Stay Chapter 11: Lost Memory, an inuyasha fanfic

A/N: At last! I finally got the time to type another chapter! It was really devastating when my teachers gave us lots of homeworks. It's a good thing we have this cheering presentation at school so our load is lighter. Anyway, here's the chapter you've all been waiting to read… The mystery (sort of) of the necklace is now revealed. The reason why Naraku didn't do anything when the necklace was broken…

Disclaimer: Why oh why do I need to put this?!?! Fine! I'll say it! INUYASHA ISN'T MINE! Happy?

Chapter 11

Lost Memory

Kagome snapped her eyes open and muttered under her breath, "I forgot to get the shards!"

Grouchily, she stood up to go out to Inuyasha. She suddenly noticed that she was still wearing the same blue kimono she'd been wearing when she had attacked the village. "I better change already," thought Kagome as she went to her bag to get a new set of her usual green uniform. "This kimono will only make things harder to forget." Making sure that Miroku was deeply asleep she began to change her clothes and afterwards, she went out of the hut to get the Shikon shards from Inuyasha.

She stood in front of the tree where Inuyasha slept and glared at the hanyou, who had been sleeping peacefully.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted, not minding the tone of her voice. Apparently, she was still mad at him.

Inuyasha's ears twitched the moment he heard Kagome's furious voice.

"I'm dead," Inuyasha thought as he opened his eyes to look down into Kagome's angry gaze. "What do you want?" He asked with his usual manner of speaking—rough. He immediately noticed that she had returned to wearing her normal clothes. "Good, she has changed." Inuyasha's mind sighed in relief.

"Give me back the shards!" Kagome demanded, raising her hand to him to collect the shards.

Inuyasha jumped down from the branch he was currently perched and stood in front of Kagome. He looked at her with sharp eyes and said, "You're mad at me, right?"

Kagome's head began to boil again. "Why does he still have to ask that?!?!?!" Kagome thought, trying to control herself or she would be spitting fire at him any moment. "Want to eat dirt again?!" She snapped, giving him another glare—more terrible than the last one. She was really scary now. "Just give me the shards." She said, still holding her hand in front of him.

"She is mad," Inuyasha thought, backing away a little from her glare. It was like she could kill him just by glowering at him. He slowly took out the three Shikon shards inside his haori and placed them gently on her hand. "Fine!" He said, a little annoyed at the way things were going between him and Kagome. He nearly lost Kagome yet all he did to her when she had finally returned was make her mad. That was really annoying. A voice kept on whispering inside Inuyasha's head—probably his conscience. "It's your damn fault just apologize to her!" It said. "No way!" Inuyasha's mind answered back, trying to shut up the other voice inside his head.

"You could return to your sleep," said Kagome, as she turned around and walked back to the hut.

Inuyasha's heart and pride were currently having a debate—whether he should apologize or not. This time, his pride was defeated.

"Sorry," Inuyasha muttered in a low voice that was only a little louder than a whisper.

Kagome froze in her position, trying to figure out if she had heard him right. "Did Inuyasha just apologize to me?" She asked in her mind. She slowly turned around and looked at Inuyasha. "Huh?" She said to make sure she didn't just imagine it.

Inuyasha closed his eyes and clenched his fist, trying to control his rising temper. "She really loves to see me stooping down before her." Inuyasha thought to himself. "But maybe I should give in to her this time—even just this time." He thought. "I said I'm sorry." Inuyasha repeated, looking into Kagome's warm brown eyes.

Kagome's heart beat twice its normal rate; butterflies seemed to flutter inside her stomach. Inuyasha was actually apologizing to her—and that was one of the things he didn't do so often. She could have jumped so high in joy but she tried to hide her emotions. "You really mean that?" She asked.

"If you don't want to accept it, then don't. I'm not forcing you to believe me." Inuyasha told her, looking away from her.

"That means he really meant it…" thought Kagome as a small smile curled on her lips. "I believe you." She told him softly. "And…" Kagome paused, looking down on the ground.

Inuyasha looked back at Kagome, waiting for her to continue.

Kagome lifted her head again and met Inuyasha's eyes. "Even if you chose me just because I'm your shard detector, I'm still glad you chose me over Kikyou in some aspects." She said, the small smile still on her lips. "Even though I know you'll choose Kikyou if you will be asked to choose the one you love…" Kagome thought sadly. "Maybe I should just accept the truth that Inuyasha will never be able to love me like the way he loves Kikyou… I'll never be able to compete with Kikyou… Inuyasha is in love with her and will always be. I can't change that… But still I'll stay 'cause I want to see him… I want to be with him a little longer while I still can…while we are still searching for the shards." She looked down at the shards on her hand and held them tightly.

Silence grew between them. Inuyasha wasn't sure if he should talk to Kagome. If ever he would talk, what would he say?

"I'll be going back inside. We could leave later when the sun rises. Maybe you should sleep some more." Kagome said, breaking the silence between them. She turned her back to Inuyasha to go back to the hut.

Before Kagome could make her first step, Inuyasha quickly held her by the arm and said, "Kagome, wait."

Kagome stopped in her tracks and waited.

"You're not my shard detector." Inuyasha told her. "I never intended to say those words on purpose."

"I know you're just saying that to make me feel better." Kagome said, her smile had long vanished from her lips.

"I'm saying this because I want to, okay?" Inuyasha said.

"What do you want me to do?" asked Kagome.

"I want you to stop thinking that you're just my shard detector." Inuyasha replied with certainty. He really wanted Kagome to do that.

"Why?" Kagome wanted to get an honest answer from Inuyasha.

"Because it's not true." He answered her truthfully, releasing her arm.

She turned around to face Inuyasha; her face told Inuyasha she wanted a truthful answer. "Then, what am I to you?" Kagome asked him softly. She didn't know why she still asked that question even though she already knew the answer would only cause her heart nothing but pain. But she still wanted to hear his answer—she would hear it sooner or later anyway so she decided to hear it now.

If Inuyasha didn't have sensitive ears, he wouldn't be able to hear her words clearly. But he did have sensitive ears, so he heard her every word perfectly. But he wasn't prepared to answer this question yet; confusion was still present and he was still unable to figure out his true feelings for Kagome.

"Forgive me if I asked you such a stupid question," said Kagome, trying to laugh. "I'm very silly." She added.

"You're not just a replacement for Kikyou." Inuyasha said with pure sincerity. That was the only thing he was certain about. Kagome was not a substitute for Kikyou; they both have different places in his heart. The question was: who had the better place in his heart? He loved Kikyou but he chose to be with Kagome forever. Who was more valuable? "That's the only thing I'm sure of," said Inuyasha, looking into Kagome's eyes. "For now." He added.

Kagome's heart was suddenly lessened of its worries. She wasn't just a replacement; she loved the way Inuyasha told her those words. She smiled at him tenderly. It was a nice answer—almost relieving. At least, she didn't feel any pain and she knew that Inuyasha told her the truth—she could see it in his eyes. "Thank you, Inuyasha." Kagome said. "That's good enough for me. I promise I would stop thinking that I'm just your shard detector." She told him.

"At last, this conversation is finished!" Inuyasha said; his voice sounded relieved. "You go back inside the hut and have a little more rest before we go home later." Inuyasha said to Kagome, hiding the gladness he felt because their relationship was once again—normal.

"So we'll go back to Kaede-baachan's place later?" Kagome said, clarifying Inuyasha's statement a while ago.

"Yeah. You don't want to go there?" Inuyasha asked, looking confused. "You said we could return later."

Kagome shook her head. "Of course I want to go there." She said. "But can't we stay here a little bit longer until the villagers here have recovered?"

"I guess we could." Inuyasha answered, knowing that Kagome couldn't stop worrying until she knew that everything was back to normal in this village. Inuyasha could see it clearly in her eyes—the pain she was carrying because she had hurt so many people. Inuyasha suffered the same pain when he had transformed to his youkai form because he couldn't use the Tetsusaiga. He couldn't control his actions like Kagome and he had almost killed Kagome. "But Kagome still stayed with me; she did not mind the danger of being slashed by my claws. She stayed there to protect me and she still trusted me. And now that it's her turn to feel that pain, I'll also stay by her side and I'll protect her—this time, I really will."

"Thank you, Inuyasha." Kagome said, giving him a grateful smile. "I'll see you later in the morning." And she turned her back and went back to the hut. "I know you understand this pain very well, Inuyasha. Thank you." Kagome thought as she entered the hut.

Inuyasha jumped back to the branch where he used to rest and smiled contentedly to himself. "Apologizing does come in handy sometimes…" He muttered, before closing his eyes to return to sleep.

Inuyasha quickly opened his eyes and sniffed the air. He suddenly felt alarmed when he sensed that Kagome's scent around the village had been faint already. He rushed to the hut and looked around for Kagome but she wasn't there. The hut was still silent and the others were still sleeping at the far corner of the hut, oblivious of Kagome's disappearance. Inuyasha left the hut hurriedly and felt his heart beating very fast—he was awfully worried.

He sniffed the air again and found a faint trace of Kagome's scent. He followed the trace immediately, afraid that it might vanish soon. The scent led him inside the forest; he jumped swiftly from tree to tree with only Kagome in his mind.

"Where the hell did Kagome go? She wouldn't leave without telling me. That means…" Inuyasha stopped on a tree and tried to check the place for Naraku's disgusting smell. Not even a single trace of his scent was present. "But he could have used another barrier." Inuyasha thought. The worry in his heart increased terribly and he could also feel the fear of losing Kagome again inside his heart. He continued to follow the trace of Kagome's scent, hoping that he would find her safe and still whole.

The sun was beginning to rise in the east and the whole place began to light up. And then he heard it. A terrified scream. It was Kagome's voice—Inuyasha knew that voice perfectly well—and by the tone of her voice, she was certainly in danger.

He rushed to the source of Kagome's shriek as fast as his feet could carry him.

Meanwhile, Kagome was in the forest's clearing with her face looking quite terrified. She was currently backing away from a large bear youkai.

"Give me the Shikon shards." The bear youkai demanded, showing her its fangs as it spoke. It moved forward and extended its hand to reach the bottle of Shikon shards around Kagome's neck.

Kagome tripped in a rock and fell down to the ground, her eyes getting more and more afraid. "I said don't come near me!" Kagome yelled, raising her hand to the youkai. A white light was emitted from her hand, dissolving the whole arm of the youkai.

"You pesky girl!" The youkai grunted, gritting its teeth in agony. "I'll really kill you!" It raised its other hand and revealed its claws to rip Kagome apart.

Kagome didn't have any options anymore but to close her eyes and wait for her doom.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, immediately rushing in front of her to protect her. He drew Tetsusaiga out and transformed it, slashing continuously at the youkai and giving it its death. The youkai's body was shredded badly that there was no way it could return to life anymore even if it had regenerating power.

Inuyasha sighed in relief and sheathed Tetsusaiga. He turned to Kagome, who was still on the ground, staring at the once whole youkai that had tried to kill her.

"Are you all right?" Inuyasha asked, helping Kagome get up.

"Thank you for saving me." Kagome said appreciatively.

"Keh! You always get into danger when I leave you." Inuyasha said. "You shouldn't be running away like that without telling me." He told her. "If I haven't got here in time, you'd surely be dead meat when I see you!"

"You know me?" Kagome asked him, looking a little surprised.

"Eh?" Inuyasha looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean I know you?! Of course I do!"

"Then…" Kagome said, looking at Inuyasha's eyes earnestly. "Who am I?"

"What?!" That was all Inuyasha could say as he looked at Kagome. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't know who am I. I woke up inside a shed and I don't know why I was there so I walked away to look around. Then, I went to the forest and that youkai chased me telling me to give it the Shikon shards." She explained. "Say, do you know what Shikon shards are?"

"Don't you remember anything?" Inuyasha asked, unable to believe this was actually happening.

"Sorry... but I really can't remember anything." Kagome replied. "I don't even know my own name."

"Your name is Kagome." Inuyasha told her. "How did this happen? We need to get back to the village fast." Inuyasha thought, looking at Kagome worriedly.

"Kagome?" Kagome repeated. "It's a nice name." She said, smiling a little. "I hope I could remember something."

"Why don't we go back to the village? Maybe you'll remember something if you see your friends." Inuyasha said, feeling bad as he saw Kagome like that—without any memory.

Kagome looked hesitant to go back but she finally agreed to return to the village since she somehow felt at ease with the white-haired boy beside her.

Inuyasha walked silently, looking sideways at Kagome, who was walking beside him and looking around with awe in her face. "She looks like she has been here for the first time." Inuyasha thought.

They finally reached the village and they headed straight to the hut where the others stayed.

"Inuyasha! Kagome!" Shippou immediately stood up and leaped to Kagome's arms.

Kagome looked curiously at Shippou and said, "How cute!"

"So where have the two of you been?" Miroku asked Inuyasha but his interest suddenly went to Kagome because she was patting Shippou like he was a pet or something. "What's going on?" He asked, unable to understand Kagome's actions.

"Kagome's lost her memory." Inuyasha said gravely, clenching his fists tighter.

"What?!" The three exclaimed in unison.

"I don't know how it happened. I just saw her in the forest's clearing being attacked by a youkai. Then she asked me if I knew her." Inuyasha told them. "She doesn't even know what Shikon shards are." He added, looking at Kagome, who was still fascinated with Shippou.

Inuyasha grabbed Shippou from Kagome and said, "Kagome, he's not a toy, okay?" He settled down on the floor and folded his arms in front of him, looking really troubled with the current situation.

"Sorry," Kagome murmured, a little disappointed that Inuyasha took away the cute kitsune from her. She looked around and settled her eyes on Kirara, who was also staring at her with interest.

"Kawaii," Kagome said softly, approaching Kirara and sitting in front of her to get a closer look. "Is she yours?" She asked, looking at Sango with a friendly smile.

"Um, yeah." Sango said, managing to smile back. "Her name's Kirara."

"Can I touch her?" Kagome asked excitedly.

"S-sure." Sango said, looking at Kirara then back at Kagome.

Kirara purred lightly as Kagome stroked her lightly at the back.

"Kagome, don't you remember me anymore?" Shippou asked with sadness in his eyes. "I'm Shippou." He told her, hoping she could remember him somehow.

"Shippou-chan?" Kagome said. She held her head and closed her eyes to try and remember. "Sorry, I really can't remember anything." She said, looking downhearted.

"That's all right, Kagome-chan." Sango reassured her. "I'm sure you'll be able to remember something once in a while. Don't pressure yourself too much. My name is Sango and this is Miroku." She said, pointing to the worried monk beside her. She pointed to Inuyasha and said, "And this is—"

"Shit! He's here!" Inuyasha suddenly exclaimed. "Kagome, you stay here! Shippou, you stay with her!" Inuyasha immediately rushed out of the hut, followed by Miroku, Sango and Kirara.

Inuyasha quickly headed towards the forest and found Naraku hidden in his white baboon coat standing in the forest floor.

"You came." Naraku said to Inuyasha.

"You bastard!" Inuyasha snarled. "What did you do to Kagome this time?!"

Miroku and Sango, who were riding Kirara, arrived shortly. They swiftly dismounted from Kirara and prepared for the battle that was about to ensue.

"So, she really lost her memory huh?" Naraku said, smirking at Inuyasha. "That's the result she gets for breaking the restraining necklace I placed on her."

Inuyasha looked confused with Naraku's words. "Restraining necklace?" He said. Then he remembered the necklace with the round purple pendant that Kagome had worn around her neck. That was the very necklace Kagome had told him to destroy. If he hadn't broken that necklace, what could have happened then?

"That necklace contains her miko powers so she will stop fighting me. But she's really annoying to disobey my orders. I told her that it was better to wear that necklace instead of trying to break it. That necklace was bound with much power and being able to conquer that much power has a terrible consequence. She will lose her memory and who knows... it could be forever. She's not much of a trouble to me now. Her miko powers had gone weak again. Such a pity for her," said Naraku, turning to look at the person approaching them.

"Look at her. How pathetic!" Naraku said, looking at Kagome, who was hurrying towards them followed by Shippou.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted.

"You idiot! Why did you come here?! I told you to stay there!" Inuyasha shouted back.

Naraku jumped in front of Kagome and looked at her in the eyes. "I told you it's better to have that necklace than break it," said Naraku.

A sudden jolt of electricity seemed to creep into Kagome's body as she stared at Naraku. "Who are you?" She asked.

"Don't come near Kagome!!!" Inuyasha barked, swinging Tetsusaiga at Naraku.

Naraku's baboon coat was immediately shredded into little pieces only to reveal that it wasn't the real Naraku but another imitation.

"Damn it! Another puppet!" Inuyasha cursed, returning his sword into its scabbard.

Miroku and Sango immediately pulled Shippou and said to Inuyasha, "We'll go back to the village to cook some food, okay? See you later!"

Inuyasha looked at Kagome and felt guilt build in his heart. "If it weren't for me, Kagome shouldn't be suffering this much." He thought painfully.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha and asked, "Do you know that person? It seems that he knows me… Do I know him too?"

Inuyasha's heart crumbled as he looked into Kagome's eyes. "Kagome, that person was the reason why you lost your memory." He told her. "Naraku." Inuyasha said the name with pure hatred.

"I don't like the feeling I feel when he's near me," said Kagome, looking slightly afraid. "I don't know why but I feel terrified when he's near me."

"Don't worry, I won't let him near you again." Inuyasha said, pulling Kagome protectively into his arms and breathing her sweet scent. She still smelled the same way; he loved the way she smelled. It always assured him that everything was fine. "I'm sorry Kagome." He said, hugging her tighter. Then a sudden scene came back into Inuyasha's mind.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted.

Kagome shouted his name a while ago! He hadn't told her his name yet but still she knew it! She still remembered something!

"It's all right…" Kagome said, not knowing how to react to such action. Then she suddenly spoke the name that never left her mind. "Inuyasha." She said softly.

"Kagome, you remembered my name!" Inuyasha told her, pulling away from her gently to look into her eyes.

"You mean your name is Inuyasha?" Kagome said, looking shocked at Inuyasha. She paused for a while and remembered the other instance she shouted his name—Inuyasha.

Inuyasha nodded. "How come you still remember my name even though you have lost your memory?" Inuyasha asked her.

"I don't know… It's the only word I can't seem to get out of my mind. I thought it was something special since it doesn't seem to go away. I always thought about that name." Kagome told him. She looked into his golden yellow eyes and said, "Inuyasha, what are you to me before I lost my memory?"

Inuyasha was slightly taken aback by Kagome's question. Just a while ago, Kagome had asked him what she was to him. Inuyasha had a hard time answering that question. But this was a harder question. What would he answer to her this time? What was he really to Kagome?

A/N: Sorry!!!!!!!!! I know it really took me so damn long! Forgive me! By the way, what do you think will Inuyasha say? Will he take advantage of Kagome's amnesia and tell her that he is her boyfriend or something? Or will he tell the truth. Say, what is the truth? Anyway, whatever he will tell Kagome, it still depends on me. And if it depends on me, you'll only read it if you'll leave a review. So please review before you go… Thanks! Leave plenty of reviews for me okay?

Another thing, if you still haven't read my other fanfic about Inuyasha and Kagome please read it! It's just a one-shot sweet talk between Kagome and Inuyasha. If you liked it, please review and if you really really liked it, maybe you can encourage me to write another like that… Hmmmm…. So I guess you should read it okay? Just go to my profile to get the link owkei? Thank you!