Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha, and I am glad I don't. I'd just ruin the story.

Chapter 2: Upon awakening

InuYasha stared at Kagome, asleep at the foot of the tree he was in. His ears laced back as he heard mumbles coming from her. "Damn. If she figures out I heard her, I'll never get out of the hole she'd Osuwari me into." He looked up at the sky, and at the moon, slowly fading into the night of the new moon, when he would lose his youkai powers. One ear twitched forward as he heard his name called.

"Inu…InuYasha…" Kagome mumbled in her sleep. The other ear twitched forward, as InuYasha leaned forward to hear. "InuYasha…I..I…" He leaned farther forward, clinging to the tree now with his claws for balance. "I..I lo.." The mumbles were interrupted as she rolled over and opened her eyes. Seeing the hanyou above, staring at her, she blushed. "InuYasha…I didn't say anything in my sleep, did I?" He gave a mute nod of his head, then jumped down, landing next to her with a small thump. He glanced at her, then turned away.

"Look…I know you're just gonna Osuwari me, because I couldn't help listening. But if it helps, all you did was mumble a name a few times." His ears laced back as he waited for the command that would throw him to the dirt. 'Damn, I'm in for it now, aren't I?' he thought. Behind him, he heard Kagome stand and come next to him.

"InuYasha…" she said quietly. He raised his ears a little, tilting one towards her. "I…I've wanted to tell you something for a while. I thought…" She shook her head. "I thought I'd tell you before I left for good. I love you, InuYasha, and that's why I have to do this." He turned towards her, shocked, smelling salt in the air, and knowing she was crying. "Goodbye, InuYasha." She had grabbed her pack and had put it on her shoulders. "Maybe I'll be back, someday. But for now…" She took a breath, then shouted "OSUWARI!" and began to run away, towards the well a short distance away. Every time she heard InuYasha begin to move after her, she shouted Osuwari again, until she was standing on the edge of the well.

She glanced behind her as the noise of InuYasha running after her came to her ears. She smiled sadly and jumped down as InuYasha ran into the clearing. Concentrating, she prepared to seal the well as soon as she arrived.

InuYasha jumped into the well after Kagome, shouting. He landed with a thump on the bottom of the well. "Damn it!" He swore. "The wench sealed it after her! Why did she go!" He yelled to the stars. He fell back, leaning against the side of the well. "Why…" he whispered. "Why tell me and then leave?" He slid down the side of the well, and seemed to collapse in upon himself. Her scent lingered in the air. The scent he had told her he hated. He regretted that now, wishing he could have told her how he felt towards her just once. But she was gone now.

Dawn saw the sad, depressed hanyou back at their camp, struggling over what he would tell the monk, Miroku, and the taijiya, Sango, what had happened. He dreaded most telling Shippou, the small kitsune, what had happened. The small demon loved Kagome as if she were his mother, and would cry for hours when he found she had left. As the first rays of light pierced the leaves of the tree that stood over the sleeping group, Miroku stirred. Rolling over in his sleep, he placed his arm across Sango's waist, waking up the taijiya. With a start, she woke up screaming "PERVERT!" And slapped Miroku across the face. With a cry, he sat up. "What was that for!" He yelled at Sango. Shippou had woken up sometime during this exchange, and stood laughing.

InuYasha looked at the scene, and sighed. Jumping lightly from the tree, he walked up to them. "Well, if you two are done arguing…" Sango and Miroku looked at him, as Shippou stopped laughing and looked up at the seriousness and sadness in InuYasha's voice. "Hey InuYasha. Where's Kagome?" Shippou called over to him. InuYasha's ears flatted against his head, and the others waited as he spoke slowly "She…she left, about an hour ago. She kept yelling Osuwari so I couldn't follow, then sealed the well as she went through it. I tried…I tried to catch her. I don't know what was wrong. She just…she said something to me, then started running."

The three companions who had listened to InuYasha speak glanced at each other. Shippou sat down on the ground, sniffling. "B-b-but why would she leave us? Didn't she care for us at all?" Sango knelt next to Shippo. "There, there Shippo. I'm sure she will return soon."

"No she won't! She left f-forever and it's all InuYasha's fault!" The small kitsune wailed. At this, Miroku looked up at the half demon, who had leaned against a tree, and was staring at the ground. "InuYasha…Shippou has a point. Was this your fault?"

"No, damnit! I told you, I tried to catch her! She just…" At this point the hanyou lowered his voice, and looked up, staring at a tree, seeming to try to bore holes in it with his eyes. Whispering, he went on. "She...She woke up, and started acting funny. She told me that…that she loved me, and would be back someday, if she could. And then she Osuwari'd me and ran for the damned well."

At hearing InuYasha's words, Shippou looked up, tars still streaming down his face. He had, he knew, been perhaps the only one to hear the hanyou admit to it. He stared at the poor dejected hanyou in front of him, as his tears stopped flowing violently, slowing to a trickle down his cheeks.

At no response, InuYasha repeated himself louder, startling the humans in the group. Miroku took a step towards InuYasha, who growled slightly and leaped into a tree. "Look, damnit! I-I…" he stuttered, then turned his head. "I loved her too" he murmured. At those words, he turned and fled into the forest.