AUTHOR'S NOTES: Again, running late, but I had some friends over this weekend. "Freddy vs. Jason"...you're lucky you're not getting "How Not to Write Inuyasha Horror Crossovers." Anyway, time to take a break from the violence and nastiness and see what's going on back at the ranch. Or in this case, the Higurashi Shrine.

Since next to nothing has been said about Kagome's family, I took some liberties with the fate of her father and what her grandfather did during the war. I based his experiences on Yutaka Yokota's book The Kaiten Weapon, about the Japanese suicide torpedoes of World War II, and Midori Yamanouchi's Listen to the Voices of the Sea, a collection of letters written home from Japanese soldiers who died in World War II, many of them kamikazes. In the later waves of kamikazes off Okinawa, most of the pilots were ex-college students who did not personally believe in the war and thought Imperial Japan had no business going to war either in China or against the United States, but flew and died nonetheless out of a love of country and duty. As such, Grandfather Higurashi's sentiments may be different than, say, Seita's from Grave of the Fireflies. Also, it's been sixty years...

Yes, this is a somewhat depressing chapter, which is why I have a waffy love scene included. It may intrude a little more onto R rating than PG-13, so if anyone is offended, I apologize, but it's not very graphic.

REVIEWER'S CORNER:

DarklessVasion: Having never seen hide nor hair of Ayame, I really had to guess. Hell hath no fury, so Ayame is indeed having an off day (thanks for the save). Originally, Kouga wasn't going to be in this, but heck, he's too much a dork to leave out. Oh, and always, you're welcome!

Mizurazame: Okay.

DanieLuvsPyro: I'm pretty sure that Fluffy won't be in this one. I can't really fit him in without the story getting too crowded. Then again, Kouga wasn't supposed to show up either...

Cowboy Beboper: You can take the monk out of the gutter...

Jschu25: Kikyo doing a bit of a striptease may be a little OOC, but she was trying to save her village. Kikyo would use every weapon in her arsenal, I think. Besides, if the manga is any indication, Urasue did a pretty fine job with bones and clay.

Grimtash: Nope. I don't know the rest of the sutra, but I'm pretty sure it's not "swordfish." Also, Sango wasn't wearing a mempo, just the helmet. Soryu-san fighting off a foe every eight seconds? Nah. I'm not that low...am I? Muwahahaha...

Major Ace: Thanks!

DogEars22: You're comparing me to Shakespeare?! No way, dude. But you do tempt me to have Miroku use the St. Crispin's Day speech. Oh, and your questions: 1) Yep, he's stuck there (see this chapter) and 2) Sango killed Totoroki the demon's mother, not Arashikaze's mother.

MUSIC DEPARTMENT: Clannad's "Traithona Beag Areir" and Loreena McKennitt's "The Mystic's Dream," and the piano version of "Cruel Angel's Thesis" works well here. Mainly because I was listening to it.

CHAPTER SEVEN: LOVE'S LABORS LOST

"My oh my

She was aiming too high

He says Adios, says Adios,

And now you know why

There's no moon in her sky

He says Adios, says Adios, goodbye."

–Enya, "One By One"

Inuyasha got a running start and jumped into the well with a growl. He steeled himself for the impact with the ground, hoping instead he would get the weightless feeling of traveling back across time. He had been right to tense up, for he hit unyielding earth. Inuyasha rolled with the impact and came up swearing.

"No luck, Inuyasha?" Souta called out from the lip of the well.

"What the hell do you think?" Inuyasha shot back, then bit back his temper. He was angry enough to punch a hole in the walls of the well, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. Instead he merely leapt out and landed next to Souta. Unable to vent his anger on the well and unwilling to vent it on Souta, he stormed out of the well house, giving the doors a savage kick. Souta trailed in his wake as the hanyou walked briskly back to the house.

It had been five days since he had brought Kagome back to her time. She was doing well, astounding the doctors at the hospital with her quick recovery. Kagome was still bedridden and wouldn't be released for at least another week, a fact that incensed Inuyasha. He was convinced that Kagome might be able to push through where he had failed. It further aggravated him that he was being cut with his own knife: whoever had blocked the well had obviously done the same thing that he had done to Kagome some months before.

Not knowing what else to do, Inuyasha walked into the Higurashi house, stomped up the stairs, and went into Kagome's room, where he promptly sat on her bed in his customary, cross-legged sulking position. Souta came in some time afterwards, but a glare from Inuyasha made it clear the hanyou wanted to be alone. When he was, Inuyasha leaned back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, fuming.

The Higurashis had been too kind to him and very understanding, which surprised him to a certain extent. He had expected Mrs. Higurashi and the old man to be angry at allowing Kagome to get hurt, but neither had been; in fact, they had been sympathetic, telling him that it was not his fault. Since Inuyasha preferred to walk around Tokyo and sneak into Kagome's hospital room at night, where he could avoid the stares at the way he looked and dressed, he had all too much free time on his hands. The day before, he had braved the stares and even traveled with Mrs. Higurashi on the thing she called a "train," which had bothered him–though he had been careful not to show it. The metal carriages called cars were bad enough; worst of all were the huge metal birds that occasionally flew over the shrine. Souta had told him and showed him pictures of the "airplanes," so he had stopped cringing at the whine and roar of their engines. The idea that they would fly to faraway lands his time did not have an inkling of he preferred not to think about.

Without Kagome, then, he was stuck in this strange time. He hoped Miroku, Sango, and Shippo were all right, and consoled himself with the fact that all three were resourceful. They would find a way to win; he just hoped they weren't foolish enough to try on Naraku alone. He also hoped they would just hole up somewhere until he and Kagome got back, and not do something stupid like ask his brother or Kouga for help. Inuyasha smiled wryly: at least that mangy wolf won't be trying anything with Kagome now.

Realizing that he was chasing his tail mentally, Inuyasha decided to go downstairs, get something to eat, and maybe turn on the magic box again. It would be hours before sundown, and he wasn't tired. The magic box at least kept his mind occupied. He was briefly tempted to join Souta, who was playing his "video games" in his room, but Inuyasha decided that he wanted solitude for now. After making some instant ramen–his attempts at more complicated foods had ended in disaster–and grabbing a can of Yebisu Super Dry beer, another invention of the future he liked, Inuyasha sat on the floor and began looking for the thing Mrs. Higurashi called the remote. It was nowhere to be seen, so he began lifting up books on the low table in front of the magic box. One caught his eye briefly–The Tale of Genji–but he tossed it aside; Inuyasha's reading comphrension skills were not the best, despite heroic efforts by his mother, Miroku, and Kagome. A large, unmarked black book was next, one which Inuyasha had never seen before. Curious, he opened the cover. He flipped through a few blank pages before he came upon a picture of himself and Kagome. It had been taken by Souta on one of their earlier visits, catching the hanyou with a mouthful of steak as Kagome pulled on his ears. He smiled at Kagome's laughing expression. There was another shot of him that he particularly liked, showing him in front of the well house in a rather heroic pose, one hand on Tetsusaiga and his silver hair blowing in the wind; that one, he remembered, had been taken by Kagome not long after they had met.

Those pictures were the only ones that included himself, but Inuyasha was intrigued and kept looking. He found older pictures, including Souta as a toddler and as an infant. He laughed uproariously some of the pictures, including a three-year old Kagome covered head to toe in mud and looking forlorn; another of Kagome dressed as Sailor Moon for a costume party and looking miserable; he found a wedding picture of Kagome's mother and father. Kagome's father had been a good-looking man. Inuyasha knew he had been killed in one of those metal carriages, and was surprised any of Kagome's family dared ride in them again. As a younger woman, Mrs. Higurashi bore enough of a likeness to her daughter and Kikyo that Inuyasha's heart missed a beat.

The pictures became older and more faded, and Inuyasha could at most only guess who they were. He recognized Kagome's grandfather, in another wedding picture, this one in a traditional style more familiar to Inuyasha. The hanyou then came upon one that showed Grandfather Higurashi as a very young man, dressed in strange clothing that looked similar to samurai armor, except that it was padded. He sat with one hand on the pommel of a katana, far more fancy than Tetsusaiga's pommel, a very serious expression on his face. He wore a cloth stocking cap on his head, and around both arms were armbands marked with kanji and hinomarus, the "red sun" emblem of Japan. Inuyasha peered closer at the pictures. The old man was a samurai?

Inuyasha's ears flicked involuntarily as he heard someone coming out of the kitchen into the common room. Grandfather Higurashi ambled in, hands behind his back. He saw the book in Inuyasha's hands and his eyebrows went up. "I see you found the family photo album," he said without preamble.

Inuyasha hesitated, then quickly closed it and set it on the table. "Uh, sorry. I just saw the pictures of me, and uh, Kagome, and..."

The old man waved off his protests, then sat down next to him. "Not to worry, my boy, not to worry." He picked up the album and opened it directly to the picture Inuyasha had been looking at. Grandfather Higurashi's expression became sad. "Ah, yes. My misspent youth."

"You-you were a samurai?" Inuyasha blurted.

Grandfather smiled wistfully. "In a manner of speaking. I was never in a battle." His hands traced over the photograph. "I wasn't that much older than Kagome. Just a boy, really...we all were."

"Kagome said once that you were in a war, but you never talked much about it." Inuyasha shrugged. "I don't think I've seen a single soldier while I've been here–just those constabularies."

"Not like the Sengoku Jidai, neh?"

"Not even a little."

"Japan hasn't been in a war in nearly sixty years, Inuyasha-san."

Inuyasha's eyes widened. "You're kidding."

"Not one. Not after the last one."

Inuyasha paused, and the silence stretched uncomfortably. "It was a very bad war, then?" he asked eventually.

Grandfather nodded. "Very." He took a deep breath. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but perhaps Kagome already has. In the near future where you live, the Sengoku Jidai will end. Men will unify Japan into one nation, and there will be peace. The Emperor will be virtually powerless; samurai shoguns will rule the land."

"Huh. Not much different than now. Er, now where I live," Inuyasha quickly amended.

"The Emperor will eventually regain his power, and Japan will become a great nation among the world's nations. We even beat China and eventually invaded her." Grandfather laughed at the look of disbelief on Inuyasha's face. "I didn't say it was a good idea. We eventually got into a war with America."

"America?" A light went on in Inuyasha's mind. "Oh, yeah–that land across the Eastern Sea. Kagome told me about them. She says that most of the people there are weird and crazy, but okay."

"Perhaps. They were angry with us because we invaded China."

"Who cares? None of their business," Inuyasha snapped.

"My older brother was in China," Grandfather said with steel in his voice that shocked Inuyasha. "What he told me in strictest confidence that he saw our men do would turn even a hanyou's stomach. It caused us to get into a war with America. Japan lost." He turned a page, which showed a picture of several young men dressed identically to Grandfather Higurashi in the previous photo. He sat in the center. They were all smiling in this picture. "Towards the end, Japan was short of warriors. Most of what you would call samurai were dead. I and many other young men my age volunteered for kamikaze duty."

"Kamikaze?" Inuyasha knew the legend of the divine wind that had saved Japan from the Mongol hordes before even his father, Inutaisho, was born. Everyone knew that story. "I know that story, but I don't understand."

"The flying machines that you see flying over us now and then? We were in much smaller ones, very primitive compared to the ones today–ah, but beautiful birds, Inuyasha, beautiful." Inuyasha watched as the old man's face seemed to light up. "There's nothing like soaring among the clouds. We truly did feel like the gods." He looked back at the picture. "We weren't, though. All too mortal. The flying machines were packed with explosives, Inuyasha. Our job was to fly out to sea and dive them into the American ships. Our sacrifice would save Japan."

"Oh. Now I see...but you said Japan lost."

Grandfather's eyes had misted up. "Yes, Inuyasha. Japan lost. We had lost years before I and my friends ever even saw a flying machine up close. Even if my friends survived the Americans' flying machines and their defenses, for every ship they crippled or destroyed, the Americans had a dozen more. We couldn't stop them, you see. So the Emperor, in his wisdom, surrendered."

Inuyasha was thunderstruck. "The Emperor surrendered? The entire country?" At Grandfather's nod, Inuyasha turned away, one hand on the hilt of Tetsusaiga. "I don't believe it. He dishonored the entire country. What a bastard!"

"No, Inuyasha. He saved Japan. Had the Americans invaded–and they would have–they would have destroyed the entire country and killed everyone in it. They would have had to, you see. We were all prepared for it. 'Ten million die for the Emperor,' we used to say."

"Better to die fighting," Inuyasha growled.

"When I was that young man–" Grandfather's finger went to the picture "–I thought the way you did. So did Saito." He pointed to a grinning young man to his right, who had a hand on Grandfather's shoulder. "We were the only ones left at the end. Kosuke, Osamu, Isao–they all were dead. When we heard the announcement, we thought that perhaps we were only engaging in a truce, but when the American soldiers landed, we realized the truth: the war was over, and we lost. Saito committed seppuku. I wished to follow him, but then I met Kaori." He flipped back a few pages to the wedding picture. "She made me live again." He seemed lost in his thoughts for a few moments, while Inuyasha tried to figure out what, if anything, he should say. Grandfather visibly shook off the memories. "Now, Inuyasha, every time I see my daughter-in-law and my grandson and granddaughter, I thank the Emperor for his decision. I have lived to see my grandchildren, and I've lived to see Japan become great again. Without a war! How about that, neh?"

Inuyasha's head was now whirling. He tried to visualize such a war as Grandfather Higurashi described and failed. "What...I don't understand," Inuyasha finally said helplessly. "Are you saying I shouldn't fight?"

Grandfather Higurashi closed the book slowly and leaned back. "You cannot get back to the Sengoku Jidai–"

"Yet," Inuyasha interrupted.

The old man ignored Inuyasha's impoliteness and continued. "You cannot get back to the Sengoku Jidai. I can't help but wonder if perhaps that is the will of the gods, Inuyasha. You could stay here...with Kagome."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "I thought you hated my guts."

"I never said that, and if I did, that was awhile ago. In any case, my feelings do not matter. Kagome thinks very highly of you. In fact, I believe she loves you. Don't deny it!" A finger shot up, stopping Inuyasha in mid-denial. "You think I haven't noticed you feel very highly of her as well, perhaps even love her yourself?"

Inuyasha's mouth dropped open at the old man's temerity, then he folded his arms and looked away. "None of your business, jii-sama. How would you know?"

Grandfather Higurashi maddeningly smiled. "Because I used to pine over my wife the same way, and I used to deny it to my friends in the same way. And I watched over her in the same way you have been watching over Kagome." He looked down. "I admit, I had someone else entirely in mind for my granddaughter, but you will do–you're strong, quick, brave, perhaps not very smart, but you could work on that." He smirked as Inuyasha's cheeks turned red. "You're very different in appearance, but no more so–in fact, better looking–than some of the punks I've seen in the city."

Inuyasha stood. "With all due respect, jii-sama, I don't want to talk about this anymore. Excuse me." He spun on one heel and began to walk towards the stairs.

"Inuyasha, if you go back–"

Inuyasha stopped. "Yes?"

The old man hesitated, halfway to standing up, then sat again. "Nothing. Never mind."

Inuyasha turned, bowed in respect, then walked briskly up the stairs. Grandfather Higurashi heard the door slam, then looked down at the picture book still in his lap. He opened it to the picture of he and the other kamikazes. He traced the sides of the photo. Slowly, he turned it back to his wedding picture. In the gathering darkness, alone, Grandfather Higurashi began to cry bitterly.

Six hours later, Inuyasha was sitting in his customary position of rest–back against the wall, Tetsusaiga in his lap, sound asleep. The hospital staff had seen him once or twice like this, but despite his bizarre appearance, they chalked it up to youthful rebelliousness, though there were some comments in the breakroom about Kagome's taste in boyfriends. The one who had delivered the flowers the day before, Hojo, had been much more polite, good-looking, and mannered. The hospital staff had yet to figure out how Inuyasha was even getting in. Despite all that, his devotion to Kagome was unquestionable, so they let him stay–sword and all.

Kagome was asleep as well. She mumbled something in her dreams, which instantly reached the hypersensitive ears of the hanyou next to her. He blinked and woke up, looking over at Kagome. Seeing she was still asleep, Inuyasha stood up and worked the kinks out of his back, padding around the dark hospital room quietly.

"Inuyasha..." Kagome said.

"Yeah?" He looked over at her, but she was still asleep. He tensed up, wondering if he was about to be sat; it wouldn't have been the first time.

"You're so cool..."

Inuyasha had enough knowledge of the slang in Kagome's time that 'cool' meant good, or close to the best. Feeling equal parts relief and puffed-up pride, he walked back over to Kagome's bedside and sat down in the chair. He caught himself, as he had several times before, just enjoying looking at her. In sleep, she looked angelic, her hair framing a heart-shaped face, even if it was still a little puffy. After seeing the pictures of her mother and maternal grandmother, Inuyasha wondered what Kagome would look like in a few years, when she moved past her teenage years and became an adult. Five or six years, perhaps. He wondered where he would be then. Would they still be hunting Naraku? Or would they have found the Shikon no Tama, and then...what? So lost in thought was he that he hadn't noticed he had been slowly leaning closer to her.

Kagome's eyes opened slowly, catching Inuyasha by surprise and leaving him unable to make up his mind to stay right where he was, or leap back about ten feet. She smiled, only barely awake. "Mmmf..."

"Uh, good evening."

"What're you doing?"

"Um...I was watching you. Watching over you," he stammered. He felt his cheeks burning and his heart pounding, and wondered what the hell power this girl had over him.

"Oh. I thought...you were trying to kiss me."

Inuyasha jumped as if he had stuck his finger in an outlet. "Hey, no way! I would never do that while you were asleep! I ain't Miroku, you know!"

Kagome yawned. "That's too bad."

"Huh?"

"Because I wanted you to kiss me."

"Y-You what?"

Logic tends to fail one when one is tired or still not quite awake. Kagome was both. For some unfathomable reason–aided and abetted by the fact that she was in love, after all--she had decided that she wanted this big, clueless, beautiful hanyou to kiss her. "Yeah. I'm sleepy...will you kiss me good night?"

"Uh..." Inuyasha hesitated, good sense–she's going to sit me when she wakes up–warring with hormones–oh, gods yes, I'll kiss you good night, and do a hell of a lot more than that if you want!

Hormones won. "Okay, I'll do it." He leaned forward, trying to ignore the fact that his heart felt like it was going to come out of his chest. He gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Good night, Kagome."

Kagome looked and felt hurt. That's it? she thought. Deciding that this loveable idiot was never going to get the hint, and still lacking that element called rational thought, she grabbed both tufts of hair that hung in front of where his ears would be if he was human, pulled them close, and kissed him herself. It was no quick peck on the lips, either, but a crushing soul kiss that curled her toes, not to mention Inuyasha's.

For Kagome, it was nearly six months of frustration; for Inuyasha, years both in dreams and in reality, pining for Kikyo and then her reincarnation. They were young and all too aware of their own mortality. And so, one kiss turned into two, then three, until they were kissing every part of exposed skin they could get to–and, by the way Inuyasha's hands were moving, more of Kagome's skin was about to be exposed. And she liked it.

Kagome was abruptly pulled from the nirvana of Inuyasha's kisses when he managed to get his hands under the hospital robe. It was sweet torture as his claws ran up her naked hips, but it was pure torture when they went over her ribs. She sucked in her breath and only hanyou reflexes kept Inuyasha from having his lower lip bit off. Abruptly, he saw it was pain and not passion that was causing her to gasp. "Oh shit," he said. "I'm sorry, Kagome, I didn't even think–"

"No, no, it's okay," she said. She looked down at the two of them. The hospital bed was sagging dangerously in the middle, due to the fact that Inuyasha had most of his body on it, the IV in her arm was pulled taut, and he had managed to get the robe up to her navel, leaving her exposed from there down. He couldn't see that, but Kagome realized what Inuyasha had in mind–not to mention what she desperately wanted him to do. But they couldn't do that. Not with her injuries. Not with the quest. Not now.

Inuyasha, taking her words as consent, went back to trying to reach her breasts without either hurting her, capsizing the bed, or simply tearing the robe in half with his claws. Kagome grabbed his arms. "Inuyasha, stop! Please, stop!"

Inuyasha did, more afraid for her than himself. The bed groaned and he shifted some of his weight back onto the chair, leaving him with one leg on the chair, one leg on the bed, one arm on Kagome's pillow, and the other pinned between her bandaged skin and the robe. "What? Stop? Now?"

"Yes, Inuyasha. We have to stop. I'm...not ready."

He bared his teeth in pure frustration, then felt like slapping himself. Her injuries, stupid! he yelled at himself. What are you thinking with? He got off the bed and readjusted his kimono. He wanted to be mad at Kagome, but she was right. "I'm sorry. I didn't think about those ribs." He felt like bashing his head against the wall.

Kagome quickly pulled down the robe and pulled up the covers. He had guessed one reason, but not the other. "It's not just the ribs, Inuyasha," she said quietly. "I want to...I really do want you to..." She struggled to get the words out.

"You want me to mate with you."

Those weren't exactly the words Kagome was looking for, but it was better that what she had expected Inuyasha to say. "Yes. But I'm scared."

"I wouldn't hurt you."

"That's not what I'm afraid of."

"The quest." Now that his brain was working again, Inuyasha nodded. "Yeah, you getting with a pup would complicate things."

"So would me not knowing if you love me, Inuyasha." There. She had said it. Inuyasha's head whipped around in a flash of silver hair and yellow eyes, all she could see in the darkness. "I have to know, Inuyasha."

"Kagome-chan, I...I just...don't know." He remembered what Grandfather Higurashi had said: because I used to deny it the same way. "I don't know. Maybe I'll be the last to know." He collapsed into the chair. "Damn, I wish my brother was here."

"Sesshoumaru? Why?"

Inuyasha looked at his claws. "So I could punch something out and not feel bad about it." He stood up. "Now I'm going to have to find a cold stream somewhere. I guess I could try that indoor waterfall you have."

"Shower."

"Whatever."

Kagome twisted the covers in her hands. "I'm the one who's sorry, Inuyasha. I led you on there. I wanted it. I wanted you. But we just can't. It's my fault."

Inuyasha sighed. "When you're better...we'll go home. Back to my time. Then maybe we can work something out."

"I won't promise you anything."

"I know." Inuyasha looked down at her, and wished decisions came easily to him. But Kikyo was still out there, and more importantly, Naraku. He couldn't just leave her like this. He didn't know what to do now. He wanted desperately to kiss her, at least; his lips still burned with the taste of hers. At times like this, Inuyasha wished he had Miroku's gift of gab. The thought of the slightly perverted monk gave him an idea. "Hey," he said, pointing to the electrocardiogram monitor, "this thing keeps track of your heartbeats, right?" Kagome nodded. "Good." With that, he kissed her, hard. Before either one of them lost control again, he pulled back and looked at the monitor. The beeps were much faster now. "Feh. I thought so." With that, Inuyasha turned and jumped out the window.

Kagome watched him leave, then watched the monitor as her heartbeat slowed to a normal rate. "He's been with Miroku too long," she thought aloud, then slammed her head back into the pillow, gritting her teeth against the pain. Already, Kagome wished she hadn't stopped the situation from developing, even though she knew it had been the right thing to do. Even without her broken ribs, it was still not the right time. She was too young, and Inuyasha's heart was not completely hers. Kagome stared at the ceiling. "Damn you, Kikyo," she whispered. "Damn you to hell."