Chapter Four

"Where are we going InuYasha?"

"To find more jewel shards."

"But without Kagome…"

"We'll find them without her! We don't need her help! You got that?"

Shippo quivered in InuYasha's shadow, his small frame comparable to a leaf caught in the wind. Standing over the young fox demon, InuYasha was breathing heavily and brandished his fists, his stance a menacing one. Shippo, his paws still burning from stopping so suddenly, quivered and threw his tiny hands over his head, shrinking into a defensive ball.

'Oh no! Not again!' he mentally whined, expecting a strong blow to come down on his head at any moment.

The sun was out and shinning brightly as ever, warming everything it touched. The rays sent a comforting ripple through Shippo's fur and skin beneath his clothing. Carefully, Shippo opened one eye and then the other before frowning in confusion. The shadow that had chilled him (along with the angered temper of InuYasha), had slid off him and let the sun spread its fall-ish mood. InuYasha's feet, which Shippo had been prepared to still be only a finger's breadth from his nose, were now walking away from him and leaving the fox unscathed.

"What the…" Shippo muttered, straightening up and tilted his head to the side.

"He must be really mad about Kagome's absence," whispered Miroku cautiously as he walked up beside Shippo, watching the retreating half demon thoughtfully.

"You guys gunna stand there and talk all day or are we going to go find the jewel shards?" InuYasha barked over his shoulder, not stopping to see if his companions were following. Though his form was straight and ridged, InuYasha felt a tendril of betrayal begin to snake through him again. With effort he forced it back down, smothering its life and focused his thoughts back on retrieving the scattered jewel shards.

Miroku, Sango and Shippo looked to each other for answers but were all met with blank looks. Each chewing on their own morsel of confusion, they silently followed InuYasha out of the village.

(---)

Dawn had not come that morning, the brooding skies abandoning Kagome in the yard under the sacred tree. It was typical fall weather and normally a blessing from the summer's heat but not to the reincarnated priestess.

"Kagome!"

With a start, Kagome woke from her fitful dreams, her eyes flying open to see her mother standing over her. Mrs. Higurashi had her arms crossed tightly over her chest and was tapping the toes of her right shoe very loudly against the cement as she stared down at her daughter. The normally extremely nice woman was now the very picture of strictness and had the you're-in-big-trouble-now look in her eyes.

"How long have you been out here?" she asked immediately before firing another question much the same at Kagome before she had a chance to reply. And then another, and another, and another…It went on for a good ten minutes where it was all questions and not waiting for answers, covering all things from "did you think this through?" to "what would have happened if you went missing?"

Kagome sat quietly and took the worried harassment from her mother while letting a dried leaf crumble in her fingers. The last question that Mr. Higurashi asked, however, made something inside her snap.

"What if InuYasha came looking for you?"

It made the blood in Kagome's veins boil, burning as it coursed though her body. Words, hateful words bubbled in the back of her throat and threatened to spill like vomit out of her mouth. She tried to fight them off, trying to substitute other words for the ones that wanted to escape. It only partially worked.

"He wouldn't care!" she screamed, jumping to her and coming to eye level with her mother. "He would probably sniff around a little to make you happy then turn around and go back to his time. He would probably be happy I was gone!"

Mrs. Higurashi stared in awe at her red faced, teary-eyed daughter as she breathed heavily before her. She had never known Kagome to be the type to have these sort of outbursts in her presence. Yes, there were the odd arguments with her brother Souta but even those were contained and could be settled with only a few careful words.

"He wouldn't…" Mrs. Higurashi tried but couldn't get the rest of her comment out. Kagome didn't let her.

"Yes he would," Kagome hissed, balling her hands into fists while letting the trapped words flow freely. "He's probably off finding the jewel shards, glad to be rid of me for good!"

"You don't know that…"

"You don't either."

That made Mrs. Higurashi's mouth snap shut, shock overriding her instinct to comfort.

"Have you talked to him…" she asked gently after a long pause.

"What's the point?" Kagome grumbled, turning away from her mother and starring at the ground.

"You won't know for sure if you don't."

Kagome's mouth opened and closed, then opened again and closed again, making her look like a fish out of water. She didn't have a come back for that because, truthfully, she really wasn't sure. Her mother was right, as usual.

Her gaze wandered unwillingly to the shrine and the memories she had tried to bottle came crashing back like waves on a beach. InuYasha's laugh flitted through her mind like a sweet melody, making her heart swell slightly with a familiar warmth. It was soon followed by his smile, the one she had only seen on a few occasions, that felt like it had been saved for her and her alone.

'Come on home Kagome,' the InuYasha in her mind whispered, extending a hand to her in welcome.

Tears stung Kagome's eyes fiercely despite her efforts to keep them at bay. Returning her line of vision to her mother, she saw a knowing look replace the strict one that had been there before.

"You do what you need to do Kagome," Mrs. Higurashi said, the corners of her lips curving into a small grin. "We will always be here, this will always be your home but he won't wait for you forever."

Without another word, Kagome's mother pulled her into a tight embrace, holding her for a protective moment, before backing away and walking back inside the house. Kagome watched her silently, her mind taking a few blurred seconds to process what her mother had just said. For the second time in five minutes, Mrs. Higurashi had left Kagome speechless and reconsidering her course of action.

A slight breeze blew through the leaves of the sacred tree, making them rattle and sway above Kagome's head like a crowd cheering her on. It was the last thing Kagome needed, the last push, that made her bolt towards the shrine. Her legs ached instantly from the lack of use and the cramped position she had been keeping herself in at night but that did not stop her. She shoved the sliding doors open so hard that they let out a loud groan as their old, wood frames hit the stoppers.

The bright, yellow pack lay just inside the door, right where Kagome had left it. She stared at it for a moment after slamming the doors shut again.

"I'm coming home InuYasha," she said after a pause and gingerly slung the pack over her shoulder. "I just hope I'm not to late."

Author's Note: So this chapter took a while to get up, mainly because I've been suffering a insanely huge writer's block that had been keeping me company for the last week. I think I've gotten it to turn corner and shuffle away for now but this chapter was kind of rough and didn't flow as easily as the others. I hope you all enjoy it still and don't think that I've turned into a horrible writer because of this. Please R&R!