Sanci: Yep. She has a kid. You'll find out the other little bit in this chapter . . . or maybe the next . . .

Amaya: ...blushes... Ya think so?

Disclaimer: I had a dream once that I was Inuyasha's friend. But in the end, I started wondering what his name was. So tell me. How can I own him if I can't remember his name?

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Inuyasha woke with a start the following morning. He had had that horrible dream again.

Kagome was there, still looking exactly as she had the last time he'd seen her, wearing her school uniform with her giant, yellow backpack swung over her shoulder. She had her arms crossed and was glaring at him.

He, of course, being the idiot he was, had just been sat and was cursing, face down in the ground. Wrenching himself up, he glared right back at her, growling.

"How dare you, bitch! What the hell'd I do this time!?!"

Growling right back, she turned on her heel, storming away into the forest, yelling before she disappeared one final 'sit.'

Smashing into the ground again, he cursed her very existence, muttering about how she had ruined his life. Sitting up and glaring after her, he refused to make a single move to go after her, though his mind screamed at him to go and apologize like there was no tomorrow. His stupid pride shot him in the foot again.

But the thing Inuyasha hated most about this dream, was that it had really happened, six years ago. That was the last time he had seen Kagome.

How he regretted that day . . .

If there was one thing he could change about his entire life, it would be whatever it was that he had done to provoke her. He couldn't even remember it now. He couldn't even remember a single one of their little squabbles. All he knew was that he had been a jackass and because of it, Kagome was gone.

But he'd find her. No matter what. Even if she truly did hate him now, he would find her . . . and apologize.

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Kagome meandered carelessly down the street, carrying a jug of scalding hot water with her. She was heading to a villager's house whose occupants had been attacked by a poisonous snake demon. Their wounds needed treatment badly, and right now, the only person any of the villagers believed could save them was her.

Suddenly, her fiery red-headed son ran up to her, grabbing onto her kimono and smiling up at her. She smiled lovingly back, noticing that the cuts from the day before had already vanished.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, Jiko?"

"Can I go play in the fields again?"

A small frown crossed Kagome's lips. "Why would you want to do that?"

Noticing the concern in his mother's voice, Jiko looked away from her. "I'm not going to go climb any trees today . . ."

Sighing, the priestess understood. "And what are you going to go do then?"

Jiko turned back to look at her again, smiling widely. "I want to see if I can find Inuyasha again!"

Kagome stopped dead in her tracks.

"Mommy? What's wrong?" Jiko tugged at her sleeve.

She looked worriedly down at him. How in the world could she explain it to him?

Honey . . . Mommy once loved that hanyou, and ever since that day six years ago, Mommy doesn't want to see him again.

No . . . that'd never work. Explaining it that way would lead to questions. Questions she never wanted to answer.

"Mommy?" Jiko tugged harder as he worriedly looked up at her.

"Oh, um, Jiko . . ." Kagome knelt down beside her son, looking him straight in the eye. The curiosity and worry shone through their fiery red depths.

Those eyes . . .

Shaking those thoughts from her mind, she smiled weakly. "Mommy . . . Mommy doesn't want you to see that hanyou . . ."

His eyes opened wide. "What?! Why?"

"Because . . ." She couldn't find the strength within her to tell him the horrible truth of the matter. "Because Mommy says so."

"That's not fair!" Jiko tore himself away from his mother, looking at her with a eyes full of betrayal.

"Jiko . . ." Kagome couldn't contain the sadness she felt at the look in his eyes. "Please . . . I . . . I just . . ." No longer could she contain the emotions boiling inside her.

How she wanted to see him. Needed to see him. Needed to run into his arms and cry her heart out into his warm embrace.

A tear slid down her cheek as she stared down at the ground.

The boy, sensing his mother's sudden distress, rushed forward and immediately pulled her into a hug.

Not far away, another hanyou crouched, hidden, on a rooftop, watching the whole scene. Even his delicate ears couldn't pick up what they were saying through the noise of the village, but he could sure as heck see that something was definitely wrong.

Crawling a bit closer, still hidden from view, he watched as the priestess stood up, wiping away her tears and putting on a brave face. She picked back up the jug she had been carrying and started walking again, followed closely by the boy known as Jiko.

Inuyasha's ears pricked forward as he leap silently onto a closer rooftop, right beside where the two were.

"Please, Mommy. Please. He's the only other one like me I've ever met."

The woman stopped and looked down at Jiko's pleading eyes. She sighed. "Alright, Jiko . . ."

He immediately squealed in delight. "Thank you, Mommy!"

She smiled half-heartedly back. Why, Inuyasha could only assume, was because she was afraid that he would hurt her son in some way.

Jiko took a few steps forward and started sniffing. He started meandering around, sniffing at random objects until he came to the hut that Inuyasha was perched upon. A smile burst over his features. "Inuyasha!"

The priestess's eyes immediately widened as Jiko called out his name so close to her. Without a second thought, said hanyou leapt down off the hut and landed right in front of Jiko, smirking.

"Looks like ya found me."

It took all of Kagome's power to keep herself from crying again. He was so close . . . yet never further away . . .

"Oh! Inuyasha! This is my Mommy!" He ran over to Kagome and pulled her forward towards Inuyasha.

Giving off another familiar smirk, he held out his hand to her. "I'm Inuyasha. I'm sure your son's told you all about me."

Shakily, she took his hand, feeling the warmth of it, and her whole body was suddenly filled with a mad desire for him. But . . . no . . . she couldn't . . .

"I'm, um, Jiko's mother . . ."

Slightly confused at her not telling him her name, Inuyasha let go of her hand, taking in her scent and appearance. She had long, black hair tied messily to the back of her head. Her eyes were a brilliant brown with a hint of ice around the edges. Her face was very mature, almost . . . over mature, as if she had been forced to grow up too fast for her own good. The priestess clothes she wore fit loosely around her small frame, obviously too big for her.

But the most curious thing about her was her scent. There almost seemed to not be one. There were, of course, the scents of sickness and blood and miko powers, but besides that, there was nothing. No trace of a distinctive smell that set her apart from any other person.

Before he could open his mouth to voice this fact, Jiko had grabbed him by the hand and was trying to drag him away, into the fields. "Come on! I wanna play!"

The priestess watched, almost longingly, as he got further and further away. But before he had reached the gates, she had taken a step forward, and another, and another. Jiko stopped pulling him long enough so that she got within a few feet of him, just staring at him with that same longing in her eyes.

Recognition flashed through his eyes. He felt his heart stop as everything else besides the two of them seemed to freeze in time. "K-Kagome . . ." His voice seemed to be lost in his throat.

She took another step forward, but tripped over a rock, sending her to fall, wide eyed to the ground.

Before he knew what he was doing, he had caught her in his arms, holding her tightly. She herself, still braced for impact, stared up at him, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes.

Before she could stop herself, she hugged him tightly, crying into him. "Oh, ai . . ."

Slightly surprised, he quietly wrapped his arms around her, closing his eyes. "Kagome . . ."

Jiko merely stood, watching his mother break down as Inuyasha held her. She suddenly couldn't hold herself up anymore, and her knees shook as she started to slide to the ground, Inuyasha following, never letting her go.

"I'm sorry, Kagome . . ." Inuyasha hugged her even tighter. "And . . . I love you . . ."

Kagome gasped.

No . . . no . . . it couldn't be . . . he couldn't to that to her . . . he couldn't . . . he couldn't possibly make it any harder . . .

She looked up at him, tears completely covering her face. With a gentle hand, he wiped them away, looking for any signs of hate or rejection.

"No!" she suddenly cried out, pushing him away from her. "No . . ."

She was on her hands and knees, crying. He held out a hand to her, but lowered it as his heart shattered. "Then . . . you hate me?"

She gasped again. No . . . she didn't hate him. She couldn't leave him believing that. She loved him too. She loved him more than anything. "Inuyasha . . ."

He stood up, his bangs covering the hurt in his eyes. "I understand . . ." With that, he turned to leave, to get the hell out of that place, forever.

Kagome, still crying her heart out, mouthed at him. No . . . Inuyasha . . . I love you . . .

He slowly walked out of the village, his heart shattering again with every step.

She hated him. She really hated him.

No matter what he had told himself, he had always expected her to come leaping back into his arms after he found her and apologized. He never expected her to really hate him. It just didn't seem possible.

Jiko suddenly shot in front of him, blocking his progress with his arms outstretched. "Inuyasha, where are you going?!"

"I'm leavin', kid . . ." His voice held not a trace of hope.

"You can't just leave Mommy like that!" The edges of his eyes sparkled with yet to shed tears.

Mommy . . . wait . . . Mommy?

"Wait a minute . . . Kagome's your mother?"

Looking slightly confused, the boy nodded. "Of course she's my mother. What else would she be?"

Inuyasha stared at him, dumbstruck. Kagome was his mother? But . . . how could that be? The boy was a hanyou like he was, and there wasn't a single demon in the village. And yet he was certain that he couldn't possibly be the father. So . . .

He looked back over his shoulder at the priestess, still sobbing on the ground. And that's when he smelled it. Kagome, obviously seeing the futility in masking her scent anymore, had let the barrier down. Her scent, as pleasant as ever, seemed to be, well, different. The sweetness of motherhood had also mixed in.

But there was something else. Something that made his blood come to a full boil. The reek of another man. Not on her, but in her. A soft growl rumbled in his throat. She had betrayed him. She had betrayed him. His mind screamed at him for ever trusting his heart to another, for ever believing that anyone would ever love a mere half breed like him.

With one final growl, he turned and brushed past Jiko, back into the forest, to leave forever and never come back. Ever.

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...groans... Angst . . . I feel really, really depressed now. And I'm still not saying anything more about Jiko!!! That will come when it comes!!! But let's just say that the meaning of his name basically summarizes the whole situation. And I know that Jiko's not Inu's son but that's just . . . well . . . can you not yell at me for that please? ...looks But thank you for reviewing! I feel so damn popular now! Over 20 reviews in a day! Woah! That's gotta be my record! Anyway, I felt so proud of you guys that I'm updating now. But you'll have to wait till Saturday for the next one.

And here's the shout outs:

KristaB (first reviewer!!!): ...looks away from you... Um . . . well . . . he knows she's her now . . . ...nervous laugh...

animefreak321654: To tell you the truth, I don't know if Shippo's gonna be in this fic or not . . . maybe . . . maybe . . .

Mysticalflame: You'll find out about Jiko soon enough. And as I said before, the meaning of the name kinda explains the whole darn thing! Well, I don't wanna give too much away now. ...smiles evilly...

Amaya: Awwwww . . . I didn't mean to confuse you . . . ...pats you on the back... Tell me how I can unconfuse you, and I'll do it.

ArizonaGoddess89: Yeah. Inu is sweet. He's just so darn worried . . . and so emotional about it . . . so sweet . . . And yeah, you're right about Kagome. She is a wreck. And poor Jiko too. the little guy... But I'm afraid his troubles have barely begun. Now Inu's mad at him too! ...sighs... But yeah. Getting rid of Kikyo was a high priority on my things to do in this fic. ...smiles widely... And I agree completely. She is a nasty little yeah.

PadFootCc: ...sighs... I know . . . it's really sad . . . she's right there, and he doesn't recognize her! ...sighs again and shakes head...

dragonSpired48: Actually, this is my third fic. I've also authored "The Mystery of the Past and Love" and "Hard to Get." And I did read your fic, and I would've reviewed except my compy was being stubborn and blocked the pop-up! So consider this shout out as my review: UPDATE NOW!!! Okay I'm done.

animefreakashley: Oh, come on! This is only technically the second chapter, and you want me to finish it! That'd be pretty darn boring if you asked me . . . no offense . . . But I know where you're coming from. I'm the author, and I'm already sick of the angst and want the fluff!!!

Mage of Swords: Yeah, I agree. Prejudice is a VERY bad thing. ...whacks all the kids that did that over the head... And yes, even though it doesn't exactly look like it now, this is and always will be an Inu/Kag fic. The way it should be.

Sanci: Now didn't I tell you I'd update? But yes, it really is sad that he didn't recognize her . . . I mean, she was less than a foot in front of him for crying out loud! ...sighs... And now he thinks she hates him . . . someone really needs to straighten him out . . .

Jaeli: I would too. Well . . . either him or my Fluffy. ...looks at him lovingly... Oh yes. You'll find out the horrible truth soon enough. Just pray that Inu won't take it too roughly . . .

ChibiKenshin6490: Well. As you just saw, they did get to talk. Not very much. But they talked. Now the tension's even greater! Don't ya just love it!

Meeko: Well . . . I don't know whether or not I'm going to bring the others into this yet, but it's a possibility. But if I do, it probably won't be much . . . maybe a chapter or two . . . and no, unfortunately the shikon's not complete. I'm probably not going to bring it into this story, unless of course I decide to add a little more spice to this. Let's just say I haven't completely decided how everything's going to turn out yet.

And Also Thanks to: Ayame (You are VERY welcome!), brigurl (Awesometacular? Lol.), misforgiven-angel (...gives you inhaler... I think you'll need this because I'm sure you're gonna run out of breath when you review this one.), xbleakheartx (Me too.), ShadyLady06 (...blushes... You think so? Thank you . . .), Sarcasm girl8 (...smiles really widely...)