Fandom: Inuyasha/Yu Yu Hakusho
Title: What happened?
Theme: 4. Lost
Paring: Kagome Higurashi/Kazuma Kuwabara
Disclaimer: Inuyasha (c) Rumiko Takahashi
Yu Yu Hakusho (c) Yoshihiro Togashi
Summary: Kagome reflects on who Kuwabara was and is.

W.h.a.t.h.a.p.p.e.n.e.d.?

Kagome sighed and looked down at her tea cup prying her eyes away from the man chatting with Yusuke. His expression and tone was so serious, as if he had never laughed in his life. Had she lost the man she knew?

What had happened? What had happened to the carefree little boy she knew years ago? The little boy who would always share his ice cream with her when hers fell on the ground?

Yes, she did remember that little boy well. His orange colored hair, natural all around, always fell into his eyes yet he refused to let it be cut. A large smile seemed to always be plastered to his face, widening whenever an opportunity to play with his friends arose. It was age seven when the two met she supposed. Her black hair was always kept up in her customary pigtails, but he never made fun of her like the other boys. They would spend hours at the playground, he would chase off any boys that tried to make fun of her. She did miss those days sorely. It had been a time when neither of them cared about anything, it had been just fine that way.

What had happened to the obnoxious teenager? The one who would always show off when around her?

It was before she began her tedious quest, she remembered. At age fourteen his hair was kept into an Elvis style. She could remember laughing the first time she saw his hair in such a way, but he had shrugged it off. By now he let most insults roll off of his back like water. It was something she admired about him because she could never let insults bounce off of her without feeling their sting. Of course she knew he would be used to it anyway. By now he was always picking fights with the gangs of various schools, something she wasn't so proud of. Of course they were still carefree and didn't quite give a damn. Why couldn't they go back to that time?

Who is this man? What had happened to give him such a hard expression in his eyes?

She knew he wasn't who she knew anymore. No, he wasn't the carefree boy or the rebellious teenager. He was a man now, a man with experience beyond those his age. He was not the old either, only in his late twenties now. His orange hair is now short, rid of the Elvis style, although a few strands of hair fell into his eyes. When she questioned his sister, Shizuru, the answer was always the same.

'He saw things that you could only imagine. Didn't take some of it half as well as some would have, but at least he didn't go and get himself killed.' She understood what Shizuru meant. However, he wasn't the only one to suffer at the hands of Youkai. She too had her hard experiences. But the man she saw now wasn't her Kazuma….not the one she knew.

"Everything alright hun?" Shizuru questioned. Kagome looked up from her tea cup and nodded with a small smile.

"Yes," she replied. She looked over at the two men, who were now wrestling on the grass without a care in the world.

Maybe he wasn't the little boy or teenager she used to know. But he was the strong, courageous man she knew now. Yes, he was a lot more serious than he used to be and didn't always do the small foolish things he used too. But he was still her Kazuma, no matter what. Maybe he wasn't as lost as she had previously thought.

W.h.a.t.h.a.p.p.e.n.e.d.?

Tijiya: Okay, I have decided to start a new challange for myself. I found these fun 30prompts at LJ and decided to do them just for the heck of it! I do hope that you all enjoyed the chapter. Please review, it'd make me very happy!