Disclaimer: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and I don't want Rumiko Takahashi coming down on me, so I don't own jack about the characters and settings. The plot came from the dark, dank recesses of my mind.

Correcting Mistakes

Chapter 7: Death

By: Remora29
Kagome felt empty. It seemed that her whole world was turned upside-down. Nothing was right any more. InuYasha hated her—of that she was certain. The way he refused to look at her unless absolutely necessary, how he pulled back his hand when it brushed across her skin as if it burned him. She had really screwed up. She recognized this fact, and was trying to make amends, but thought he was asking too much.

'Is this mourning?' she wondered at times. The loneliness, the aching. The desire to be with the person that you love so much that it hurts when you realize that you can no longer see him. InuYasha isn't dead physically, but to her mind, he might as well be. He didn't want to be around her, and would avoid her if at all possible. She wasn't looking forward to their next confrontation.

InuYasha was thinking along similar lines. After their meeting this morning, he fled to the safety and comfort of his chambers. He picked his room because it used to be his mother's bedroom and he could still feel her presence in the place. How he missed his mother. She was the only person who truly accepted him for himself. Everyone else had conditions. It never mattered to her that he was awkward around others, or that he preferred rolling in the mud to sitting quietly—he was her son and that was all that mattered to her.

He thought he had found that same understanding in Kagome, but he was wrong. He blamed her for his accident and the fact that he spent six weeks in darkness, but if he thought about it, it wasn't completely her fault. She was from a different time and place, where appearances are more important than anything else. He had believed her words, but he should have known by her actions that she would betray him. It hurt to think that he was so desperate for companionship or just acceptance that he allowed himself to be used.

InuYasha tired of this line of thought, and lie down in bed. He knew he would have to deal with Kagome soon, but for now he wanted to fall into the bliss of sleep so that he didn't have to worry about anything.

That evening, Kagome took a stroll through the gardens. They were so peaceful—she felt as if all her problems were unimportant. For some reason, she felt drawn to a small koi pond surrounded by cherry trees. The pale moonlight that entered the secluded space made the area seem magical. It was the perfect place for her to sit and take her mind off things. Unfortunately for Kagome, InuYasha had the same idea.

He had awakened from his nap to find himself suffocating in the castle. Kagome's smell permeated his senses, and nightmares of what could have been haunted his dreams. He needed solace, and he couldn't find that cooped up in his room like a prisoner. He went to the one place he knew he would be alone—the pond in the garden.

Kagome heard a sound, and gasped as she looked up. It was InuYasha, and he was just as surprised as she was.

"What are you doing here? You should leave," he grated out. He didn't need to deal with her mess right now; she was the reason he was tormented in the first place.

"I came here to think, same as you! I'm not leaving—I got here first," she spat out. Kagome knew InuYasha had a right to be mad, but she got to the pond first. If he couldn't deal with her being there, then he needed to leave.

"Feh, I don't have to go anywhere. You forget yourself bitch, you're on my property," he stated smugly. She wanted to be a bitch, then let her. He wasn't going to back down and she didn't have the rosary to subdue him any more.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Your property that you had to suck up to Sesshomaru for him to allow you to stay here," she replied. Fight fire with fire, of course.

"Well at least Sesshomaru has always been honest about his feelings toward me, unlike some other people. He never pretended to like me only to stab me in the back like a certain betraying bitch!" InuYasha shouted. He was angry with her, and even though he caught the scent of her tears, he couldn't find it in himself to stop. He had to let her know once and for all, what she had really done to him.

For her part, Kagome looked sick. She couldn't believe he would pick Sesshomaru over her. The brothers didn't even have a functional relationship, yet here he was telling her that Sesshomaru is a better person than she is. The nerve of him. He could just cast aside her love after a simple error.

"So, you'll forgive Sesshomaru for almost killing you numerous times, but you can't forgive me for one simple mistake? Well, I'm glad I found out now how fickle your love is," she replied to his accusations.

"Fickle? I'm fickle? I'm not the one who decided that her fiancé needed to be taught a lesson that almost killed him so don't you dare call me fickle, you stuck up bitch!" he screamed at her.

"I'm not stuck up, you arrogant dog. You're the one always talking about weak humans this, weak humans that, so you can't talk!" She screamed in reply.

"Well, I was right, wasn't I? You are weak. Where would you be if I didn't save your ass all the time? Dead, that's where," he told her, mad that she wanted to play the victim.

"Oh, I forgot you're such a great protector. Need I remind you all the times I saved you? And if you're so good at protecting people, why is Kikyo dead again? I thought you were supposed to protect her both times," she ranted, not fully realizing the implications of her words.

The forest suddenly got silent. The nighttime sounds completely died out, leaving an eerie silence over the area. It seemed that the animals had enough sense to run away from the impending explosion.

"I saved you at the expense of her and you're still jealous? You're a real piece of work, Kagome. You think you're so much better than everybody else when all you are is an insecure, spoiled little girl pretending to be a woman," he told her. If she wanted to play dirty, he would too.

"I am not insecure and I am not a little girl!" she raged at him, angry that he had hit upon some of her well-hidden weaknesses.

"Oh really, Kagome? What about the fact you and the others treated me like shit for years, telling me how I was two-timing you with Kikyo when you would run to your world and go out with Hojo behind my back? Only little girls and boys hide from their responsibilities, and that's what you were doing. At least I was honest with you, and let you know that Kikyo was important to me and needed my protection. You couldn't even do the same for me," he told her, his calm facade once again in place.

"I only went on a few dates with Hojo, and only because I didn't want to hurt his feelings," Kagome told him, again feeling the need to defend herself.

"Sure, Kagome—whatever makes you feel better about yourself. But I can't be two-timing you if we aren't even together in the first place, now can I?" he leered at her, fully intent on taking her down a peg or two tonight.

"I never said you were; everyone else said that. I felt that you had a right to be with whomever you chose, and I would stand by you no matter what. And I did that—I stayed here even though I thought your heart belonged to her so you have no right to call me a two-timer!" Kagome sighed after her statement. This argument was rapidly descending into a contest to see who could hurt the other the most, and it looked like they were both battered.

"You might not have called me a two-timer, but you never corrected the others either. You liked the attention you got from them because it made you feel like you were better than me. You could stay by my side and put up with my cheating and be a better person for it. The only problem is that I couldn't cheat on you because WE WEREN'T TOGETHER!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, causing the silent animals to flee the area.

"I still didn't two-time you with Hojo, and I had to deal with more mess from you than you had to deal with from me," she told him, sick and tired of fighting. Unluckily, InuYasha was not to be denied this argument.

"Fine, you didn't cheat with Hojo but you sure as hell did with Kouga. Every time that mangy wolf came around you let him hold your hands, kiss your cheek and do whatever he damn well pleased. If I tried to stop him, you would "sit" me until I thought my back was going to break. 'Oh Kouga,' you would say in your prissy girl voice, 'You didn't have to do that. Hehehehehe.' Like a whore parading herself for a customer," he accused.

"How dare you! How dare you call me a whore you two-timing bastard! I never cared about Kouga the way I care about you—I was only being friendly and for you to say anything else is despicable," she yelled at him, her anger once again taking over her rational mind.

"Then why? Why did you sit me and let him almost kill me? Why did you offer me everything only to snatch it away?" he asked, suddenly very tired.

"I...I don't know. I didn't think—" she stuttered, trying to find an excuse for her behavior.

"You're right, you didn't think, and your "sit" damn near killed me. You know Kagome, you're lucky. If we hadn't already initiated the mating process, I would have left your ass without turning back. As it stands now, I have to give you a second chance. I just want you to know that I hope you fail. After seeing the real you, I don't think I could live with being tied to your ass for eternity," he said, turning on his heel to walk away.

Kagome was in shock. He couldn't mean that, could he? He didn't regret their relationship, did he? Did he hate her now? Would he ever love her again? Was it even worth it to undergo the trial with him hoping for her failure? She couldn't image her life without him, but she didn't want to force him to be with her. If he truly wanted her out of his life, then she would leave him forever.

"Do you want me to decline the Challenge?" she asked in such a small voice that he barely heard her.

InuYasha sighed. He could feel her sadness and smell the salt of her tears. Inside of him, a war was waging. A large part of him wanted to run and scoop her up in his arms, telling her that everything would be fine. A smaller part of him, however, still held on to the anger. This girl caused him so much pain. Even though he was comatose for most of his healing, he still felt every bone reattach and every muscle repair. There was no expression for the amount of agony he underwent, and he couldn't just let her get away with it. This time, she had gone too far.

"Do what you will, Kagome. You've never respected my wishes anyway," he said, as he stalked off, trampling any and everything in his path. He needed to get away from her before he went insane, but he was starting to think that he would never be free of her. He came to the pond looking for solitude and found her. Her smell lingers in his room and in the castle hallways. He can't leave because he is bound to her while she undergoes her trials. She had him completely at her mercy, and he wanted his freedom. Thinking that a run might clear his head, he took off to the East, hoping to find solace.

As Kagome watched him flee from her presence, she glimpsed a part of his hurt. The pain she had inflicted upon him was too great for him just to get over it, like she had hoped. She needed to prove her love to him while giving him time to heal. Kagome also came to another, important realization: their relationship, with all its ups and downs, was dead. If she didn't choose the right path, they would never find their way back to each other again.

AN: All right, to make up for my lack of updates the past few months, here is another chapter. MY THESIS IS DONE! Woo hoo. Now, on to graduation, and then we can get into a more regular updating pattern. Please don't kill me. I had to do this so that the story would evolve properly. Now on to the reviews...

Frozen Miko: Thanks, I'm glad you like my point of view on their relationship. I'm not saying I wouldn't have "sat" InuYasha at all because when you are frustrated, you are bound to do something like that, but not as often. And yes, InuYasha is outwardly more mature because he doesn't want Kagome to see how vulnerable she made him. More on that in later chapters...

Priestess kurumi inu's sister: Is this ugly enough for you? Yes, I agree Kagome needs to be taught a lesson, but she's not the only one. Others will learn from her journey.

Dragonlance: Glad you liked the chapter. I hope you don't hate Kagome too much. I just think she's naive to the world in which she will be living. Sango and Miroku are not much older than her, but they understand the Feudal Era better. It's more like she didn't take the time to learn anything about her surroundings.

Kiyana Va Sala: