Disclaimer: I am not the creator of the manga nor of the anime series of Inuyasha.
Author's Note: I won't even bother with commentary from me. No one reads this part of the fanfiction anyways. Let's get on with the story.
Chapter One
Mother's Intuition
The tearing sound of the brown paper bag could be heard from outside of the well. Laughter coming up the steps to the great shrine that laid as a foundation to the Goshinboku tree. The wind caressing the leaves adorning the branches of such a magnificent time tree. A tree that held many secrets through its own wisdom of life.
Mrs. Higurashi idly looked up towards the Goshinboku, wondering about its history, and yet the mystery it seemed to hold within its rough bark. She had not noticed her bag tear and all of her oranges drop to the ground while she had been admiring the sight of the tree. Nor had she heard the pleasant voice of her daughter coming back from the Sengoku period, obviously earlier than what was planned because of another dispute between her daughter and Inuyasha. Inuyasha, yes he was still a boy, but a young boy confused over love. Mrs. Higurashi understood how her Kagome would still wish to be near this boy obviously still in love with another, and she respected her for that, but sometimes Kagome could cause a mother to worry.
Mrs. Higurashi sighed, picked up her oranges and carried them back to her home, welcoming her distressed daughter home. She already had a feeling that Inuyasha would not be far off, he was a hanyou, or half demon, so it wouldn't be too hard to figure out where Kagome had gone. Placing all of her items on the kitchen table, she put away her coat, keys and made a bit of hot tea to lighten the mood. With the final cup of tea poured into her lovely china, she made sure that she had four cups of tea and a lemonade. That lemonade was soon gulped down at once by her son, Souta, who had entered the house and ran to his room, taking the glass of lemonade with him, though he had finished it before getting to his destination. Mrs. Higurashi just sighed and walked up the stairs to her daughter's room, knocking lightly and saying that she was entering. Kagome had not been in the room particularly and so Mrs. Higurashi decided it best to leave two cups of hot tea on her daughter's desk. One for Kagome and one for Inuyasha, just in case. For some reason, Mrs. Higurashi had a very bad feeling, it seemed as if something bad was going to happen, but instead of following this strange intuition of hers, she simply brushed it off and left to give Grandfather his daily tea.
Kagome sighed as she dipped into the hot steaming bath, letting go of all of her frustrations for just that moment. She lightly slid her fingers upon the top of the rippling waters and slowly stretched as far as possible to get that bar of soap shaped like a sea star. Finally being able to get that bar of soap a sudden crash could be heard from outside the bathroom door that led to her bedroom. She sighed yet again knowing all too well who had caused the crash. She counted within her head, until she reached 10 and curled her lips up into an evil grin. She was going to make Inuyasha regret following her and prevent him from walking in on her only time of relaxation. Slowly opening her mouth and ready to let out that one special word for her beloved puppy, the soft whisper of the word "osuwari" was made loud enough to be caught by a certain demon. And as expected another crash was heard in her room.
"Inuyasha! That was just a warning! I am not in the mood to play around right now, so will you behave for once and let me take my bath!" Kagome yelled trying to hold back her laughter.
A bit of muffling could be heard after and then a small growl before the loud blast of Inuyasha's voice could be heard. "WARNING! PLAY AROUND! BEHAVE! I'M NOT YOUR PUP! GET YOUR HEAD STRAIGHT, WOMAN!"
A sudden black aura could be felt coming from the bathroom where Kagome was taking her bath. Taking his instincts too far, Inuyasha yelled towards Kagome, "Kagome! I feel a dark presence coming from where you are! Get out of there quickly! It might be a youkai!"
That had done it. The door suddenly blasted open and all of the heat from the bath came storming towards Inuyasha. Inuyasha's heart was suddenly racing, for some reason this presence seemed to be quite dangerous and caused his worry for Kagome's safety to increase. A small growl could be heard coming closer and closer, which only made Inuyasha quickly take out the tetsuseiga. Inuyasha could feel the creature ready to attack when suddenly he smelled the refreshing scent of the calm ocean. For a moment Inuyasha forgot about the monster and thought of a beautiful maiden in violet, walking along the shore. He was too late to hear the command, "OSUWARI!" And snapped out of his daydream, he was suddenly sent crashing to the floor, in one of the most painful ways. He had mistaken Kagome for being a youkai, and he knew this would not be the end of it.
Kagome was pissed. Holding her pink towel with a firm grip and the other hand in a fist aimed for Inuyasha's head, Kagome made sure not to miss when she hit him over the head. She could not even believe that Inuyasha had thought that she was a freaking youkai! She wasn't that bad, right?
"Inuyasha, why do you ALWAYS have to ruin my little moment? Whether it is a time of peace and quiet, or just being happy? Why can't I have that! You know you can just be a pain sometimes! And ME a YOUKAI! OSUWARI!" Kagome yelled with great strength within her voice. She could not believe that Inuyasha had the nerve to call her a youkai.
More muffling could be heard beneath the blur of red that seemed to be Inuyasha, and then another growl as Inuyasha jumped up from his position and for security, covered Kagome's mouth before she was able to say that horrible word again. He had shuddered just thinking of the possibility of her punishing him if she was able to live for eternity. Being gentle enough to not hurt Kagome, as well as rough enough to emphasize his anger over her sudden disappearance, he dragged her over to her bed and dropped her, making sure to always cover her mouth. This time he would have a say in things, without being told to sit and slamming to the ground.
"What is wrong with you Kagome! I was just went over to talk to Kaede about the appearance of Kikyo again and how she didn't exactly die after that time Naraku tried to kill her again. I wanted to talk to her about what we should do next, knowing that Naraku has most of the shards, and we have the last one, excluding that from that damn wolf Kouga and Sango's brother Kohaku. We need a plan, and you know it. There is no need to get all stressed out because I'm discussing the best strategy to get Naraku and the shikon no tama. So why are you sitting me when I have done nothing to you!" Inuyasha half yelled, and explained in the limited amount of time he sensed by Kagome's increasing fury.
Kagome was a bit surprised by the nerve that he had for leaving out one major detail in his explanation. He had gone to see Kikyo, which she encouraged but once in a while it would be nice if she was informed of the meeting and possibly a bit of the conversation just in case it held some importance to Naraku or the shikon no tama, especially since the shikon no tama was almost complete and the only shards remaining lay with Kohaku and Kouga. Though she often felt excluded and abandoned whenever Inuyasha would go to see Kikyo, she was also concerned about the completion of the shikon no tama more than ever now, for a reason she was not entirely aware of. Lately the feeling that the completion of the shikon no tama just being an end to a chapter within their lives grew stronger as she felt as though there still lay a greater task at hand. She was not completely sure of why she felt this anxiousness whenever it came to the shikon no tama recently, but she knew that there was no time to be avoiding subjects when it might lead to securing the shikon no tama.
"And what about your conversation with Kikyo? Did she say anything that might help in regaining the shikon no tama from Naraku? I'm worried that something might happen, I don't know what exactly but it's a gut feeling and it's not a good one. I have been going over possible plans as well, but I can not be entirely sure as to what we should do, we need to know who our allies and enemies are to properly make a plan. So will Kikyo join us in defeating Naraku?" Kagome said as she contemplated over possible scenarios, not noticing the surprised expression upon Inuyasha's face. After a while she finally noticed and brought Inuyasha back with a nudge to his shoulder, indicating her wait.
"Oh, uh yeah, well I did see Kikyo . . . Since Naraku increased his power more than she had anticipated; she suggests that we all remain on full alert. She also mentioned that we should probably go after the shikon shards that Kouga and Kohaku might have. Since Kikyo is traveling with Kohaku, she'll receive his shikon shard. I'll take care of the stupid wolf, Kouga." Inuyasha said with a face that suggested he was already getting irritated by the mere mention of the demon, Kouga.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome seemed to call with a distant sadness within her voice. She slowly looked into Inuyasha's eyes and took a step towards him. Reaching into the pocket that came with her skirt, she started to pull out a piece of paper, but instead reconsidered what she was about to do and left the paper within the pocket.
"Eh? What woman?" Inuyasha responded as he noticed Kagome's odd behavior. He had also noticed Kagome reaching for something in her skirt that was on her bed, however stopped and looked back at him. He wondered why Kagome was being so weird today.
"Do you mind if I finish my bath? I won't take long, I just need to rinse off some of my shampoo." Kagome made up at the moment, not being able to tell Inuyasha what she truly felt like saying.
"Keh, doesn't matter just hurry it up," Inuyasha responded in his usual arrogant self.
The only thing that Inuyasha got in returned was half of a smile from Kagome and then her returning to the restroom, turning on the shower once more and closing the door behind her. The odd thing was that something really did seem to trouble her and he just couldn't think of why Kagome would be so worried, he had never seen her so seriously worried over something. He could sense her anxiety, but wasn't sure of what it might be. Could it be that she wanted him to be with her after getting the shikon no tama back whole? He reasoned that Kagome already knew that he had chosen to protect Kikyo and that he owed his life to Kikyo alone, so it couldn't be that. For some reason Kagome's behavior had caused a dark feeling within his heart that almost felt like . . . fear.
Kagome had finished taking her bath and had quickly gotten dressed as she had told Inuyasha she would. Quickly gathering her things she looked back into the mirror that she rarely looked into and sighed. 'So we're almost towards the end huh?' were her thoughts as she left the comfort of the bathroom and headed outside to meet up with Inuyasha. A sudden feeling of cold sorrow swept through her as she looked at the shrine and then at the Goshinboku tree. 'Today, may be the last time I ever see him. It's horrible to just think of never being able to see him. I can't seem to cheer up.'
Inuyasha watched Kagome as she exited her house and paused a moment, looking at the shrine where the bone eater's well was within and then upon the Goshinboku tree, lightly sighing as she dazed off within her own thoughts. Though she didn't have any tears, it seemed as though she was crying right in front of him, a cry that he didn't understand. It made him feel as though, Kagome might be taken away from him. Thinking of that reminded him of the completion of the shikon no tama, which would mean returning Kagome back to her own time and never seeing her again. Though he didn't want to admit it, it caused him great pain to think that he would never be able to see her again. The one person who had helped him trust again, believe in himself, and who had accepted him for himself, not caring if he were a human, demon, or hanyou, just an ordinary person. The one person who had granted him a period of happiness he never knew he could experience. Would he be able to cope with losing the one thing that made him feel normal and happy?
"Inuyasha, I'm ready, let's go!" Kagome called out as she ran towards Inuyasha who had been leaning against the doorframe of the shrine. Kagome's immediate thought being, 'I'm here for you, Inuyasha. I don't know how but I will help you be happy, for however long I have left with you.'
Inuyasha looked towards Kagome's approaching form, admiring her genuine smile that she reserved just for him and how she always wore those strange clothes that seemed to suite her perfectly. He felt his heart skip a beat as she tripped slightly over a stone and laughed at her own clumsiness. How was she able to bring an aura of happiness about her even when she had felt pain numerous of times? Without noticing, he had walked over to where Kagome had tripped and helped her up, accidentally pulling with a little more force than intended, resulting in pulling Kagome against his chest. His heart seemed to stop as he felt her kind warmth against him. He looked down into Kagome's eyes, and instead of embarrassment, saw those eyes that held invisible tears within them.
"Inuyasha . . ." Kagome whispered as she stilled against Inuyasha. Looking up into concerned eyes, she couldn't help but release some of her sadness to those caring eyes. She wanted to stay with him forever, be with him until the end of time, be there for him no matter what, but knew that after the completion of the shikon no tama, she would have to return to the life she held with her family. Placing her forehead against his chest she let out a sigh and moved back. Smiling and taking his hand, she led him to the bone eater's well where they would have to go to return to the Sengoku era. A battle for the remaining shikon shards was about to take place.
Author's Note: Well just bored and decided to continue where the anime version left off, except with a few modifications, where Kohaku is already with Kikyo, and Inuyasha gang already maintained the last few remaining shikon shards, other than those of Kouga. Naraku is also very much alive and deadly, while something seems to be really troubling Kagome, even though she isn't sure of what it is herself.