Inuyasha did question how I could run so fast and so far with the enormous backpack I was carrying. I didn't have an answer for him...maybe it was the motivation of getting away.

    Inuyasha was walking me to the door; my head was hung low the entire time. I kept wondering what it was that I was going to tell my mother. How was I to explain why I came home barely after school started? I didn't feel like telling her the truth at the moment because then I would have to be relive the moment. The moment His eyes reached mine. Those eyes that should be looking at me with such love, only regarding me with pain.

    The door to the house opened and it took me a moment to realize that Inuyasha was the one opening it. Since when did Inuyasha have a key? Hey wait....that was my key.

"INUYASHA. WHY'D YOU GO THROUGH MY PACK." He may have helped me but that didn't give him the right to go through my stuff.

    "Stop yelling wench. You were spacing out. What did you want me to do...pinch you out of your daydream." His eyes got an evil glint when he suggested pinching me.

"Ergh." How frustrating this jerk could be.

I walked in and called for my mother. Even though I didn't have an excuse yet, I couldn't have her thinking some robbers entered her house.

"She's not home wench." Inuyasha called from the kitchen.

"What do you mean she's not home?"

    "How many meanings could that phrase possibly have," smart-ass Mr. Know-It-All, "...and she left this note on the counter with some onigiri...your mom's a good cook."

    I glared at him. He was eating MY onigiri. But I guess it would be his reward for helping me out. I grabbed the note from him while he was busy stuffing his face and read:

Dear Kagome,

    I know this is short notice, but if you come home to get your stuff for your sleepover at Sango's or even if you arrive the next day and read this, I will not be home. Your grandfather has not been feeling well these last few days and today I got a call from the hospital notifying me that he shouldn't be moving around too much. He needs help around the shrine, and you know how grandpa gets when strangers get near the shrine. So I will be helping him until he gets better. Souta will be staying over at a friend's house for two days and then he will go back home. Make sure you don't forget about him and please try stay healthy. I love you Kagome and I trust that you will use the best of judgment being home alone.

--Mom.

    She just left....How could she just leave? Part of me was relieved that I would have time to get over recent events and collect myself. But part of me was angered that my mom would all of a sudden leave me alone at the time I needed support the most.

Oh well...all I had to do now was get rid of Inuyasha and then I could recline on the sofa and eat my fill of ice cream (nature's best comfort food).

    I heard the engine revving up. I guess Inuyasha was ahead of me in that thought because I heard his Ferrari pull away. Either he was being sensitive and letting me have some alone time, or he was full of my mom's food and saw no reason to stay. Although the second would seem more like his character, part of me just knew that the latter wasn't the truth.

    Just as I was about to hed to the kitchen to get some ice cream out of the freezer, the telephone rang. Without thinking I picked up the phone and dropped it once I heard the voice on the other line.

"Kagome....Hello? Kagome are you there?"

The Mazaki Gardens is a name I made up, but if it really exists then oops.

I went a bit crazy when writing this...well my friend would say dedicated. I stayed up till 12:00 on a school night writing and then when I accidentally woke up early the next morning I dashed to my computer to continue writing.

And I know that Sango seemed out of character because she is usually such a loyal friend but that will be explained in the next chapter. And I had to break Kouga's extreme dedication for Kagome for this plot to work.