Kagome slipped quietly from her bedroll, she wasn't worried about waking the others, she took care of that earlier when she had put a sleeping plant kaede had shown her, into the soup she had made, so there was no chance of the others waking….which brought her to what she was afraid of in the first place, with no chance of the others waking up she was afraid to attract the demons which had been plaguing the area they were traveling through…without the others for protection, if something attacked her, she was done for. So very carefully and silently she collected her things, she wanted to get away, go back to her own era, they were only a few shards away from making the Shikon no tama whole…and they were camping for the last time, outside of Naroku's castle , they were planning on attacking in the morning, but Kagome didn't want any part of it, she refused to give her life when Kikyo was already dead and just dying to get her own piece of the action the rest of her so-called "friends" didn't really need her any more, after all Kikyo was there to be their priestess, after all she was the whole package , Kagome had none of Kikyo's great powers , all Kagome was good for was jewel detecting…Kagome just stood still for a moment remembering that awful day when Kikyo had her change of heart and Inu-Yasha made his irreversible decision…..

flashback:
Kagome sat up, it was the middle f the night, she was trying to figure out why she had woken-up when she sensed HER soul collectors, and realized she had woken up because Inu-Yasha had left to go see Kikyo. She got up to follow Inu-Yasha, even knowing it was going to break her heart, every time he went to see her it broke Kagome's heart. She slid quietly amongst the trees knowing that Inu-Yasha would be to busy to smell or hear her. As she watched them through the leaves, she knew something was different about Kikyo… something had changed, then as Kagome listened to the conversation she instantly knew what it was.
"Inu-Yasha, you came, I-I I didn't think you would" Kikyo stuttered, that never happened, Kagome's eyes widened, and a wave of emotion flowed through her.
"of course I came Kikyo, I will always come, even if it is to my own death…is it today Kikyo? will I finally join you in hell to"
Kikyo cut him off" No Inu-Yasha! no, I've…I don't want that any more, I desire to give life a second chance, I desire to give life a second chance…with you…" Kikyo had tears in her eyes as she stared into Inu-Yasha's stunned but soft ,caring…..loving face…..they were leaning closer…Kagome couldn't watch she ripped her eyes away and stood to her feet, Kagome refused to be her hurt, she knew they loved each other, she knew she never REALLY had any chance. But even as these thoughts ran through Kagome's head tears were already running down her cheeks. She just snuck back into camp and cried herself to sleep knowing that Inu-Yasha wouldn't be back that night. When she awoke again she was alone ,she smelled soup cooking and fish, she also heard everyone laughing, she went down to the river where she found everyone sitting around kikyo, eating and laughing and enjoying themselves. Kagome came closer and no one noticed her presence, not even kirara. She said good morning and Shipo briefly glanced at her, only when she sat down( rather gruffly) did any one pay her any mind,and then she noticed there wasn't any soup left for her. Kagome was on the verge of tears, but she didn't let any one else know that. She didn't want to appear weak to the people who so obviously didn't really need her any more. Not even Inu-Yasha noticed her moment of complete depression, and utter sadness, he didn't smell the welling tears in her eyes, because he was to busy staring at Kikyo's. Kagome knew that this was the way it was always supposed to be, she was just there as a substitute for awhile. At least Inu-Yasha was happy, that was all that mattered now… later that night Inu-Yasha pulled her aside and "explained things to her"
"Kagome, look, Kikyo is, and always will be my love, you were a great miko, and …..friend( in a hushed whisper) and I still need you to defeat Naroku, but you will never be anything more than a miko to me." Kagome looked at Inu-Yasha and said :
" you were nothing more to me than a mangy mutt who protected me from things I couldn't kill with an arrow, and you will never be my friend Inu-Yasha , you were never there when I needed you most, and ya you kept me from being killed, but you never protected from the tears that came when you were with her…and when this is over, I will make sure you never need to come to my rescue again….."

Flashback ended Kagome realized she had only lasted a month after that to leave, but she refused to be invisible to people who had once called her friend because the dead woman she resembled decided that she wanted to live the life that Kagome had chosen to live…it just wasn't worth it, Kagome looked back once more at the people who had left her in the dust, the people who no longer cared for her, the people she still loved so much, and then like she was never there she slipped away….

Inu-Yasha woke with a start, it was almost noon, by the look of the sun, but strangely no one else was up either…he looked around…KAGOME was GONE, dammit , he knew that what he said a month ago wasn't true , but he was hoping against hope he could just pick up where he left off with Kikyo. He knew that Kagome thought he loved Kikyo, but that just wasn't the case any more, every time he looked at Kikyo, every time he kissed her, he was thinking of Kagome…he had wanted this for so long, but now all he wanted was Kagome…now she was gone…and what if now he could never get her back? She'll never know that it was her he loved, if she did she probably would have stayed….now she could be dead…what the hell was he supposed to do.
To be continued…