By the time everyone joined me at the edge of the woods, it was time to make camp for the night. I spent all of the time in a tree, thinking everything over. I didn't know why I even bothered thinking it over. My mind was made up, wanting to move on from Inuyasha; my heart was the one thing holding me back. I figured it was better off this way, but my heart and head were going at it. That left my stomach feeling a little queasy. When it was time for dinner, I just said that I wasn't hungry. I knew I was starving, but my stomach couldn't take it.

"Hey, are you sure you don't want any fried noodles?" I looked down at Inuyasha and for the first time all day, I smiled. It was good to see him. I laughed, "All right, c'mon up."

A second later, he was up there with me, handing over a cup of noodles and chopsticks. I gulped it down within a few minutes. "That's so good…."

"I don't understand how you can eat that stuff; it burns the hell out of my tongue."

"I guess its an acquired taste." I laughed. I looked at his yellow eyes and I felt something. "What is it?"

"What's been going on with you? I mean, what's the cold shoulder and everything?"

"I don't know." I huddled my legs close to my body. "I've been feeling so weird since yesterday." I made a fist and held it to my head. "Inuyasha… tell me, have I changed?"

"I dunno… I mean, you still have the same fight in you as always, but it just comes out in different form. You're using it to fight your battles, but something about your style is off. It's almost like it parallels my own."

"I don't know… it's like everything's coming from my head. I feel like it's doing all the work for me. My head tells me what to do and how to do it and nothing else."

"This might sound a little off or whatever… but where does your heart factor into all this?"

"My heart?" I clenched my fist and he put his clawed hand on mine. I looked into his eyes and they wanted me to welcome him. I blushed, looking away to hide my smile. I felt like my heart was coming back into this. He then put an arm around my shoulders. "You know, you don't have to change who you are just to become stronger."

I suddenly felt a shiver go down my spine. He was being too nice; this wasn't the Inuyasha I had gotten to know. I looked at him and inched away. I looked down, realizing how high up we were. I grasped the branch with both of my hands. "No… I can't do this. I'm afraid that you're the one who's changed… I've changed you into someone that you're not meant to be. You're not supposed to be so supportive; what happened to the Inuyasha that got on my nerves?" I took the arm off my shoulders, "I miss that… I miss the way that you push me."

"Oh, so you want me to be a jerk!"

"Yes! That's exactly what I want. I don't want to change who you are."

"And I don't want you to change who you are!"

"Oh so now we agree that we don't want each other to change!" I think that got everyone else's attention. "While you're at it, why don't you push me off of this tree branch and see if I land on my feet!"

"Gladly." He pushed me backwards and I did a few flips and landed on all fours. Kagome looked up and then down, "Wow, I guess its true that cats always land on their feet."

Inuyasha jumped back down. "So, what do you want me to do? Get on your nerves 24/7!"

"That would be nice." I laughed jokingly.

"In that case, hand over that jewel shard. It's no good to you!" I laughed so hard when I saw the look on his face. I fell over after laughing so hard. "Oh my… that sounded so fake. You don't mean that."

"Oh yeah," he leaped on top of me and we locked hands. We started rolling around on the ground, fighting each other in hand to hand combat. The only problem was that the look on his face from that comment was so hilarious that I kept laughing.

"What the hell is your problem!"

"I don't know… seriously, next time when you ask, make it sound like you mean it. That was… so lame…" At this point, I was on top of him, trying to press his hands back against him. "I'll give it…" It went through my head. Since I didn't use my heart in battle anymore, why bother?

"Could you ask me seriously this time?" I got up and he flipped himself back over. He then went right for my throat and stared at me with piercing yellow eyes.

Kagome rushed up, "Inuyasha!"

"Give me the damn jewel shard! Give it!" I reached into my heart with my right hand and plucked it. I forced a smile, "Here you go… just what you've always wanted." I fell to my knees as he kept holding on. It took me a minute or so to realize what he was doing. I didn't realize how out of it I was. I felt weighed down and exhausted, like I was being crushed by a boulder. Inuyasha was on top of me, strangling me with all his might. I didn't know why, but I wasn't even scared. I just took it like there was nothing else, just assuming that he would eventually let go.

A few minutes later, he tightened his grip and I was starting to feel it. "C'mon, fight back! Fight me off! Snap out of this damn trance you're in!"

"Inuyasha, that's enough, stop it." Kagome called to him.

I didn't want to fight back; I wanted to know why I wasn't scared. Where was that adrenaline rush that came with dying?

"Inuyasha, sit!" Then he fell on top of me, crushing me and knocking me out.