SUMMARY: KAGOME DECIDES TO END THE PAIN THAT INUYASHA HAS CAUSED HER BY TURNING HER BACK ON HIM…AND ON HER LOVE.

Seems like just yesterday
You were a part of me
I used to stand so tall
I used to be so strong
Your arms around me tight
Everything, it felt so right
Unbreakable, like nothin' could go wrong
Now I can't breathe
No, I can't sleep
I'm barely hanging on-

Kagome sat in a tree, hidden away from the rest of the world, as Inuyasha spoke with Kikyo in a soft, gentle voice. His voice was always different when he spoke with Kikyo, Kagome had realized bitterly. She closed her eyes as she heard Kikyo whisper back to him softly. Her right hand clenched into a fist and moved its way to her heart that she felt would break into a million pieces right then and there.

-Here I am, once again
I'm torn into pieces
Can't deny it, can't pretend
Just thought you were the one
Broken up, deep inside
But you won't get to see the tears I cry
Behind these hazel eyes-

She hopped down from the tree startling the two lovers. Inuyasha's golden eyes widened and he softly whispered Kagome's name.

"Kagome, it's not what it looks like," he lied. Kagome stared at him with narrow and bitter eyes.
"Save it, Inuyasha," she snapped as she picked up her yellow book bag and slung it over her slight shoulders that had strengthened over the two years she had spent looking for Jewel Shards in the Feudal Era. "I'm tired of your lies. I'm going back home, for good this time, and I won't come back. Not even if you come for me," she said with determined eyes. She knew this choice would break her heart, but it was in her best interest to stop coming back to pain. With this much said she turned her back to him and took off running for the well; running to her safe haven.

-I told you everything
Opened up and let you in
You made me feel alright
For once in my life
Now all that's left of me
Is what I pretend to be
So together, but so broken up inside
'Cause I can't breathe
No, I can't sleep
I'm barely hangin' on-

That night, she sobbed into her mother's comforting arms as the older woman gently soothed her by rubbing slow circles on her back.

"Shh," said Kagome's mother. "It's all right Kagome-chan. This will soon pass and you'll be able to move on."
"But it hurts so bad Mama," Kagome whimpered as she raised her tear-stained face to stare heart-broken into her mother's warm eyes.
"I know baby." Kagome got up from the sofa and traveled down the hall towards the bathroom where she could bathe in warmth and solitude. Mrs. Higurashi watched her daughter depart and her eyes grew sad. 'Such is the love between a demon and human,' she thought with sadness pushing at her heart. She turned her head away remembering very well her own relationship with a demon, a relationship that had ended in heartbreak. Now her daughter was suffering the same fate, and Iyori Higurashi felt helpless to stop it.

-Here I am, once again
I'm torn into pieces
Can't deny it, can't pretend
Just thought you were the one
Broken up, deep inside
But you won't get to see the tears I cry
Behind these hazel eyes-

As Kagome sat on her bed she pulled out pictures that she had taken of her friends in the Feudal Era. Angrily she reached out and grabbed a picture of Inuyasha. With trembling hands she shredded it and allowed the pieces to fall to the ground. Tears fell from her eyes and she threw her sobbing form onto her pillow the moist liquid drenching the soft pink cloth. "Oh, Inuyasha," Kagome whispered as she wiped away her tears. "Why does loving you have to be so hard?"

-Swallow me then spit me out
For hating you, I blame myself
Seeing you it kills me now
No, I don't cry on the outside
Anymore...-

And only three months later, when Inuyasha had worked up enough courage to go to Kagome's time, he found himself staring at a young woman whose once warm brown orbs had hardened into cold, hazel stones.

"Please don't hate me Kagome," Inuyasha said to her gently. "I never meant to hurt you."
"It's too late for that Inuyasha," Kagome had said coldly. "I don't cry for you anymore, even though seeing you makes the wounds in my heart break open again. I'm tired of being your puppet, having to stay put while you ran from me and to Kikyo, and then back again. Enough is enough, and I've learned my lesson. Behind these eyes of mine is a stronger woman."

-Here I am, once again
I'm torn into pieces
Can't deny it, can't pretend
Just thought you were the one
Broken up, deep inside
But you won't get to see the tears I cry
Behind these hazel eyes-

When Inuyasha returned to the Feudal Era, he found Kikyo at the well waiting for him. With his head lowered and his eyes shadowed, his hand reached out for Tetsusaiga.

"It's because of you that I'm in pain," his voice growled out as he unleashed the power of the fang blade. Kikyo's usually solemn eyes widened in fear.
"You won't kill me," she shakily said. "You love me."

"No," he said angrily and his eyes turned red at the sight of her. "I love Kagome!" With this, he killed the clay priestess with no remorse. He sank to his knees then and sat by the well, mourning the love of the one woman he had loved and lost. 'Behind these eyes is a stronger woman,' he remembered Kagome saying. "Good for you Kagome-chan," Inuyasha whispered. "You're stronger now…and I won't have to see the tears you cry."

-Here I am, once again
I'm torn into pieces
Can't deny it, can't pretend
Just thought you were the one
Broken up, deep inside
But you won't get to see the tears I cry
Behind these hazel eyes-

END-