Inuyasha/Ikuto: I would like to point out that Inuyasha and Ikuto have a few things in common. One of them that I would like to point out is the fact that Inuyasha is already in love with Kikyou. Kagome can't fully have his heart. That's a big problem. So what am I trying to say about Ikuto? Does he secretly love someone else? NO! His heart belongs to his birth country, U.S.A. With both those faults, they might just balance out and be completely even. Ikuto's winning right now, but it might not be that way forever...

TO ALL OF MY FANS: Hold your horses! Man, you're so impatient. I can understand your feelings, but please hold on. You're going to make me give it away too early! Also, one of you gave me a really cute idea so I'm going to use it, and I hope you don't mind. I really appreciate all of you for sticking with me.

TO EVERYONE: Please review and tell me should it be Inuyasha or Ikuto, and explain why. Convince me!

ABOUT ME: I'm African American. I feel I can relate to Ikuto because many people judge me because I don't fit the "stereotype" and I'm light skinned. It really bugs me and I get highly offended when I or anyone gets talked about or even placed in a stereotype.

Chapter 29

I don't own Inuyasha

Ikuto opened his eyes and to his surprise, he wasn't lying in his bed, but he was lying on a hospital operation table. "Wha..what's going on?" He completely had no use of his legs. He couldn't feel them either. He lifted his head up to see who was with him and he saw Kagome, Suno, and Inuyasha. "What's going on? Why am I here?"

"We need to amputate." Suno said calmly. "Hold still."

"Amputate? What? Why? What's wrong?"

"You can't use your legs" Kagome said. "You're useless anyway." She was so cheery about the whole situation that it began to freak Ikuto out.

"You can't cute off my legs! I'm getting better!"

"Don't kid yourself" Suno said. "It's pathetic."

"No!"

"Stop complaining!" Inuyasha yelled as he unsheathed his Tetsusaiga and held it fully transformed in the air. "Now hold still!"

"No!"

Ikuto woke up kicking his legs and screaming for Inuyasha to stop. When he had awakened, he realized it was all a dream. "Wait a second!" Ikuto sat up in the bed and began to feel his legs. "No way" he said under the sound of his breath. He threw the covers off of him forcefully and hesitated to do what he really wanted to do, but he had got up enough courage to finally do it. "Here we go..." he placed his feet on the ground and pushed himself off the bed using his hands and just when he thought he was going to lose his balance and fall, he caught himself. He could stand, and stand straight. He placed one foot forward and then placed the other in front of that. "I can walk." He didn't believe it at first, but he said it again to convince himself. "I can walk" he said louder. He then forgot about the fact that he hadn't tested himself for running and just ran into Suno's room, forgetting to knock or how late it was. Thankfully, the couple was still sleeping, but Suno quickly awoke to the sound of Ikuto barging in their room.

"And what do you..." he remembered that his brother was supposed to be dead or at least crippled for the rest of his life. When he saw that he was neither, his mouth slightly dropped as he pondered on the matter and he came to the conclusion that he was still dreaming, but his wife screamed so loud with excitement into his ear that Suno knew that if he was asleep, he'd be awake now.

"You can walk on your own!"

"I don't know how but..." Ikuto was so happy; he was on his toes, ready to jump in the air at any moment with excitement. "I had a dream and when I woke up I was kicking my legs. I don't know how, but I can." He smiled, Sarah was so happy that she was crying, and even Suno looked like he could smile, but he didn't break one. Ikuto's happiness began to die down though, as he remembered how Inuyasha didn't trust him. "Suno, can I talk to you?"

A half hour later, Ikuto and Suno were drinking hot coffee while they were recapping Ikuto's experiences with Inuyasha. "He doesn't trust me" Ikuto said. "Kagome thought there was something wrong as well. All of them did. I didn't bother to pay attention to them, but now that I think about it, I'm supposed to be dead from a childhood fire and what just happened now..." He stared into his coffee. "I mean, what am I? What's wrong with me?"

"Ikuto," Suno said plainly "you act as if this is a bad thing. So you've dodged the bullet again and again. Admire yourself for that. You deserve a pat on the back for your accomplishments, not a harsh judgment. Recovering like that is-"

"Unnatural. What if something is seriously wrong with me?"

"It's not like you're a half demon and it's not as if you're still being controlled by one. You've been this way ever since you were a boy. If there's something wrong with being practically invincible, then I wouldn't wish to be right, little brother. Nothing wrong has come out of it, and if you are evil or whatever your absurd predictions are, we'll deal with what happens then. Other than that, we'll remain calm, is that understood?" Suno took a sip of coffee.

Ikuto had the nerve to face his brother. "Do you know something about me, that you haven't told me, Suno? Is there something that I should know?"

"I don't have an answer for your suspicions."

Ikuto realized that Suno was hiding something from him, but it didn't have anything to do with what they were talking about. 'I better not press it.'

"Where did he go?" asked Sango to Miroku. They were spying by the bone eaters well. "He went to get her, didn't he?"

"I'm not sure. He's gone the past three nights. I'm not sure if he'll actually come back with her."

"I can't stand that stupid Inuyasha! I miss Kagome! How could he just leave her?" Shippo pouted. He missed Kagome and blamed Inuyasha for his lonesomeness.

"You must understand Shippo, this life is very dangerous and Kagome does have her own life outside of our world. Seeing Ikuto so hurt must have put things into perspective for Inuyasha. He actually made a mature decision in keeping her home. I miss Kagome just as much as you Shippo, but this might be for the best. Ikuto and Kagome are in danger when they come, and Ikuto will keep coming as long as he knows Kagome comes here to this time period."

"But we need her! We've traveled around for days only to end up here, lost without her help. We can't do anything without her!"

"We can try to find Naraku, but the jewel shards are a lost cause without Kagome." Sango sighed. "This month has been uneventful."

"Tell me about it."

Inuyasha snuck out of the well, like he had been doing for the past few nights, and climbed up on the side of Kagome's house until he could see her sleeping through her window. 'Kagome.' She looked like she was sleeping peacefully. She was cuddling with a teddy bear, something Ikuto won her at the carnival they had gone to earlier that day. Inuyasha watched her from the window and made sure that she wasn't going to wake up and see him. 'I want you to come back Kagome, but I can't.' He jumped down and ran back to the well as fast as he could.
"Morning mom!" Kagome was so bright and cheery, every since Ikuto and her had really started having a relationship.

"You're looking well. Things must be going well with Ikuto."

"They sure are mom." Kagome sat down at the breakfast table next to Souta, who wasn't looking too well. "What's the matter with you?"

Souta was playing around with his food instead of actually eating it. "I miss Inuyasha." Kagome grew pale at the mention of his name. "It's really over between you two? Inuyasha was so cool, with the strength, the hair, the claws, and he's fearless. He's helped me out a lot and you two seemed to really care about each other. So tell me, why did you two break up?"

"Well I..." Kagome got angry all of the sudden "Hey, he's the one who wanted to break up with me. He left and hasn't come back since. Besides, what's wrong with Ikuto? He's a nice boy! There's nothing wrong with him and he's my boyfriend now. If you don't like it, then that's too bad!" Kagome started eating her breakfast. She was still upset, but who could blame her?

Her mother sat down at the table in front of her. "So everything is alright with Ikuto right now?"

Kagome placed her chop sticks down and looked at her mother sadly. "Ikuto doesn't want to stay in Japan. As soon as he gets the chance, he's going to leave to go to the United States of America."

"Kagome" grandpa said "aren't you a little too young to be concerned about what he's going to do when he's older?"

Suddenly, Kagome began to feel better. It wasn't like he could move away any time soon. "You're right!" She cheered herself up and continued eating breakfast. Her good mood would have stayed if she wouldn't have noticed how upset Souta was. "Come on Souta, don't be upset." She sighed. "I miss Inuyasha too, but some times things don't always work out how you want them to." When she saw he wasn't going to cheer up, she just got angry instead. "Oh, it's none of your business anyway!"

"You're going out this afternoon, aren't you Kagome?"

"Sure am! Me and him are going out to the park this afternoon. I'm going to make him a nice lunch, and I bet he'll appreciate it too!" 'Unlike that Inuyasha!' "Yes, things are going just fine. We're fine, and his legs are getting better. He's amazing, mom!"

"I'm happy for you dear."

"Thanks mom." Kagome's good mood didn't sway all day. When she got to school, her three best friends were waiting there with smiles on their faces, looking at Kagome curiously as they tried to pry the truth out of her with their eyes. "Okay, what's going on this time?" They all pointed to the teacher's desk. "Someone sent her flowers?"

"No" Eri said teasingly "they're for you. Someone came by to send these to you."

Kagome began to blush. "It's from Ikuto?"

"Are you two going out?" Yuka asked. "If you are, then you better set things straight with Hojo, because he might think you two still have a shot. It's not nice to lead a guy on like that, Kagome. If you love this Ikuto guy, then stick to him."

"He must be so romantic," Arimi practically squealed. "I wish a guy would send me flowers in school. He's not even from the same one and he sent them."

"There are chocolates too" the teacher exclaimed. "Now, let's get class started, please Mrs. Hagurashi."

Some kids started to snicker while Kagome was left blushing. 'That was really sweet Ikuto.' She smiled. 'Very sweet. Only Kouga and Hojo have really given me nice things. The problem with Hojo is it's usually health stuff when I'm not even sick. Kouga giving me flowers was sweet and all, but how can someone compete with a bouquet of roses?' She frowned. 'Okay, I guess Inuyasha's given me stuff before. He even came to take care of me when I was sick. He gave me that disgusting potion, but at least he made it…' She went to the front of her class and looked at the flowers, and the chocolates. 'Inuyasha…' She tried not to think about him. It would only lead to trouble. 'Typical boyfriend and girlfriend stuff.'

When school was over, Kagome was surprised to see a blue Jaguar parked in front of her school with Ikuto in it. 'How did he get here?' "Ikuto, how did you…" when she saw him step out of the car without any help at all, as if nothing had happened, Kagome ran to him in awe of his condition. "Ikuto, this is amazing! How is this possible?"

"I don't know. I woke up and I was better." He shrugged his shoulders. "It was like magic."

"This is amazing." She was really at a loss for words. When she saw him standing again like before a month ago, she forgot about all of the world's problems and could only think of how amazing Ikuto truly was. "You're really amazing."

"I didn't really do anything, Kagome."

"Sure you did. You've done more than you know." It wasn't long until after their meeting that Kagome and Ikuto had a blanket set right under a tree where they could be shaded from the bright sun. Kagome began to set out the food that she had prepared and Ikuto could only smile. "Kagome, you didn't have to do all of this. Really, you didn't need to."

"I know, but I wanted to." 'Hey, if your mom snagged your dad with a slice of pie, my omelets got to do something.' "I hope you enjoy all of this food."

"I'm sure I will." Ikuto began to eat a few things. Every time he put something in his mouth, he would make his face calm and would chew slowly, just to get Kagome upset. Then he would frown and place a look of disgust on his face, and just when he thought she was going to yell sit, he would start to laugh and tell her how he really felt. "This is really delicious" he said. He was still laughing at the sad look on her face.

Kagome was going to stay angry for a while, but she couldn't, not when she looked at him and realized his condition only a month ago. "Ikuto" she said "we've been through a lot together, haven't we?"

By the look in her eyes and the sadness in her voice, he knew exactly what she was talking about. "Yeah, I guess we have." The healing process for Ikuto was faster than what the doctors could ever hope to dream, but it was still a painful time when Ikuto had first came home from the hospital. His first attempts to walk again where pathetic. Kagome had happened to walk in on him during one of his attempts when she had come to visit. Ikuto knew that he was pushing himself too hard and his legs wouldn't be able to move like he wanted, but he needed to try. His attempts left him flat on his face.

"Ikuto, are you alright?" she ran to Ikuto and tried to help him up. "Hold, on! What happened?" Kagome had begun to panic like a mad woman. She wasn't the one on the ground unable to use her legs. Ikuto began to get angry very slowly as she tried to help him up. "I've got you." She tried to help him, but she couldn't get him off the ground. The more she tried and failed, the more upset he became with himself. He began to loath himself for not being able to get up and almost loath her for helping him and feeling sorry.

"What happened?" Sarah entered the room and had to help Ikuto back into his bed along with Ikuto. It took the both of them to move him into the bed, which only upset Ikuto more. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine" he said coolly. "Just...leave me alone, will ya?"

She was a bit taken back by that, but she left him alone. Kagome just kept observing him. After a while, she got up the courage to ask. "Are you okay?"

Everything sort of boiled over after that. "No Kagome, I'm not okay!" His outburst of anger forced Kagome quiet, confused, and slightly afraid. "Why do people always ask that question? Isn't it obvious? Do they want people to lie? Do you want me to say I'm okay? No, I'm not okay! Why would I be okay, Kagome? I can't walk! I can't move! I can't do anything! How is that supposed to make me feel? How am I supposed to be? I'm an active person; I can't live the rest of my life in a wheel chair! No, I'm not okay!"

Kagome turned away from him and sat down. She looked at her thighs and waited for the right words to come out, but nothing came. "I'm sorry" she struggled not to let a tear slip down her cheek. "This is all my fault. Everything that happened to you is my fault. If I only would have..." her lips began to quiver. "I'm sorry, I should have figured..."

He sighed and calmed himself down. "It's not your fault Kagome. I'm the one who ran away. I just...I don't want your pity."

"I'm not pitying you!" she yelled. "I just really care about you. I don't pity."

Ikuto felt ashamed of himself for when he looked at Kagome. He didn't want her pity, but feeling sorry for himself and hating himself wasn't going to solve anything. "Kagome, I'm sorry it's just."

Kagome placed her hand on his back for comfort. "I know, I know. You don't have to explain yourself."

"Thank you, Kagome."

"Yeah Kagome, we have been through a lot, considering that we haven't known each other for that long." He smiled. "At least it's all working out for the best. I mean, I'm walking like I used to. It's weird." He started helping Kagome put the food away once they were done eating. "Do you know what's wrong with me Kagome…do you know why I heal so fast?"

"Well" Kagome said, folding up their blanket. "I don't know why you're so special Ikuto, but it it's the thing saving you from all the terrible things that were supposed to happen, then I'm glad you're so special, Ikuto. I really…I really love you."

He smiled. "I love you too, Kagome." He stood up and dusted his bottom off. "Why don't we go out on the lake?"

Kagome looked out at the lake and realized that the sun would soon be setting. It would be beautiful and deathly romantic. "Sure, let's do it!" Kagome could hardly hold in her excitement. She ran with Ikuto down to the renting booth and rented a boat. Kagome sat and relaxed and Ikuto rowed them to the center of the lake. The sun began to set as the brilliant colors reflected on top of the water. "It looks beautiful!" Kagome looked off into the distance, but then closed her eyes, appreciating the time she had to spend with Ikuto. 'It feels weird, almost like I'm here with Inuyasha.' "It almost seems like we've been here before, doesn't it, Ikuto?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it does. You don't think we're…"

"What? You want to know if I think we're reliving the past. You think our former selves did this? There's no telling, but I'm glad that I'm on this boat with you Ikuto Kazasami."

"Did you like the flowers?"

"Yeah" she said uneasily. "Ikuto, you don't have to do…so much you know. When I say I love you…that's it. You don't have to prove yourself to anyone. I really do love you, Ikuto. Nothing's going to change that."

"I'm not trying to prove myself" Ikuto said proudly. "You've never had a boyfriend before and that's what boyfriends do. Boys send girls flowers. If they don't, then the girl is too good for them."

"Alright…" 'It seems like he's trying though.'

When they got back to the dock, Ikuto stepped off of the boat first and reached out his hand for Kagome. When Kagome got up, she tripped, but instead of falling into his arms, she fell backwards and pulled Ikuto and herself into the lake. "Sorry!"

Ikuto climbed out of the water and back on to the dock. "For some reason, I don't think it was supposed to happen that way!" He reached out his hand and Kagome grabbed a hold of it. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I can't believe I fell."

"And fell backwards." He easily helped her up, but pulled her too close until she was in his arms. When she looked up into his eyes, she couldn't help but blush as her heart started to beat rapidly. They just stared into each other's eyes passionately for a while until Ikuto could no longer take it. Ikuto leaned down in to kiss Kagome and Kagome leaned closer to him. Before, Kagome and Ikuto had only kissed a few times, and they were all simple kisses, nothing as complex as what Ikuto had started to do. Kagome had never French kissed and instead of telling him that she couldn't kiss him and they should wait, she attempted to play along, and she apparently did alright, since the kiss lasted for a while. Ikuto had never French kissed before either. He only did it because he got caught up in the moment and knew that she was the one and for that moment, Kagome knew he was the one too.

As their lips entangled with the others, Kagome let go of all her fustrations, her problems, her worries, and her cares. She completely let go, and so did Ikuto. They were both free from what they thought and decided to trust the simple fact of what they knew. They knew that the kiss they were experiencing was right. "Inuyasha…" Kagome muttered under the sound of her breath in a small break between their kisses, but all came to a halt a few seconds after what was spoken, when Ikuto realized what she had said.

"What did…what did you just say?"

Kagome didn't honestly know what she had done wrong until Ikuto had backed away in horror. "No…I didn't mean to!" she yelled.

"No!" he yelled. "Inuyasha? Inuyasha? I figured you'd still be hung up over him, but Inuyasha? Do you envision him when you're with me? Is that what I am to you? I'm your back up plan? I'm your good time while your dog's away?"

"No! I didn't mean for that to happen. Just listen to me for just one second."

"I'm through listening to you, Kagome. You know what" he was practically hysterical. He chuckled. "You're a hypocrite, Kagome!"

"I...am a…hypocrite?"

"Yes, you're a hypocrite! You get so angry when you get compared to Kikyou, when her name is mentioned, when Inuyasha talks about her, thinks about her, or compares the two of you. You hate it, and then you do the exact same thing to me. You're a hypocrite! You're treating me how Inuyasha treats you."

"It was an accident!"

"Don't you think I know that? Don't you think I know it was all an accident? I know you wouldn't be that sick enough to do something like that to me, but I do know that if you love Inuyasha that much…" he put his head down. "If you love Inuyasha that much, that he's still in your mind, then we're over!" He stormed off, leaving the soaking wet and cold Kagome all to herself. Kagome began to cry to herself as she watched him leave. She loved him, and now he was leaving her, forever heart broken.

'I'm sorry!' "I'm sorry!" She wiped her tears away as she was brought back to that moment when she had caught Inuyasha and Kikyou kissing each other, the night she had tried to drag him into the depths of Hell with her. Kagome didn't know what to do. It hurt her above all, and now, she had done the same thing to Ikuto. She had betrayed him. She had tried to give him her heart, but perhaps she couldn't give it. She obviously still had it left with the man she had tried so hard to forget. 'I know I care about Ikuto but…that moment, I felt Inuyasha. I felt him. I didn't mean to feel him, but I did.'

Ikuto somewhat regretted telling her it was over, but he couldn't go back and pretend like she didn't say what she had just said. She had crossed the line by calling him that. He couldn't forgive her, at least not that easily. 'How could you Kagome?'

TO BE CONTINUED…..

A/N: Some of you are happy, some are thinking about calling me mean things. Whatever the case, I want you to tell me who Kagome should be with and why. It's ANYBODY'S GAME NOW! REVIEW!