When It All Comes Down To It

I wasn't going to continue this, but since of my reviewers automatically thought I was going to continue it . . . well, I still don't have to, but it urged me to continue. Just a warning: since I never planned on continuing anyway, these chapters will be very short.

Very short. VVEERRYY short.

"Kagome-chan . . ."

"My dear Sango, I think it's best we don't say anything to Inuyasha just yet." Miroku advised. Shippou was too busy crying to even care about what either of them said or did. "I don't know how he may take this. Even if he has chosen Kikyou-sama, we don't know how he will react."

"I- I . . . I suppose you are right, Houshi-sama. I just . . . we have to find a way to explain the jewel, do we not?" Sango bent down and picked up Shippou. He was so young . . . about the equivalent of eight years. He needed the most comfort. Maybe . . . just maybe even more comfort than Inuyasha would need, because, if he chose Kikyou, he wouldn't need all that much comfort. "We have to give it to him sometime . . ."

"But that does not necessarily mean right away," the monk replied. "He can wait. Though, we will have to find a way to explain why we're moving on without Kagome-sama-"

"We might as well just tell him."

Kikyou's scent . . . it's the smell of dirt and flowers. It's the same as the earth. I don't care how she smells. It is what's inside, and she'll gain back her scent once we bring her back to life. I wonder what will happen to her soul. Doesn't she need the rest of it from . . . I wonder how Kagome's doing right now. Inuyasha was confused. He wanted to be with Kikyou, now . . . but what could he say to Kagome? And how would Kikyou manage to stay alive if he brought her back? . . . After all, she only had half a soul.

No . . . Kikyou's soul . . . is Kikyou's soul! She has her own . . . they aren't the same, right? I know. I've been around the two of them . . . they're different! Kikyou has to have her own soul . . . but if she does . . . why does she steal dead women's souls? Many things had already turned into mysteries. Maybe this was another one of them. Kagome and Kikyou were different . . . at least that's how he saw them. So maybe she had her own soul . . . and just maybe there was another point to collecting dead souls.

"Inuyasha . . . ?"

"Kikyou, I've got to go back-"

"I see," she murmured, then she stood to look straight into his eyes. "You must return to my reincarnation, correct?"

"No Kikyou, it's not that way!" Inuyasha said in defense of himself. "They've got the jewel, and . . . we sort of promised them to let them come along with us. They're trying to kill Naraku too. I can't let them down. We all want to kill Naraku together . . . especially since he's almost impossible to destroy otherwise."

"Let me go with you,"

"You can't. What if Kagome's-"

"She isn't there. I just know it."

"And how do you know?"

"She is my reincarnation," Kikyou replied. "I know a lot about her. I know when she's five hundred years ahead of us in the time stream." So. There was one thing. Kikyou could tell when Kagome wasn't around. That and she kept calling her reincarnation . . . maybe the did share a soul?

"So, you two do share a soul?"

Kikyou just laughed a little at this. "Of course not. Do you see any similar personality traits? Okay, maybe a few . . . but we are so different." She eyed him a bit suspiciously . . . not really like she accused him of anything, just that look. "I have always wondered . . . what is it like to ride on your back?" Her eyes darted to his ears. "And what do your ears feel like?"

Kagome darted into her house as fast as she could walk. She didn't want to talk. She didn't want to eat, even though she'd barely eaten on their journey. She didn't want to sleep, even though she'd gone through two whole days of no rest. She didn't feel like doing anything. Even, for once, she didn't want to pretend sick. She also didn't want to go to school. Eri, Yuka, and Ayume would question her like crazy.

"Nee-san?" Souta asked, but Kagome just ignored him and ran up into her room. She locked herself in there and didn't let anybody in. She didn't even speak to them when they said anything to her. Finally her mother came up, and refused to leave.

"Kagome-san, I have brought food for you," her mother called through the door. Kagome didn't say anything. "Kagome-san! Food! You need to eat. Locking yourself up there is not a good idea."

"I don't feel good, Okaa-san!"

"Now that's a shocker," Souta commented as he passed by the locked door.

"Kagome-san, at least eat a little . . . you don't even have to talk to me." Kagome got up and opened her door. All the way. She left it open and sat back down on her bed. her mother realized now that she'd changed into something a little bit more casual, and her school clothes were folded neatly and placed on top of her dresser. Her mother brought in the tray of food and sat right down next to her. "Tell me what's up in the Sengoku Jidai."

"How do you know what it's about?"

"I'm a mother. I know about these things, Kagome-san." Kagome leaned up against her mother and put the tray of food on her lap. In between bites of a piece of bread she just picked up, she spoke and talked to her mother.

"It's I-Inuyasha. I . . . I think . . . he's . . . he's chosen Kikyou, Okaa-san! And I don't know how to deal with it! Ever since . . . Goshinboku . . . I just- I guess I've always . . ."

"I understand, Kagome-san. It's okay to feel that way, just as long as you don't hate him for it. You can hate her . . ." In the end, she didn't know how this was turning into a parental conversation. "Just don't make it obvious. And don't hate Inuyasha, Kagome-san. Don't hate him for it." In the end, it wasn't a very parental talk. Usually those consisted of non-hating. But due to her previous events, she knew how her daughter felt. She knew how she felt when the same thing had happened to her, and she gave the best advice she could, even if it didn't consist of non-hating.

"Okaa-san . . . thank you."

"Inuyasha!" Sango shouted, shocked. They all were. There he was . . . with Kikyou! What if Kagome was there? . . . Thank goodness she wasn't.

"I see you brought along Kikyou-sama," Miroku commented, trying to be as casual as he could. The last thing they wanted to do was leave a bad impression. After all . . . they would most likely be continuing on their Naraku hunt with Inuyasha. No matter if Kagome was gone . . . they had to kill Naraku. "You . . . well . . . I think this may be better than an explanation." Miroku stepped forward and placed the jewel into Inuyasha's open hand.

"Kagome left these?" He asked.

"She sure did! And you-" Sango covered the young kitsune's mouth before he said anything harsh.

Kikyou looked as if a thousand daggers had been thrown into her. After all she had said about the girl, she still had enough in her to leave the jewel behind. She was still able to not feel any hate towards them. Or, at least, not show it. She was able to bottle up her emotions. "Well . . . that was . . . nice of her, wasn't it?"

"It . . . it was . . ." Inuyasha muttered. He felt bad, too. If only he hadn't been thrown into this triangle. If only he could've just stayed the way he was . . . it was so hard to just choose between the two of them. Even if he knew who he wanted, saying it and doing it was the hard part.

"Hey, all." Everybody turned around to see who was talking.

Sango was the first to say something. "Kagome-chan!"