A/N: I just have to say I'm absolutely LOVING all the questions you're making! That's my intention! (also, to confuse you all a little). Thank you all so much for those clever doubts you're asking me, GA2, kiki ortega, BlackCat, moonlitephox, Plegh weasley, all of you. I promise those doubts will not go unanswered. And thanks to all those who are reviewing. You inspire me to update faster.

Chapter five: Of fries and possessive ex-boyfriends

Tokyo. 2000 a.C.

"Do you remember how often we used to come here after school? It seems like yesterday."

The Makudonaldo establishment hadn't changed at all, but the four young women sitting at one of its tables had. The old friends hadn't seen each other in almost a year, being too busy with their college studies, but they had decided to meet and remember good old times with fewer responsibilities, or at least it was so for three of them.

"I do, but now I fail to see why. The food has so much fat in it!"

"But we had fun, didn't we, Kagome?" asked Yuka.

"Yeah, well, you did more often than I, though." She smiled and combed her short hair behind her ear.

Ayumi nodded, "Yes, I remember you spent most of your high school time recovering from illness to illness. I'm so glad you are completely healthy now! You know, I always feared you wouldn't be able to get into college because you didn't have time enough to study."

"But she did a great effort in our senior year Ayu, didn't you, Kagome?" said Eri and then took a big chunk out of her hamburger; she would watch her waistline another day.

"I had to sacrifice a lot of things," –her vision went astray for a moment— "but yes, I did."

They kept on with their chat, talking about how their lives went and how difficult or exciting their respective careers were. Kagome had decided to become a doctor; she had got used to take care of others.

Later on the chat deviated to family, new friends and of course, boyfriends. At this point Kagome went suddenly quiet and her friends didn't fail to notice it, as they hadn't failed to notice as well how the merry, positive fifteen year old they had known had vanished and replaced by a more somber nineteen year old girl whose smile rarely touched her sad eyes.

"So, Kagome, tell us, what happened to that jealous boyfriend of yours?" Ayumi asked all of a sudden.

"Yeah, that's right! What became of him? You are not still seeing him, are you?" Yuka always thought that relationship didn't do any good for her friend.

Kagome lowered her eyes. She had expected they wouldn't ask. Well, she guessed she could tell them a bit of the truth. "I… um, no. We don't see each other anymore."

"Why?"

"Well, Eri, he decided to be with someone else."

"With that other girl, the one he was in love with when he was dating you? That double-timer! Men are such pigs!" Yuka retorted.

"No… that girl died, sort of." The answer seemed to shock them.

"What? Really? How sad, but still he went and looked for someone else? Why didn't he stay with you?" Ayumi couldn't believe her ears.

She didn't think she could keep talking about it for much longer before bursting into tears in front of her friends, and she had promised herself that she wouldn't cry over it any more. "I-- I don't know… I guess he couldn't wait for me."

"Wait for you? What do you mean?"

Kagome took a deep breath. "You'll see, I told him I wouldn't be able to see him for a while because I had to ready myself for the national exam, he got really upset about it and told me he wouldn't be waiting for me.

"What a jerk! How dare he! So that's why he dumped you?" Ayumi huffed in indignation.

"Well, he didn't exactly dump me, but the situation was also my fault. Because of me he was going through a very difficult time when all of this happened so… I suppose he really didn't want to see me anymore."

"What could it have been? What did you do?" Yuka wanted to hear the whole story.

How could she explain to them that Inuyasha had become a human to save her from death? Of course she couldn't. "Well, let's say he lost his legacy because of me."

"Oh! He was disowned because of you? That's so romantic!"

"Eri! That's not romantic! It's tragic!" retorted Ayumi.

"Tragic, yes, but romantic nonetheless." Eri raised a finger, as if lecturing them over the facts of life. Kagome smiled a little at this. At one time, she also thought it to be romantic, but not anymore.

"Well, I think you could say that," she said at last.

"And who is the girl he is now with? Do you know her?"

Would they ever stop asking her questions?

"Yes, as a matter of fact I know her. She was my best friend."

"No way!"

"It can't be!"

"It's always the best friends!"

Kagome raised her hands, trying to calm down their ire. "But it's okay, really, it was meant to be anyway."

"Why do you say that?"

"Girls, I… I really don't want to talk about this anymore," she pleaded and then pretended to take a sip from her now empty milkshake glass.

"That's why you cut your beautiful hair?"

"Uh?"

Yuka repeated her question. "I said if that was the reason for you to cut your hair. You know, we women always go and try a new look when we break up with a man, just to leave the moment behind."

Kagome felt her limbs go numb; she hadn't seen it under that light. When she had decided to get rid of her long cascade she had said to herself it was to start a new life in college. She didn't realize that when she allowed the first locks to be cut, she had finally accepted that her new life didn't include Inuyasha. She felt her world crumble down one more time and it must have reflected on her face, because Ayumi spoke with a deeply concerned voice.

"Don't be sad, Kagome, we promise not to talk about it anymore, okay?"

"Yeah, and you know what? We all should go and catch a movie? Right girls?"

"Of course, but it better be a comedy, so Kagome will brighten up a little."

Kagome smiled at them, but once again, her eyes remained sad.

Makudonaldo: That's the way McDonalds is called in Japan. Funny, ne?

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- Sdykikyou, I don't recall ever bashing Kikyo. In fact I like her and I find her story so tragic. I really don't like to bash anyone. Not my style.
- Demon exterminator Barbie, You're right... How on earth did I miss 100 years? I don't know how such 'little detail' escaped me and my beta... but now's too late to correct it as I have the story practically finished... still thanks for the warning. I might get to correct the whole story some day.