Chapter 27: The End Road of a Lonely Journey

Silence. It was the most deafening sound in his opinion. He rather preferred anger to be yelled. He preferred rage to be in action, rather than a passive reaction. He hated it when people keep silent. Perhaps it was the reason he disliked his brother so much. Sesshoumaru was too silent for his liking.

Silence. That was what Kagome was giving him; and it was driving him mad insane. Why wouldn't she slap him? Why wouldn't she spit curses at him, at least give him what he truly deserved? But no… Kagome stayed silent after hearing the entire truth from him. She stood there, unmoving, silent tears flowing down her cheeks with part of her hair shading her lonely face.

Silence.

"Will ya say something?" Inuyasha demanded. He hated the fact guilt was eating the very life of him at the moment.

Kagome heaved a deep breath. She was tired from it all. Ever since her relationship with Inuyasha started, it had been as steady as a car on edge of a cliff. Kagome sat down on the sofa, feeling the heavy burden of her fiancé's revelation. "What do you want to hear me say, Inuyasha?" she asked, refusing to look at him. She knew the moment she stared into those golden eyes, she would just break down into pieces. She still loved him despite of it all.

"Anything, Kagome. Why don't you yell at me? Hit me, curse me. Anything…"

Kagome shook her head. "It doesn't matter. In the end, I'm still the one hurting and you're the one feeling all the guilt."

And then, silence once more.

Inuyasha walked to where she sat. He knelt in front of her. He brushed the hair from her face. "I'm sorry," he murmured sincerely. He truly was sorry.

"Where have I gone wrong, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "I couldn't help how I feel, Kagome. Sango… she was… she captured my heart," he admitted. No sense in denying and lying of how he truly felt.

Kagome finally looked directly at his face. "W-when did you fell in love with… her?" she asked, stammering.

"A long time ago. When," Inuyasha closed his eyes. "She was the first person I saw when I woke up from my coma," he answered, thinking back at the time when he realized why Sango had seemed so familiar. He had asked Sango about it a couple of times. She always refused to answer. He didn't press on the question any longer. He already knew where, when and how. In his heart, it was Sango's voice that helped him find his way back to consciousness.

"So this is it? It ends all here?"

Inuyasha took her hand. "For once I'm doing what I think is only fair to you and me. Tell me, Kagome. Do you want to continue on pretending we are the happy couple people always perceived us to be? You know in your heart we are not that. Every single second we are around each other we tend to find something to fight about. We argue. I curse. You pout. Don't you get tired of that? Don't you want someone who will appreciate everything you do for them without being insulting and sarcastic?"

Kagome wiped a tear from her eyes. "You credit yourself too much for the failure of this relationship," she half-joked. She placed both palms on Inuyasha's cheeks. "Before we end all things between the two of us, I want to have peace of mind. Please answer everything I ask with sincerity," she requested. When he nodded, she proceeded. "How do you know this Sango is the woman you truly love? How do you know she's the one, and not me, or Kikyou?"

Inuyasha stood up. He had just noticed Mother Nature had finally calmed down. The rain had receded. Yet the whole time both he and Kagome were as silent as a mouse, Inuyasha hardly heard the fading pitter-patter sound from the outside. Silence was truly loud.

He turned to Kagome and contemplated on the answer she was seeking. Granted, his answer might not be the one she wanted to hear. Either way, she asked for him to be sincere and honest. "Because with Sango, I'm a different person. The kind I hide from people. The kind those who knew me wouldn't expect me to be, but were aware it's a part of my layer. Do you get what I mean?"

"With Sango, you can be your true self," Kagome paraphrased it for him, much to the pain developing inside her. The Inuyasha she fell in love with and had known was the loud, conceited, bratty type. She was aware that the Inuyasha Kikyou had loved was the passive, dramatic and matured type. With Sango, was he all those in one?

Kagome stood up, her shoulders were hunched from the heavy feeling inside, eating her raw. Her tears had dried up. It was all over. At the end of it all, she lost the one person she thought would give her the ultimate happiness. Perhaps it was wrong of her to have expected too much from Love, from Inuyasha, and from herself. She gazed at Inuyasha whose back was turned. The end. Over. Finish. Done. Such simple words yet shattering her heart into tiny pieces. She heaved a heavy sigh. 'At least the rain has stopped', she thought crudely. That was one positive thing.

"Well Inuyasha, I think it's high-time for me to say my goodbye. You're aware that after this we'll never see each other. In fact, I don't believe in friendship after love," she said with a voice as cheerful as a fake cheerful voice could be.

Inuyasha faced her and walked towards her. "I know, Kagome," he said, reaching for her hand.

Kagome stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the lips – their final kiss. "We had some good times, didn't we?" She touched his cheek for the last time. She pulled away from him and grabbed her bag. Soon, she would be in the safety of her car where she could cry her eyes out, regret the regrettable, contemplate the impossible. But before she finally leaves him be she had some last words that needed to be said. "Just so you know Inuyasha, this is probably the most painful thing you did to me. Yet, I still love you with all my heart." With that, she closed the door and walked out of his life. Whatever happens, she could only hope destiny wouldn't be cruel enough to make their paths cross again; because if they do, it would only break a broken heart.

Inuyasha watched her leave. The guilt, although painful to be subjected to, was bearable. He knew he was a cruel man to do such a lowly thing to a sweet girl like Kagome. But, even a cruel man deserved to correct things right for him self, and perhaps to others along the way.

And the truth was, he felt he deserved to be happy too. His happiness involved a woman named Sango; and although there is no guarantee she loves him as more than a friend, he was willing to risk it. God had been good to grant him another chance in life. Maybe, just maybe, God would be willing to grant him the chance to be with Sango.

A/N: took a long time to update. Real sorry. But I have a very good reason.

As the cliché goes, but this is the absolute truth, my computer crashed down. I wasn't able to access the internet. Then, I have to transfer many of my files in a disk (the floppy ones actually) then transfer it to the other computer (the family's!). you guys get what I mean. Plus, school started. So… here I am after my humanities tutorial, uploading this short chappie. Hopefully, y'all forgive me.

Also, I tired to give kagome a graceful farewell in this fic (he he) I've been mean to her so… oh well. The next chapt will mark the nearing end of the fic (I think).

Have fun (in school) everyone!