Disclaimer: I dont own Inu-Yasha.
Author's Note: Ok, so this is the second half. It's going to be ALOT longer, so......enjoy! Now I'd like to thank all the people who Reviewed.
Fantasy of Wonder
xSilverSahdowsx
Draechaeli
JuJubes
NordicaVB
Inuyasha-cub
Motoko 'n' Zan 4 ever
anna-7
Carol
inu-chans girl
Danno123
ShenjiDemon
On with the fic!
She stared at him, and he stared back. She really, truly, didn't want to do what she thought she had to.
They stared intently into eachother's eyes. It was as if a wall had been placed before Kagome's chocolate brown ones.
Inu-Yasha didn't move at all, he didn't even breath. He didn't want to do anything that would alarm the beautiful creature standing there in front of him. It surprised him that Kagome spoke first, and in a calm voice too. But he could feel the sadness radiating off of her.
"I'm done." she said, never breaking eye contact.
That made Inu-Yasha blink, "What do you mean?"
With the contact broken, Kagome looked down. Still looking down, Kagome slowly approached him. Reaching him, she looked up, but not at his face. Instead, she was looking at his necklass.
Inu-Yasha flinched as she reached forward. She felt so cold, he didn't like it.
"Kagome?" he said, as she grasped onto the beads, "What are you doing?"
"I....." Kagome began, but stopped and shook her head.
Again she looked up with tears streaking down her face. Standing on her tiptoes, she managed a kiss to the hanyou's cheek.
"Be free." whispered in his ear as she ripped the necklass from his neck.
The necklass dropped to the ground. And Kagome ran.
-/-/-/-
With tears blurring her vision, Kagome couldn't see where she was going. She would occasionally bumb into things, get caught on a branch, or trip and fall, scraping her hands and knees. But it didn't stop her.
She had to get away. Leave the life she had come to love so much. Just leave it behind.
She didn't belong anymore. Her task was done, and once she was down that well, back in her own time, the way back would close up forever. It would just be another item on her family's land. No, no it wouldn't. It would always remind her of them, her other family.
Was it be better to remember? Or to forget?
Kagome kept running. She could taste the blood in her mouth, from falling so many times.
She could see it. The Bone Eater's Well. It was in sight. She was actually leaving. Leaving. All the pain, the anger, the anguish-the joy, the happiness, the love. All that, would be left behind here.
With that in mind, she put on a burst of speed.......and smacked right into a red, solid, object.
Kagome fell backwards onto her butt from the momentum.
"What are you doing?" barked a voice from above her.
"Huh?" Kagome sniffed, looking up.
Inu-Yasha was staring down at her. Fists both clenched at his sides, the prayer beads in one.
"I said, what the hell do you think you're doing?" he yelled again.
Kagome stood, but said nothing. She couldn't face him. Not now, not ever. Not when what should have happened, was going to. Kagome could hear him growling.
"Answer me!" he yelled at her.
Kagome looked up, still not able to stop crying and yelled back, "I'm leaving!"
"Why?" he growled.
"Because I don't belong." she hissed.
"What are you talking about?" Inu-Yasha softened, walking towards her.
He began to wrap his arms around her, but Kagome pushed him back, "No! I don't belong!" she yelled, more tears coming.
'Why won't you just let me leave?' she pleaded in her head.
"Kagome, you belong, and you know it! They still need you," he yelled, motioning in the direction of Go-Shinboku, "Hell, I need you!"
"No, you don't." Kagome whispered, "You just think you do."
"You said you'd never leave me!" Inu-Yasha's voice cracked desperatly. 'Anything to make her stay.'
Kagome looked him straight in the eye, raw emotion clearly showing, "Inu-Yasha.....you love Kikyou. I took off your prayer beads. You're not bound to me anymore. Go and use the jewel! Be human! Be with Kikyou! You two.......you belong together. But I'm done now. My task, the one I needed to do.......its done." she stopped.
"Kagome..." Inu-Yasha looked at her with downcast eyes, "You.....you're task....what did you feel it was?"
Kagome smiled bitterly, "I had to come back, back here to the Feudal Era. I to be here to set you free. I had to be here to shatter the jewel. I had to be here to revive Kikyou. Then, you would know to defeat Naraku, and then.......then you and Kikyou could be happy."
"But what about you?" Inu-Yasha whispered, shaking his head.
"Don't you get it?" Kagome yelled, "I'm done! I have to go back now! Live my life normally! Without any of this! Now let me go!"
"Kagome, I-" Inu-Yasha began.
"No! Let me go back! I need to live my life!" she basically screamed.
Obviously, this was torturing her. Inu-Yasha now understood why she was doing it but......would she be happy? Would she regret it? Would she become bitter and lonely as Kikyou had once been?
Quickly striding over to her, Inu-Yasha succeeded in wrapping his arms around her.
"Thank you." he whispered.
He felt Kagome slow her breathing, and nod her head.
Letting go, he stepped behind her. But before she went down the well, Kagome nudged him in the direction of the Go-Shinboku, "Be happy."
-/-/-/-
He slowly walked back alone.
He'd lost her. Kagome was gone. As much as it pained him to have let her go, she was right. He only thought he needed her. He really was in love with Kikyou. Only Kikyou.
Inu-Yasha had come to depend on her never ending smile. The way she spoke to him, the way she smelled. But mostly, he had come to depend on the fact that she would never leave him, that she would always be there.
'Keh, what a lie.'
He looked up, and saw Kikyou's back turned to him, facing the God Tree. Miroku and Sango had left with Shippo.
It was just them now, standing in the clearing.
She turned around, and looked straight at him, holding the jewel in the palm of her hand.
"She's gone." Kikyou whispered.
Inu-Yasha merely nodded his head.
Kikyou cocked her head to the side, and surveyed Inu-Yasha.
"Did you," she paused, still looking at him, "Love her?"
The question hang in the air.
Had he? Had he loved Kagome? He tossed the question into his mind, turning it over and over, trying to get inside the question. Did he love Kagome?
No.
It had been a need. A need for love, a love that wasn't real. A need to fill the empty space so many people had carved. A need to find someone, anyone. Just a need. Just.....a need.
"No, Kikyou," he whispered, shaking his head, "I only love you."
Kikyou smiled, and held the jewel out towards him.
Inu-Yasha walked forwards and took her hand in his own, pulled it to his chest and kissed her passionatly.
Tears began to fall down the side of his face. How long had he waited? How long had he waited for this moment? The moment where he and Kikyou could love, and not be condemned? To feel her lips against his? To feel her touch? To be together again? To feel complete?
"Kikyou..." he breathed, breaking the kiss.
His eyes were closed and he rested his forehead on hers.
Still holding her hand to his heart, Inu-Yasha whispered, "I wish I were human."
A flash of light engulfed them both. He felt the transformation. It was quick like during the new moon, but not entirly the same. He felt a part of him drain, and then quickly fill. A pressure built in his head, a voice screaming not to be banished.....his youkai self.
It stopped, and he was staring into his lover's face.
"It's over." Kikyou smiled, looking relieved.
She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest.
Clutching onto eachother, everything around them, disapeared.
-/-/-/-
Kagome dropped onto her bed, still not able to stop crying.
It hurt so much. It felt as though someone had ripped her heart out. There was no reason to live anymore. She just couldn't go on.
Kagome curled herself into a fetal position and clutched her head. She would stay and bed, and not do anything. Just lay there until she rot.
A mental image of herself looking gaunt, thin and pale flashed through her mind.
"No!" she cried, covering her eyes and shaking her head, "No...just make it go away." she moaned, "Just go away....."
Still, flashes of Inu-Yasha stayed. She squeezed her eyes shut, but they wouldn't go away.
She looked over to her desk, and saw her stereo with headphones. An idea sprang into her mind.
"Help me take it away." she whispered, as she walked up to it.
She looked down at her CD's. She knocked the rest over, trying to get to the bottom, where she had left the seldom used rock CD she had gotten from an american friend.
Sliding it in, Kagome pumped up the volume and hit play.
'Just go away.' she thought. Maybe she would find escape.......
The hard hitting notes began, and Kagome found that they brought her comfort.
The slamming of the drums, reverberrating around her skull, the high strung notes from the guitar, sending her soaring. She road it, trying to numb the scream in her head. Letting the beat smash out any thought that may have been left of her time in Feudal Era. But it wasn't enough, she needed it louder, to stop the ache. She put it on full, the sound vibrating through her. 'Go away!' she screamed in her head, forcing everything out of her mind, 'Just leave me the hell alone!'
She was moving around her room, moving her body in time with the music, faster and faster, throwing herself head on into the wall of sound. She throbbed like the guitar string, beat like the drums, and screamed like the cymbols.
Then the music stopped.
Her mother had taken the headphones off her ears.
A strange ringing lingered in her head. Everything was distorted and blurry. She couldn't focus on one thing.
"Kagome?" her mother said worriedly, "Kagome are you alright? It's me, mama."
"Mama?" she blinked, tears pricking the side of her eyes.
Exhaustion was clouding one side of her mind, while the other was craving for the mental wall to smash it to peices.
She felt disconnected, as though she were looking into one girls pitiful life.
Kagome then realized, her mother was holding her and, was now rocking her back forth. She felt seven years old again. Her mother would always rock her when she had a problem....she would do it........until Kagome......fell.....asleep....
-/-/-/-
The sunlight hit her face as she rolled over.
Her eyes opened immediatly. Looking over to her clock, Kagome saw she only had 20 minutes to get ready and get to school.
She jumped up and began to run around her room. Gathering her clothes and her books, accidently knocking something off her drawer. She bent down to pick it up, but jumped away when she realized what it was.
The container with the shikon shards-no, the container that used to have the shikon shards. It was nothing but a container now.
Bile rose into her throat, then faded.
Kicking it under her desk, Kagome continued to get ready.
-/-/-/-
"Kagome-chan!" Her friends all called to her.
"You're back!" Yuka smiled.
"Are you ok?" Ayumi asked.
"How long are you staying?" Eri said, poking her in ribs.
"Yes, I'm back. I guess I'm ok, and I'm staying for good." Kagome answered as she walked up to the school doors.
"Sugoi!" Ayumi squealed, "You're cured!" and she broke off into a fit of giggles.
"Yeah...cured." Kagome managed a weak smile.
Kagome opened the doors, and walked to her classroom without her friends. She sat down in her desk and sighed. 'My normal life.' she thought to herself, drained of all energy.
"Oi, Higurashi!" a very cheerful voice called to her.
In a second, Akitoki Hojo, was standing next to her desk.
"Are you feeling better?" he asked, smiling at her.
"Yes, Hojo-kun, I am. As a matter of fact, I'm cured!" she exclaimed, forcing a smile.
"Oh, that's good." then he stopped, looking sad, "But now you're so behind in class."
"Yes, she is! She needs a tutor! And don't I know the perfect one!" Yuka strode in, wiggling her eyebrows at Kagome.
"Uh-" Hojo looked at her, "Who?"
Eri sighed, "You!"
"Me?!" Hojo cried, "But I'm not that good!"
"Yes, we know that, now please take a seat Mr Akitoki." the teacher said.
"Ah...hai, hai." Hojo stuttered, turning to face the teacher, "Sumimasen, Sensei." he bowed, then sat down turning beet red.
"Miss Higurashi, " the teacher now turned to her ,"I've already phoned your mother, and she is aware of your grades. She and I both agreed that you will need a tutor. Understand?"
Kagome nodded her head, but she had not been listening. Who care'd if she failed? It wouldn't bother her in the least! They would end up kicking her out of school. Anyways, Inu-Yasha would be happy if she dropped-
Holding her stomach, Kagome stood up and ran from the room.
-/-/-/-
She was in gym class now, watching the volleyball go from hand to hand, fist to fist, until finally someone set it for her.
"Kagome!" Kimiko shouted, setting it for the spike.
"Hai!" Kagome yelled back.
She jumped, and her hand connected with the material from the ball. She slammed it down, something else coming from her as she hit it.
She landed, and the girls were staring at her, then at the ball.
Kagome too, looked at the ball she had just assaulted.
Which was still falling down.
Apparently, she had hit it so hard, it had bounced off the ground, and then went flying in the opposite direction.
The whistle blew, and her gym teacher came running over to her.
"That's a powerful arm you have there, Higurashi!" her teacher exclaimed, "You should try out for the team!"
Kagome looked around, not knowing whether the teacher was talking ot her, or mis-directing her attention.
"Me?" Kagome asked dumbly.
"Yes, you! I want to see you here tomorrow morning!"
"Ok." Kagome answered a little uneasy.
-/-/-/-
It had been a month since....she had left. Kagome was trying to peice her life back together. Although many times she had tried going down the well again, she knew it was useless. She was part of the volleyball team now. Somehow, slamming the ball always made her feel better. Her mother had taken away her CDs, afraid that what had happened, would happen again.
She sitting in the bleachers with her friends, eating lunch.
"Kagome-chan, I hear you're getting your tutor today." Ayumi informed everyone.
"Yeah, I heard he was going to your house." Eri said.
"What if they get that really smart guy from 10-B? You know, student 24-?"
Kagome stopped listening. She tended to do this alot now. Just shut her brain off, and not think about anything. Sometimes, she would just sit there in class, totally blank. But somehow, she managed to get the work. Of course, she was still failing, but not as much.
She just didn't have the same strength she used to have. Her smile rarely grazed her face, and when she got home, she went straight to her room. Avoided all contact with any other human being. The only time she would talk was at school.
She didn't want to remember Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Inu-Yasha or....anyone! The thought of them, sent Kagome running to the washroom. Once in there, she began to be violantly ill. No one mentioned them.
Noone.
"Kagome-chan? Kagooome-chan!!!!" a hand waved in her face.
Quickly, Kagome flashed back to the present.
"Did you even hear a word of what we said?" Eri asked, a little worried about her friend.
"Hai, I did Eri-chan," Kagome answered in a melancholy tone, "Sensei already told me it was going to be someone from 10-E, not B. And no, I don't know when he'll be coming over...." 'And frankly, I don't care.'
She sighed and rested her head in her hands, watching the boys play soccer.
"Hey look! It's Inu-Yasha!" Ayumi shouted.
Kagome straightened up.
"What did you just say?" she looked at Ayumi's smiling face.
Ayumi had been looking past her, but quickly turned her attention to Kagome, "What?"
Kagome stood up and went right up to her, "What did you just say?!"
Ayumi's smile quickly faded.
"Kagome-chan," Yuka whispered hurriedly, "Sit down, you're scaring Ayumi-chan."
Kagome tunred her death glare on Yuka, "What did she just say?" she hissed not sitting down.
Eri patted her shoulder, "Are you ok?"
"Just tell me what she said!" Kagome screamed.
Everyone around them stopped.
The silence was heavy, and Kagome could feel the acid begin to churn in her stomach.
"Hey look, it's Hojo-kun." Ayumi quietly whispered.
"Hojo?" Kagome whispered her eyes widening, "You said...Hojo?" she slowly sat down.
"You-you said Hojo?" she smiled, and a small laugh escaped her, "Hojo.....not...."
Quickly, Kagome ran off the bleachers, and to the nearest garbage can.
-/-/-/-
"Kagome?" her mother said softly, knocking at her door.
She stared up at her ceiling, not having heard her.
"Kagome honey, are you awake?" her mother continued to knock at her door.
Going back into her head, Kagome merely glanced at the door.
"Yes, mama." she barely whispered.
"Supper is almost ready, and that-" she blanked out yet again.
More useless information. It was just things Kagome didn't need, or didn't want to hear. She didn't see the point. So her mother left.
Rolling over onto her side, she looked at her homework. It lay open, unfinished, mocking her.
Before, she would have tried anything to finish it on time. Kagome didn't like the idea of her grades slipping. Even when she was with.....them, she would always try and finish. Things weren't as lively as they used to be. If she could only redo things. Go back to her 15th birthday. If she had only called to her cat, if she had only waited, if she had only..........
But didn't matter. What was done, was done.
"....ready now." Her mothers voice came drifting into her mind.
She was standing in her doorway.
"What?" she whispered, lifting her head.
"Supper's ready now." her mother repeated, looking at her daughter with sad eyes.
"Ok," Kagome nodded, sitting up, "I'm coming."
Mrs. Higurashi left the room, closing the door behind her.
Kagome stood up, and was about to leave the room, when she looked up, and saw the open text. '....good will come to those who are selfless.'
She pained smile brushed her lips.
"Bull," she whispered, grabbing the edge of the book, "Bull." and closed it.
-/-/-/-
Kagome sat at the table, not lifting her eyes from her bowl. Every bite wasted energy, energy she didn't use anymore. Everything dropped into her stomach, but never settled. It churned and clenched as she stared at her plate. Her appetite had gone as soon as her mother told her what she was to do after they ate.
Clean up, do the dishes, and help her to clean the house for company.
Great, someone else who would no longer recognize her.
She didn't want company, she didn't want anything....except.......
"Kagome? Are you done?" her mother asked her gently.
"Just take the bowl away! Does it look like she wants to eat?" her Grandfather shouted.
Kagome jumped but said nothing, and watched as her mother took her bowl away.
Her grandfather seemed a little on edge about everything these days. Everything had to be done a certain way, or he went inot a fit about: 'Nothing is ever done right in this house!' and it always came down to that Kagome had left behind her friends in the Feudal Era. It's not that he wanted to be mean....it sort of just slipped out. Plus, he had finally realized that all the spiritual power had been passed down to Kagome.
"...Kagome honey, please?" her mother asked pleadingly.
Kagome slowly turned her head and looked at her. She had said somthing about....cleaning, cleaning the house....a guest....she had to help.
"Hai, mama," Kagome nodded her head, although she didn't want people coming to look at her, "I'll help."
It went by like a blur. She didn't even have time to concentrate on what she was doing. Thinking about it now, the only thing that came back to her, was the smell of clean.
She was heading upstairs, as her mother called to her.
"Bring down your school books, Kagome!"
Without another word, Kagome went up to her room, and brought them down.
As she set them on the table, her mother placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Kagome, your teacher phoned me today, to tell me that your marks aren't improving by very much. So they asked if they could get you a tutor. He will be coming in just a few minutes."
She didn't know why, or how it happened, but Kagome snapped.
"You're letting someone else in this house?" Kagome whispered with an icy tone, picking up her books.
"I'm letting a tutor in here to help you with your grades." her mother tried to calm her down.
"Another person? Another watcher? Someone else who can stare at me?" Kagome's voice began to rise.
"Kagome," her mother said sternly, "You're failing in class, and if you want to get anywhere, you'll see that tutor!"
"But I don't want anyone to be here! I don't want someone to stare!" Kagome shouted.
"Kagome, you never used to be like this. Not since you came back from the Feudal Era." Mrs. Higurashi cried.
"No!" Kagome suddenly shouted, dropping the book in her hand and covering her ears, "Don't say that!"
"You have to face it, Kagome, you gave him up."
"Shut up, shut up, shut up..." Kagome franticaly whispered.
"Listen to me," her mother reached out for her, but Kagome shrank away, "I know it hurts that you gave him up to Kikyou, but-."
"Leave me alone!" Kagome screamed, and began to run to her room.
Tripping over one of Sota's toys, Kagome went sprawling to the ground.
"I don't.....want...." Kagome cried, "Just...leave me...." her shoulders shook as she stayed sitting on the floor, "I didn't......I-I loved....."
"Kago-!"
"Don't!" Kagome screamed before her mother could go on, then quieter, "Just don't."
Feeling drained and defeated, like the time underneath the Go-Shinboku, she began to get up. No, there was no time under the Go-Shinboku. It was only a dumb tree on her land. Just another dumb artifact.
She furiously wiped her tears away.
The doorbell rang. 'No,' Kagome thought dreadfully, 'The kid.' She didn't want a tudor! She didn't need to be better in school. What she needed was to be comfortably numb.
"Please answer the door, Kagome." her mother said crisply.
"Why?" Kagome snapped, turning to face her.
"Because you're right there."
Not finding a reason to just run up the stairs, and be rude, Kagome yanked open the door.
"What do you want?" Kagome screamed at the person standing in the doorway.
Shock ran through her, ice and fire coursed through her veins. Her heart couldn't stop beating. She blinked, as tears stung the corner of her eyes. Her throat had gone dry. Her stomach had been filled with lead.
"I-Inu-Yasha?" she whispered so quietly, she wasn't sure she had said anything at all.
The boy in the doorway stared at her, looking scared.
"Yes...." he shifted his eyes, "Is this the Higurashi house?"
It was him. Inu-Yasha. Her Inu-Yasha.
The only difference was, his hair was black, and his eyes were no longer gold. Instead, they were a deep purple with shards of gold.
"Hello?" Inu-Yasha said, shifting his weight from foot to foot.
Kagome merely nodded and moved out of his way. Closing the door, she lead him to the living room. Her mother was no longer there.
"Uhh..." Inu-Yasha said, once they were sitting down, "I-I......have a feeling I know you."
"......" Kagome was speechless, but nodded.
"Are you ok?" Inu-Yasha asked her.
Again, she merely nodded.
She stared straight into his eyes, and he into hers. The words escaped her mouth before she knew it.
"Would you like some ramen?"
His eyes lit up, and if he had still had his ears, they would have twitched, "Keh, of course!"
There was no mistaking it now. It was Inu-Yasha.
She quickly ran into the kitchen, and began to prepare his most loved ramen. Of course, she knew that this wasn't the same Inu-Yasha. It was his reincarnation, just as she was Kikyou's. They looked the same, but they would be different. But maybe....just maybe-
The kettle's whistle broke thriugh her thoughts.
As she set the bowl before Inu-Yasha, he looked up at her, "So what are you having trouble with?" he quirked his eyebrow.
Sighing, Kagome sat down and smiled for the first time in a long time.
"Everything. But I'm hoping you can fix that."
END
Ok, I know the ending was a little rushed, but you like it, ne?!! -silence- ......Anyways, that's how I pictured the ending should be like. And of course, everyone knows Kagome wasn't just talking about school in the last line ;) If there are mistakes in the spelling, sorry, I didn't correct it all!! Well, that's it. I'll leave you now!! Sayonara!