After Inuyasha had left, Kagome had sat on the floor and just stared at the door. Kirara was now in her lap, purring softly, while the girl was stroking the fur on her head. Until now after a similar outburst from Inuyasha the first thing Kagome would think was 'Who's he to act like that when I'm just trying to help him?' Now she was thinking 'Something's definitely wrong with him.' But with Kaede gone she couldn't do anything and she couldn't follow him either. He must be miles away by now, besides it was dark outside and full of demons searching for a meal.
Kirara was more than worried for her friends. She didn't like it when they were fighting like that. But there was nothing she could do. The only way she thought she could help was to snuggle closer to Kagome and show her just how much she liked what the girl was doing to her. The cat demon's purring was the only thing that was making Kagome calmer, knowing that at least the small demon liked something about her.
Suddenly Kagome heard steps outside the hut – someone was coming. She stood up and moved at the back of the hut, hoping that whoever it was wasn't going to see her due to the darkness. The steps stopped right in front of the door. Kirara was growling lowly and Kagome whispered to her to be quiet.
"Kaede-sama?" a male's voice was heard and Kagome recognized the village's headman. "Is that you, Kaede-sama?"
"No, no..." Kagome said, hurrying to go to the door. She went outside and the man visibly relaxed seeing the girl. "It's me..."
"Oh, Kagome-sama, you're already back?" the man said and tried to look behind her to see if there was someone else in the hut.
"Yes." the girl nodded. "We finished the job pretty fast." she saw that the man was looking over her shoulder and continued. "I'm only with Kirara here. Inuyasha went to sleep in the forest and Miroku-sama and Sango-chan are coming back tomorrow."
"Is everything alright? Usually you don't separate." the headman said concerned.
"Everything's fine, don't worry." Kagome smiled at him. "Anyway, where is Kaede-baachan?"
"She went to the neighboring village to help a fellow miko with a small youkai problem." he explained. "She should be back in few days."
"Oh..." Kagome said thoughtfully – she didn't like the idea of Inuyasha in the condition he was in for so long.
"Are you alright, Kagome-sama?" the man asked seeing her expression. "Dou you need something?"
"No, I'm fine." the girl smiled. "Thanks for the concern. I'll be going to bed now. Good night."
"Good night, and feel free to call me if you need something." the headman said and they separated.
Kagome entered the hut and started the fire. She then went to her bag, which was in the back of the hut and unrolled her sleeping bag. She moved it closer to the fire and lied in it. Kirara immediately snuggled in the girl's arms and quickly drifted off to sleep. Kagome stayed awake for a while, hoping that Inuyasha would return – like the night before. But he didn't come back and sadly Kagome closed her eyes and was soon in dreamland.
Inuyasha ran through the forest cursing and growling and when he finally stopped he found himself in front of the God tree. Although he hadn't ran for a long distance he felt breathless and that enraged him even more. And when we add the pain in his hand he was already to kill anybody he saw in front of him.
"Stupid girl!" he yelled and sat heavily on the ground. "What's so difficult in fixing broken bones?" he asked himself and lifted his injured hand in front of his face. His fingers were hanging loosely and when he tried to move them pain shot through his whole arm. Deciding not to cause himself anymore pain and that they would heal in a day or two he dropped his hand in his lap and sighed.
'This time it wasn't my fault.' he thought about his fight with Kagome. 'She should've been more careful.' he sighed again, unconsciously knowing that he was at least a little guilty too. He decided he was too tired to think about that and started to get up. He intended to go back to the hut – after all he was worried about Kagome's safety. Then it hit him. 'That's right... Why am I so tired all of the sudden? And why the hell did I feel like a wet rag while we were traveling?'
Suddenly a familiar scent came to his nose, not allowing him to think about his condition anymore. "Kikyou..." he whispered and turned around and sniffed the air. She was near and was closing the God tree. A few seconds later a few soul snatchers flew across the clearing, followed by the dead Miko.
Seeing the hanyou she stopped and looked at him surprised. "Inuyasha, what are you doing here?" she asked and resumed walking toward him.
"Keh." he managed to say, coming out of his surprise. "That's my line."
"Cats don't fall on their backs, Inuyasha, not dogs." Kikyou said and he frowned not fully understanding what she meant. "Forget your pride at least once." she explained.
Inuyasha looked at her for a while before deciding to say something. "What am I without my pride?" he said that sad question more like as a statement. "That is if I still have one..."
Kikyou frowned at how down he was and walked even closer to him. "The Inuyasha I know doesn't talk like that." she said and reached with one hand to touch his cheek.
"Well, if you wanted to see the old Inuyasha, you should've come three days ago." he said and pulled away from her.
"Problems with Kagome?" the dead Miko asked and looked at the hanyou in expectation.
"Stupid girl." was Inuyasha's mumbled answer.
"What did you do now?" Kikyou asked with a bit of amusement in her voice, which made the hanyou look at her with shock.
"I didn't do anything!" he defended himself.
"What happened then?" Kikyou asked and moved to sit under the God tree.
Inuyasha followed her with his eyes before speaking. "Nothing." was all he said and looked at the ground.
"Inuyasha," the dead Miko sighed. "I know I'm the last person you would want to talk with about your relationship with Kagome, but make an effort. Please?"
The hanyou lifted his head and crossed his hands over his chest. He took a deep breath and decided that Kikyou had the right to know what was happening. "Well... She's been acting really strange lately. She doesn't look so concerned about me like she usually is, she talks stupid things like being tired of me and doesn't want to treat my wounds. She practically thinks that I'm an idiot and that I don't notice these things, but still comes up with stupid explanations that make things even worse..."
Kikyou listened to him carefully and smiled to herself. She already knew what was making Inuyasha act like that and she was sure that all his conclusions were wrong. So, she was going to make him understand his mistake and hopefully apologize to Kagome. "And when did that started? I mean the change in her behavior."
Being over excited and not really paying attention to what he was saying, which was what Kikyou was counting on, Inuyasha just said the first thing that came to his mind. "Right when I decided to tell her that I love her. I don't know if she had noticed something but she started..." suddenly he was aware of what he was speaking and most of all in front of whom he was doing that.
Kikyou saw the horror in his eyes when he cut himself short but didn't react in any way at all. Inuyasha swallowed hard and being still cross armed he gripped his arms almost piercing the fabric of his haori, despite the pain in his broken fingers. "Why did you stop, Inuyasha?" she asked calmly and he thought that his jaw was going to hit the ground if he opened it.
"I-I..." he started stammering and after a few seconds gave up talking and just started at Kikyou.
"What are you thinking, Inuyasha?" she asked and when she didn't receive an answer decided to continue. "Do you think that I'm angry? Or maybe sad? I'm not asking you if you care about what I think, because you obviously do." she waited for him to speak but he again remained silent, only his face calmed a little. "That's right, I'm not angry, I'm not sad. I'm actually kind of happy for you."
That last sentence caught Inuyasha off guard and he frowned. "What are you saying, Kikyou?" he asked and loosened his grip on his arms. "How can you be happy? I, myself, can't feel that way about my feelings toward Kagome..."
"And why is that so?" the dead Miko asked calmly.
"Because..." the hanyou started and dropped his hands to the sides. "Because it's not fare for you. It was my fault you suffered so much and died." he said and fisted his hands. "And I made a promise to myself to follow you to Hell after we defeat Naraku."
"Inuyasha," Kikyou sighed and stood up going to him. "I don't want you to come to Hell with me. I've realized that we weren't meant to be." he opened his mouth to protest but she silenced him with a finger on his lips. "I think about what happened different now. Before I met you I was already cursed that if I fall in love I would die. It wasn't your fault, and you didn't cause my death either. At that time our love just wasn't meant to be." she smiled when she was the sad look in his eyes and felt his need to refuse what she was saying.
"It is my fault." he insisted. "If you hadn't met me..."
"Then it would've been someone else." she interrupted him. "And I would've died again. I am glad that I fell in love with you, Inuyasha. And now I am happy that you love Kagome. That way you still love me, Kagome and my soul is one and the same."
Deep inside him Inuyasha knew that she was right and that was the reason he was willing to tell Kagome about his feelings. "But it's still not fare for you." he said and she smiled again.
"You never give up, do you?" she asked and he 'Feh'ed. "You see, that's the problem with you and Kagome." Inuyasha looked at her confused. "You are both too stubborn to make the first step. And Inuyasha I advise you to first look at how you act toward her and then judge her behavior."
"What if she doesn't feel the same way?" he asked sadly.
"Forget your pride and stubbornness and for once let her look inside your soul." Kikyou said and placed a hand on his cheek again. "Then you'll see her clearly too." Inuyasha sighed heavily and closed his eyes. Kikyou smiled at him and just when she was going to move away from him she noticed that his right hand was hanging somehow strangely. "What's with your hand?" she asked and carefully lifted it.
"I broke my fingers in a fight." he explained wincing as she carefully touched his fingers.
"So that's why your youki was so unstable..." Kikyou said and held his hand in hers, but she was wrong about the reason of the instability of his power.
Inuyasha watched her hands start to glow in pure pink light and he couldn't help but close his eyes. He felt warmth in his whole arm and soon this warm feeling spread through his whole body. The pain slowly went away and with it the feel of Kikyou's hands. When he finally opened his eyes she was gone. He looked around and sighed.
"Thank you." he said and started walking toward the village.
TBC