Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha, but maybe I'll get him for Christmas!

A/N: Okay, I'm hoping to get this chapter out sooner, so I don't lose my readers. Besides, I'm out for three weeks for Christmas break, so I should have more than enough time to get finish a measely chapter. You can bet multiple updates are up for this month! All out of the spirit of the holidays, no matter how much I may dislike them.

What can go wrong will,

So my life is crumbling.

Memories are going in for the kill,

And I can't quit stumbling..

Kagome blinked, tilting her head slightly. 'Did he just say -his-..?'

"Hai... The Tetsusaiga..." She slowly nodded as she talked, watching his expression intently. It seemed guarded.

"It's mine, isn't it? I can almost feel it pulsating beneath my fingers, as if it's trying to tell me it is." He finally took his eyes from the sword and met her gaze. "Kagome.. I want you to tell me everything."

"Wh-what do you mean?" She squeaked, flinching slightly as if he had lashed out at her. Agent Smith could see that the truth was hidden just under the surface. She would tell him.. He would get the answers and find out what the hell was happening to him.

"You know damn well what I mean." He stood, and she followed suit, only to get pushed back into her desk chair. He towered over her, though couldn't bring himself to look as menacing as he would when grilling a criminal. Hell, he knew he had a soft look in his eyes, even though he was trying to look hardened to get the story from her. Crossing his arms over his chest, he ignored her protests of "What are you doing?!" and locked gazes with her.

"Start from the beginning. Why are you a whore now?"

Kagome looked offended and glared up at him. "How dare you say that! I'm just a stripper, not some prostitute!"

Agent Smith rolled his eyes, propping a thigh against her desk. "Whatever. Why did you take that job?"

"What business is it of yours?" She retorted, narrowing her eyes. He could see he pissed her off, yes. But he'd be damned if he backed down now.

"First off, my case revolves around a gang of rapists.. And that gang attacked you. That gives me the right to question you. Next, there's something up with that Inu Yasha guy.. Some connection between us. I deserve to know what it is. Kagome, tell me." He commanded, though a pleading tone was covered in the hardened one.

Kagome sighed, bowing her head and staring at the house slippers on her feet. 'How many times do I have to tell this story?!' A wave of depression rocked her, unshed tears beginning to shimmer in her eyes. Agent Smith looked taken back, surprised by how fast she could go from angry to depressed.

"I took the job to forget someone. It hurt so much, and I wanted to forget so badly.. So, I took the job in hopes to forget.." Agent Smith sat down in front of her, a hand on her knee comfortingly, as he strained to hear her. She was whispering, her voice shaken.

"Who?" He inquired, though he knew the answer. He just wanted to hear her admit it.

Kagome's gaze rose from her feet to meet his violet orbs. "Inu Yasha. I wanted to forget.. Inu Yasha.." She fought back tears she knew would come, hoping that her voice would remain steady. Staring into the face of the man she loved, yet knowing that it was really not him, only reminded her of the painful part of the past. And the fact that Inu Yasha was only a badge away.. Well, that only twisted the dagger in her heart. She couldn't always be with him... Even if Agent Smith gained back his memories, he'd only be just that: a different man with the same face that held her fuedal love's memories. He'd never be the same.. Kagome could never have a life with Inu Yasha..

A tear fell and splattered on Agent Smith's hand.

"I don't want to forget him!" She cried out suddenly, jumping up from the seat. "No! It can never be the same, nothing ever will! It was stupid, Inu Yasha! You hear me? It was a stupid wish! You should have never given up your time for mine if you can't even be yourself!" Her voice cracked, and she knew Agent Smith probably thought she was near hysteria.

He stood and grabbed her by the shoulders, though she struggled against him. "Kagome! What happened to Inu Yasha? What happened to do this to you?"

"He and my friends wished to come to this time.. So, they did." She ceased her struggling to look him directly in the eye. "As agents." His eyes went huge, and she took the oppurtunity to wrench out of his grasp and sprint from the room. Her family was probably out back, praying to the Goshinboku to help their daughter get over the hanyou that had protected her for years, only to leave her in this state, but she did not care. She ran straight out the front door, barely able to get her shoes on in her haste, and bolted down the shrine steps. She heard the door open again and knew that Agent Smith had followed, causing her to hold back a frustrated scream. She wanted to get away from him.. As she reached the last step, she chanced a look over her shoulder to see him approaching the top one.

"Stop! Just leave me alone!" she cried, holding out a hand as if to ward him off. Her voice was choked with emotion, and he could see that he had torn down a barrier for a moment. She needed time to put it back up.. That's what she was trying to do by running, and he knew it. Agent Smith paused, his eyes going soft, though he had so many more questions. 'Follow her and demand to know what she meant while she's vulnerable!' cried one part of his mind. The other argued back, in a voice with a hint of a growl, 'No, you fool! Don't hurt my Kagome anymore.. She's in enough pain as it is..'

...My Kagome?

The voice belonged to none other than Inu Yasha, though Agent Smith was not aware of this fact. He only took it as a sign that he really wanted to leave her be on the inside.

So, he watched her hurry down the street, running blindly for a few short moments, before he took off after her. 'Hey, I gave her a headstart..' He tried to justify his actions with himself, only to meet silence. 'Damn straight, you better not argue... And now, I'm mentally talking to myself. Good job, Smith.'

Kagome continued to run, her head bowed, though she managed to avoid the innocent bystanders in her sprint. It was then, that she noticed she was still being followed. He was only doing so at a distance. Part of her burned with how insensitive he was being by not respecting her need to be alone, but another very female part of her felt comforted by knowing that he was still around when she felt so alone and broken inside.

Then, the other part reminded that part that he was only following her to ask more questions that she didn't want to answer aloud.

The very female part then joined the other in burning, rage overtaking the emotional pain.

Kagome haulted in mid-stride, finding herself in a mostly-deserted park.. The one where she and Inu Yasha had set up her brother, Souta, with a girl from his class. She looked to the bushes, reliving the moment when they both looked at each other and blushed. Her head bowed again as she waited for Agent Smith to step into the clearing.

"Kagome.." He paused, coming to a stop several feet away from her. She made no move to acknowledge him for a moment, just staring at the ground. Her tears had dried and the barrier was back up, enforced better than before.

"You followed me to ask, so ask. Ask about what I meant, when you know the answer yourself. Ask about how I take off my clothes for cash to try to forget. Ask about the circles under my eyes, the paleness of my skin, and my lack of apetetite." She took a few steps closer, her eyes narrowed. She looked very much like the woman she despised right now. And she was a shell, just like her incarnation.. "Ask why I cry, or why I seem like a raving lunatic! Ask why I cling to these rosary beads like a life-line, or why I call you Inu Yasha at times. Ask!"

"Kagome.." Agent Smith took a step back, his expression pained. Following her had been a bad idea..

'Great job, dumbass.. I warned ya.'

'Oh, up yours..'

Kagome stepped closer to him, a sob choking her throat, even though her eyes were dry. She stopped as her shoes brushed against his, reaching out and grabbing a fistful of his shirt to pull him closer to her. "Ask me what it feels like to see yourself from a past life brought back to the world of the living with a piece of your soul, the hatred for the man you love that she once possessed, and then watch her steal away the love.. Only to have him not be stolen at all, but to only take it the wrong way, and leave forever.. Leave it all behind for a life as a whore, as you put it, and then discover that he followed you five hundred years into the future.. But, he's not himself.. He'll always just be a stranger with the same face and his dead memories."

Agent Smith stood there speechless as Kagome quivered for a moment, but did not cry. She spat out her whole dramatic speech like she was trying to rid her mouth of venom, leaving him with nothing to retort back with. She then released his shirt, shoving him back a little with the force, as if he disgusted her. "Well, aren't you going to ask?!"

Kagome felt like such a bitch, glaring daggers into an exact copy of the face of the man she loved.. Well, of one of the forms of the man she loved. She would always love him the most as a hanyou. But the anger was numbing her pain.. It was her bitch-driving-force. She then caught a shimmer from a street light reflecting into Agent Smith's badge. She could see her reflection in it, her eyes narrowed and sad, her skin pale, and the bluish bags under her eyes giving her a ghostly persona. Her expression crumbled, as well as her anger. 'I look so much like Kikyou.. And she's all the things I hate.. I've become like her, haven't I? A cold, uncaring shell? I'm.. I'm sorry, Inu Yasha...'

"I'm sorry.." Kagome whispered, shielding her eyes with her bangs.

"It's okay.." Agent Smith reached for her shoulder, intent on comforting her, but she jerked away violently.

"Don't!" Kagome looked up pleadingly. "Please.. please don't.." He looked hurt for a moment, but masked it.

"C'mon, Kagome.." He urged, "Let's just go for a walk.. You don't need to keep it inside. And since I keep having these memories, I believe I have a right to know the truth." He stepped closer, offering his arm for her.

Kagome wanted so badly to keep the secret to herself. She felt as if telling it would be betraying her Sengoku Jidai friends.. But Inu Yasha was inside him.. And maybe it would bring him one step closer to regaining his memories. Kagome felt a pang in her chest at the very thought.. But it was different and disturbing. 'I don't want him to, do I..? I want Inu Yasha and Agent Smith to remain seperate. I don't want that man to have his memories.. Yet, I should. I should want to spend time with him, no matter what..' She looked at his arm, then to him, startled by her epiphany. 'But it's too much like the reinacarnation deal with me and Kikyou. Only Inu Yasha never died. That's not his reincarnation.. Only a man with two souls..? Oh, how they messed up. I have to find Shippou-chan and Kirara!'

Seeing she wasn't about to move, he took her by the arm, himself, and began to walk, dragging her behind him along the darkened sidewalk. It was almost too quiet, with the sound of their shoes against the pavement and the distant cars as their traveling music. "I've began to piece together the puzzle." Agent Smith broke into her thoughts, causing her to look up at him, trying to cover her alarm. "I don't need to ask to know why you cling to that rosary. It was Inu Yasha's. You had some kind of binding spell on him."

"H-how did.."

"Your brother." He smirked slightly, glad to have the kid's help. "You could use it when he was going crazy to subdue him back to normal. The Tetsusaiga was also his."

"Souta told you all this?" Kagome muttered.

"Well, I got the going crazy part in a 'waking dream'.. or vision, memory, whatever you want to call it. But Souta told me about the Tetsusaiga. He said you could use purification arrows, too, though I'm not surprised, seeing as you are from a shrine." Kagome scoffed, remaining silent. "But I think the Tetsusaiga's mine.." Agent Smith held out the sheath, just happening to take it along with him, despite the weird stares he got as he chased Kagome down. He just couldn't bare to part with it for some reason. "So, does that make me Inu Yasha?"

"No!" Kagome pulled her arm from his. "You're not him!"

He blinked. "I meant like a reincarnation.. Geez, calm down, woman. Didn't you say he came here as an agent? Didn't you mean me?"

Kagome took a few steps back, her throat closing in on her. 'I can't tell you that, Smith. Don't make me say the truth aloud.. I can't say it!'

"Kagome.. I know we're connected somehow." He took a step towards her. "I had to stay at your shrine because of it. Look.." He pulled on a chain under the collar of his shirt, until a tiny, golden locket in the shape of a heart was produced. "The kanji.. It has your name."

Kagome froze, crossing the distance between them quickly for a better look at it. 'Oh, gods..' It was the locket she had given Inu Yasha... from when they had been in the photo booth. Only it had her name inscribed, probably from Inu Yasha's claw. "Wh-where did you get this?"

Agent Smith shrugged. "I've had it for as long as I can remember.. I've searched for so long for the Kagome it spoke of. I believe that it's you.."

"Is anything.. inside it?"

Another shrug. "Dunno, can't seem to get the damn thing open." Kagome slipped her thumb nail into the slit where the latch should be, then pressed until she heard a click, signalifying that she had succeeded where he had failed.

Agent Smith sweat-dropped.

"It never worked for me!" He reached for it, to look side, but Kagome's swatted his hand, holding it still. She was afraid to look, afraid to see her face beside Inu Yasha's and have to admit it. She was also afraid that it would be like a twisted dream.. She'd open the locket and look inside to see a completely different face, or perhaps, Kikyou's.. Then, she'd know it's all been an illusion, and she would run wildly through the streets, laughing insanely, until the men-in-white-coats van almost ran her down in a haste to take her away from soceity forever.

She began to wonder if that would be so bad...

Just as she began to slowly pull the locket apart, she was startled by a scream, Agent Smith flinching as well. A small boy ran along the path, being chased by some older boys with baseball bats. "Kill the freak!" "Death to the freak!" The boys cried out, swinging the bat, and narrowly missing the smaller child each time. Kagome then noticed who the boy was..

Agent Smith zoned out again.

"Assholes.. You have the kakera of the Shikon no Tama, don't you?!" An ominous mist swirled around the owner of the voice.

"A youkai!" Kagome cried out, Inu Yasha standing protectively in front. The lighting suddenly became normal, and before the pair was a massive pink sphere with with two, cross-eyed eyes and tiny, spindly arms.

"Give it to me!" The youkai bit down on Inu Yasha's head weakly. "I will kill you!"

Inu Yasha scratched his head, not looking amused at all. With his eyes closed, he slapped the youkai, sending it reeling away from him. With a groaned 'Uggh!' from the youkai, it puffed into smoke and changed into a small child in front of them. Only it was a kitsune, a fox youkai. "What'dya do that for?!" The child demanded. Inu Yasha only picked him up by the base of the tail, looking calmly at him.

"Damn, it's just a disguised young Tanuki."

"I'm a KITSUNE!"

Kagome looked on, shiny-eyed in amazement. "Ka..Kawaii! Let me hug him next, okay?"

"Are you going to go get Kagome? She's late getting back."

Inu Yasha snapped from his thoughts, startled that the young kitsune had seemed to read his mind. They sat, side-by-side on the roof of Kaede's hut, sharing a quiet evening as they awaited to catch Kagome's scent.

"She's always late. Why should I care if she comes back?"

The young kitsune only shook his head, staring off at the horizon. "Don't you care for her, Inu Yasha?" he asked, yet he already knew the answer was yes, whether Inu Yasha wanted to admit it or not.

"Kagome's just a Shikon kakera detector. But, if I don't get her, she'll stay there for a long time, and we'll never get anything done." With that said, he leapt from the roof and bounded into the forest, leaving the kitsune alone.

Shippou only smiled.

Kagome gasped as the boys grew nearer, getting closer to hitting the younger one in the head each time.

"Shippou-chan!"

"Shippou!"

Kagome blinked as Agent Smith cried out his name in unison with her, though he seemed to not notice, and instead began running towards the boys, sheathed Tetsusaiga in hand...

A/N: Okay, another chapter completed and it didn't take me very long. I thought you guys deserved that much. But, the next update should be around the 21st. I think it would be kewl if I were to update on the one-year anniversary of this fanfic. Yeah, I know.. It shouldn't have taken me this long, but I just kinda lost my passion for this for a while there. And I know this chapter's short, but I had to leave end it when Shippou came in. That way, you can get an extra long chapter next time about his present-day life and whatnot. Kirara might even show up. Who knows.. -shrug.-