so here's chapter two of War of Emotions. hope you like it! R&R, please!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters Inuyasha, Kagome, etc.


Chapter 2

"Sango!"

The girl turned. "Miroku! You scared me!"

"Then please accept my deepest apologies," he said, extending his hand. Sango took it and he hoisted her up from her crouched position. She had been moving some flowers into a sunnier spot on the side of Kaede's hut. Her hands were covered in soil and she awkwardly tried to push the stray strands of irritating hair out of her face without dirtying her forehead.

"Apologies accepted, Miroku," she replied, rubbing her eye with the back of her hand. "So, what's the matter?"

Miroku folded his hands in the sleeves of his robe. They were safe. Sango's behind was safe. Well, at least for the time being.

"Kagome and Inuyasha."

Sango raised her eyebrows and sighed. "If you're asking me what's going on, I really don't know. I did catch bits of their conversation."

"Not really much of a conversation if you ask me," the monk shrugged. "It was more like Kagome yelling the whole time."

Sighing, Sango agreed. "She did do some of that. And she smashed the bottle that held the jewel." She paused. "Did the jewel fall apart?"

Miroku shook his head. "I saw Inuyasha play around with that thing. It's still a whole piece—well, a whole piece excluding the pieces we're still missing."

"We've still got a long way to go before we find all those other shards." Sango raised her head to look at the mountains and shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight. "What bothers me is that Inuyasha didn't go after her," she added quietly.

Miroku's eyes wandered to the same place where Sango focused on. He squinted against the sun so he could make out the outline of the mountains. "I think he meant to."

"You mean he was and then he didn't?"

"Yeah, something like that. Maybe he didn't know what to say."

Sango did have to admit that what Miroku just said made sense. Inuyasha had always had problems vocalizing his thoughts in the right way. Not that everybody else had problems. Even she did, from time to time. But perhaps Inuyasha more than others.

"I guess…"

Miroku turned away. The light was really hurting his eyes. He watched Inuyasha in the distance, leaning against the gnarly boughs of the tree. "I think he's torturing himself right now."

"You think we should talk to him?"

"I don't know. Maybe in a while. I don't really want to face his bad mood."

Sango nodded. But she also knew that they had better do something soon. She was really worried about Kagome.


Kagome put her backpack down beside her bed and plunked herself down on the mattress. She dried her tears with her sleeves, the material growing sheer because they were getting wet.

Stop crying! Why are you crying? You don't need him. He's just some stupid jerk who's been using you all this time. Maybe this will teach a lesson.

Kagome sniffled and obeyed her thoughts. Reaching for the box of tissue, she pulled out a whole wad of tissue, making the dust motes dance in the late afternoon sun. Forcefully, she blew her nose and managed to empty half of the box.

Great. I'm wasting tissues now. Just like how I've been wasting all my time looking for some stupid jewel shards instead of studying for tests.

She threw her head down on the pillow. She didn't want to think about school. She didn't want to think about Inuyasha. She didn't want to think about anything. Kagome didn't want to think about anything anymore. Lethargically, she reached into the drawer of her night stand and dug around the junk. She pulled out a bottle of Tylenol and poured out one. Without bothering with water, she popped it into her mouth and swallowed.

A few teary minutes later, Kagome fell asleep, her head buried into her pillow.


The jewel was growing hot in his hands. He had been playing around with it for hours. Sighing, he tucked it into the folds of his sleeve. Then he leaned back to rest his head on the branch.

Kagome? What are you doing now? Don't cry anymore, please, he implored in the silence of his head. His heart was heavy. He didn't know what it was heavy with—a mix of sadness, anger, hope. He really don't know. Clenching his fist, he held back a little yelp that was forming in his throat.

Why did he just stand there? Why didn't he follow her? How could he just let her leave like that? How could he? He had always protected her, looked out for her, gone after her. But he let her go that time. I let her go. How stupid can you get? How can leave someone you lo—

It suddenly felt like something exploded inside his mind. His eyes widened and his heart stopped. He couldn't believe he let himself admit it—even if it was only in his thoughts.

He loved her. It struck him like lightning. And he didn't know what to do about him. He didn't know what to feel. He could only repeat this to himself: "I love Kagome…I love her…"