The ninth chapter…the chapter you've all been BEGGING for…that's right. KAGOME REACHES HER BOILING POINT! OH YES AND DOES SHE BOIL OVER! - I'm so evil.
And as for the reviews: You can do better than that! Review, now! kills all the people who didn't review last time but still enjoyed her ficcie -- I'm going through the trouble of updating it again; the least you can do is send a little note my way that says, "You're doing a good job." I am currently readying stink bombs that shall go off in the rooms of anyone who dares to not review my story…so REVIEW!
That's right, threaten them. That'll make them read. - My muse (AKA my kitten) is currently sleeping on my lap, so now will be a good time to write…as I stroke her fur, laughing insanely like an evil genius off of those old James Bond movies…BWAHAHAHAHA! AND ONTO CHAPTER NINE!
Chapter Nine: Kagome Snaps
Kagome awoke to a familiar ceiling. Not one of the old huts in the other village, not tree branches and blue sky. It was Kaede's house. She sat up, pushing herself up with her hands, and winced at the pain in her wrists. Why did—?
The images came rushing back to her. Inuyasha's lips pressed against Kikyo's. Their passionate embrace. The way he looked so relaxed, so at peace. How could he be so at peace when she hurt so badly?
She ran her fingers over her slashed wrists. It had been a stupid thing to do—giving into the pain that he put her in. She gently unwrapped the bandages and stroked her fingers over the scars. The skin molded back together, leaving her flawless, as if the incident had never happened at all. It had taken little to no energy to heal them.
Inuyasha…he wasn't here. But he must have brought her. Maybe he had cared a little after all…
"No," Kagome said out loud. Inuyasha was only looking out for the wellbeing of his jewel shard detector. Since when had he cared about anyone's pleasure but his own?
She tossed back the covers and stood up, grabbing her yellow pack, and tossing back the drapes to reach the outside. She found Sango leaning against a fence, watching Miroku flirt with all the local girls. "Hey…Sango…"
Sango whirled. "Kagome?" Her mouth was open, eyes wide. "Y-you're okay?" she asked.
"Yes," Kagome said with her usual sweet smile. "I'm fine now."
She stumbled back when Sango's palm connected sharply with the side of her face. She found herself mimicking Sango's previous expression of surprise, her hand pressed to her cheek. "Why—"
"You know why," Sango said fiercely. "You almost died, and it was all because you let that damned half-breed get to you. Where is your sense, Kagome? Where is your head?"
In the silence that followed, Kagome felt the words that Sango hadn't said. Her friends would have been sad if she had truly died. It was very touching…and now she felt bad for having done it at all. Kagome swallowed hard. "I'm sorry."
Sango's stance relaxed a little. She looked at the ground. "It's okay, I guess," she said glumly.
"Where…is Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, looking around. "Is he here?"
The warrior girl shrugged. "I haven't seen him since last night when he brought you here to Kaede. Shippo is out with her getting more herbs for your…your…" Her voice trailed off, a mystified expression on her face, then words came back to her. "Ka-Kagome, weren't your wrists cut last night?"
Damn. "Uh, yes. They healed, though," Kagome said quickly.
Sango frowned at her suspiciously, but pressed no further questions. "Miroku is in plain sight. Kikyo disappeared just after your accident. Inuyasha may have just come to bring you here before…"
"Before he went off to look for Kikyo again." Even though she knew she should hate him, Kagome hurt thinking that he loved Kikyo instead of her.
"I'm sorry," Sango whispered.
Kagome shook her head. "It's not your fault." She hesitated. "I only came here to say goodbye." When Sango looked horrified, Kagome smiled gently. "Not that. I'm going home. And I'm making sure Inuyasha can never come and get me."
"I suppose there's no stopping you?" Sango asked, looking pained.
"I can't stay here where Inuyasha can hurt me like this. Now is the perfect opportunity to leave—while he's busy searching for his lover." She rummaged in her bag, pulling an item out. It was a stuffed fox. "Tell him I said good-bye. I was waiting for the right time to give it to him, but now…I need to go as soon as I can. Before Inuyasha gets back."
Sango nodded, taking the toy. "I'll give it to him."
"Thanks." She glanced at Miroku, who seemed to have noticed her presence and was marching towards her.
"Lady Kagome," Miroku said gravely.
"I'm leaving, Miroku," Kagome said. "I'm going home."
He hesitated. "Now?"
"Yes. Sango said Inuyasha's gone, probably trying to find Kikyo, and I think I should leave. Who knows how soon he could be coming back with her?"
"I don't think Kikyo planned to stay any longer than it took to harm you," Miroku said darkly. "He won't find her. You can stay longer."
"I'd better go. I've been gone long enough."
Miroku opened his mouth, as if to protest, then thought better of it. He nodded his head. "You take care, then."
"You aren't disappointed I left before bearing your children?" Kagome asked, smiling gently.
Miroku smirked at that. "I would hate to lower your self-esteem, but Lady Sango is the perfect woman to bear my children," he said, wrapping his arm around Sango. Kagome expected her friend to yell, even strike him on the head with the Hiraikotsu, but she just blushed. Kagome suspected that despite herself, Sango really liked it when Miroku—
"HENTAI!" BANG!
…or maybe not…
Kagome started the walk to the well. It wasn't a long walk, but she found herself dragging it out, secretly wanting to stay and fall into Inuyasha's arms. She resisted it. He would never apologize…
She paused at the tree, seeing a silver-haired figure sitting up with his back against it. Dog ears twitched when she stepped through the grass, and the golden eyes turned in her direction, narrowing on her backpack. "Going somewhere?" Inuyasha growled.
"I—" Kagome faltered. "Where's Kikyo?"
"Why do you care?" he snapped.
"I expected you to be going to find her. You haven't done everything you want with her yet. Don't you want to finish the job?" Kagome's words had taken on a sharp edge. She was impressed with her own boldness.
Inuyasha's face went from shocked to angry. "You—do NOT talk to me like that!" he snarled, jumping up and grabbing her by the shoulders. He ripped the pack from her back and flung it on the ground, pinning Kagome up against the tree. She gasped at his mere physical strength as he pressed her into it. "You have a lot of nerve pulling a stunt like that!" he whispered harshly into her face. She turned her face to the side, not looking at him. "You nearly got yourself killed. Then when I tried to apologize, you woke up only long enough to tell me to die—just—like—Kikyo," he said, emphasizing each word. He snickered when she only turned her eyes to him. "You're scared, aren't you?"
"No," she said honestly.
"Then turn your face to me."
"No. You have dog breath."
Inuyasha released her, stepping back like he'd been burned. "No matter what I tried I couldn't get it through your head that I'm your master."
"We'll see who's the master in the end!" she snapped back.
"You?" Inuyasha laughed. "You, wench, are just an ordinary human with no powers other than jewel-detecting, entirely powerless without your little 'sit' spell."
She felt a surge of anger, but suppressed it. "You'll find I'm a bit more powerful than you think."
He shook his head, still laughing. "You know what's funny?" he asked, while she stared at him. "Kaede told me when she was fixing you up that you did this because you loved me…that I was the monster here. So I waited. I waited until you woke up, and I tried to comfort you, to make it okay—"
"You were going to 'make it okay?'" Kagome asked. "You have been 'making it okay' since we first met, only to make the same mistake over again. You know, I woke up today and realized I am just sick and tired of you always 'making it okay' for me. It's not going to be okay."
"It could have been if you'd have given me a chance!"
"I'm through with giving you chances!"
"It was different this time!" Inuyasha insisted.
"Why? Because I almost deprived you of your 'tama-detector?' When you got a hold of Kikyo, you could have let me go home and stay with my family. Weren't you always saying she was a better priestess than me? But you didn't send me back. You made me stick with you and watch you stick your tongue in that corpse's mouth!" She snatched the broken bag off of the ground and started towards the well.
"Where are you going!" he called.
"I'm going home for good," she replied over her shoulder. "It's just like you to take my crisis and make it all about you!"
She felt a hand roughly grab her shoulder. "You're not going anywhere. I do need that Shikon detector, and I'm going to keep you here for—"
A burst of blue light erupted from her hand, and she turned it towards Inuyasha. He barely got a chance to look scared before blood started pouring from his chest. Another burst and blood came out of his forehead. "I go where I please, Inuyasha," Kagome said calmly, staring down at him as he fell onto his rear.
"What—how—" he stammered, staring up at her in disbelief. One eye was squeezed shut to keep the blood from rolling into it.
"While you were busy doting on Kikyo, I developed some new talents," she said with an air of sweetness. "You said I wasn't as good as her. Well, I haven't heard of her being able to do any of this." She reached inside her shirt and pulled out the shards of the Shikon no Tama. "A demon couldn't defeat me now, Inuyasha, and you're just a half-demon. You're a half-breed and that's why you can never be expected to act human. You're a monster, a freak of nature, and if I cared one bit about you I would put you out of your misery." She smiled and leaned forward, her face inches from his. Golden eyes filled with pain stared back up at her. "But I don't care for you, so I won't kill you." Tossing the bag over her back, she skipped to the well and waved over her shoulder. "Sayonara, Inuyasha!"
Just as she swung her legs over the side of the well, Inuyasha's voice called, "Kagome!" She looked over her shoulder. His hand was stretched out to her, as if trying to reach her. "I—love you…"
She shook her head. "No, Inuyasha. You love the Shikon no Tama. And I'll see to it you never get a single shard of it."
As Kagome slipped between the worlds, a voice screamed out her name, a mournful howl, but she didn't care anymore…
By the way, you guys had BETTER be happy I wrote this. I did this from 11-1 o'clock while sipping on hot chocolate to keep me awake…and it's hot here… .
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