Disclaimer: I do not have any rights to nor make any money from the characters in this story.
Chapter 3: and Righteous Indignation
Several days went by, then a week. Kagome fell back into her old routine at school and home, but she never stopped thinking about the feudal period, and how she longed to be back there. Longed for someone back there. But no, that could never be. Even if she could get back there, he still wouldn't love her.
She walked to school in a daze, thinking painfully of her long separation from Inuyasha. She barely reacted to her friends when they surrounded her, chattering. She was looking down at her feet, dejected, but then something drew her attention. The Shikon jewel! A large portion of it was near. She looked up to the building where she sensed it, and then got an even bigger shock. Inuyasha!
He was watching her from the roof, but he saw her look at him, and pulled back almost before she realized it was him. She wouldn't let him get away that easily. "Sit!" she called, startling all of her friends. Then she took off into the building and raced up the stairs, repeating the command as she went.
When she burst out onto the roof, Inuyasha was still pinned to the floor as she had hoped. Her first thought on seeing him was how much she had missed him, but then her anger returned. First it was directed to the Shikon jewel he had stolen from her, preventing her from returning down the well. She ran to him and tried to pull it off from around his neck. He caught her hands easily and pulled them away, which she hadn't thought of in her rage. But instead of letting them go, or pushing her away, he drew her closer and gazed into her face. "Kagome . . . " he whispered longingly, and her heart fluttered. She melted in his arms, again forgetting her anger. He was back!
He pulled her closer and kissed her. For the moment she forgot everything but his lips and body against hers. He settled them down onto the ground and laid her on her back, kissing her the whole time. She clung to him and lost herself in his embrace.
Inuyasha started to pull her shirt over her head, and that brought her back to her senses. She pushed him up and rolled out from under him, her anger flaring up. She sat up and readjusted her shirt. "You think you can just show up whenever you feel like it, sleep with me, and then leave me afterwards, with no explanation? I'm not just a sex toy you can put up on a shelf when you don't want me!"
Inuyasha was flustered. "I wasn't. . . that's not what I . . ." He trailed off, and a pained expression crossed his face. Then he turned and jumped away.
"Oh, no, you don't!" cried Kagome. "Sit!" Inuyasha fell back onto the roof. Hard. She strode up to him again. "You're staying here until you answer some questions! First of all, why did you leave me like that? With just a pathetic note saying you're sorry? Sorry for what? Abandoning me? Sleeping with me?" Her anger flashed in her eyes.
Inuyasha turned away, ashamed. "I'm sorry . . . that I love you. I love you so much that I can't let you be with me, but I can't let you go."
Kagome was shocked. He really did love her! She hadn't just been imagining what she wanted to see. But her anger was not abated. She couldn't be sure he wasn't lying, given his treatment of her. Maybe he was just saying what she wanted to hear. He still owed her an explanation of his actions.
"If you really loved me, why did you abandon me? That was cold."
"I don't want to you get too involved with me. You could get hurt."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm already involved. I love you, too," she replied harshly, in a clipped voice.
Inuyasha was unprepared for that. He looked even more ashamed and at a loss.
"You think I was a slut, sleeping with you just because I felt like it? That meant more to me than you could ever know. And that's why you leaving me hurt more than you know as well."
Inuyasha seemed to gain some composure after that. "I left you to protect you. In that world you would always be in danger. And I don't belong here. That night was special to me, too. But it made me realize how much I couldn't bear it if something happened to you, if I couldn't protect you."
"I can protect myself!"
"Oh, please. You'd be dead several times over if it hadn't been for me. And many times you only lived through blind luck."
Kagome wanted to argue with that but couldn't. However, she was still angry with him. "What makes you get to decide what's best for me?"
Inuyasha jumped up and started pacing the roof. "Because I knew you would argue, like you're doing now."
"For good reason! You think you can just dump me here and expect me to stay?"
"You would have stayed, if I hadn't been so foolish as to come back to see you!" Inuyasha was becoming angry as well.
"Why did you come back then, if you knew I could use my 'sit' command to keep you from escaping?"
Inuyasha hesitated and turned away. "Because I missed you," he fought to get out. "What did you think? Being away from you is hard for me, too, even though it's for the best. And I didn't think you'd see me."
"What, so you can see me but I can't see you? Like that's fair!"
"It's kinder to you! If you hadn't known I was here, you could have gone on happily with your life. I'm sorry I messed that up."
"Oh, Inuyasha!" Kagome sighed, with tears appearing in her eyes. "Don't you get that my life would never be happy without you in it? What's the point of living if I can't be with you?" She sat down on the edge of the roof and tried to hide her tears. But Inuyasha saw them and came over to sit next to her.
"It doesn't have to be forever. I could come back here to visit you," he proposed, consolingly.
"But I want to be with you! How are you going to find the jewel shards without me? Don't you think it's my responsibility to find them?"
"What about all the demons who try to kill you for the shards? You can't live through their attacks forever."
"Maybe I can't, but with you by my side I have a pretty good shot. And I'm not completely helpless. We make a good team." Her voice started to choke up as she continued. "I couldn't stand waiting here, not knowing if you were in danger, or injured and alone somewhere! Or . . . or . . . ! Don't you want me to be there with you?" Her tears welled up again, and Inuyasha broke down as well.
"Of course I do." He placed his fingers under her chin and brushed her tears away with his thumb. Then he tilted her face up and bent down until his lips met hers. She leaned forward into his embrace, and the whole world seemed to stop as they held each other and kissed.
"KAGOME!" shouted three voices at once as the door to the stairs burst open. Startled and a bit embarrassed, Inuyasha and Kagome sprang up and away from each other.
"What are you doing up here? It's almost time for school!" cried Eri.
"Who is that boy?" whispered Yuka to Ayumi.
"I have no idea!" Ayumi whispered back.
"Come on, Kagome!" Eri grabbed her arm and started back towards the stairs.
"Wait," called Inuyasha, catching up to them. Kagome turned and he smiled at her, slipping the jewel shards into her hand. "I'll see you after school."
Kagome threw a growing smile back over her shoulder to Inuyasha as her friends led her down the stairs.
Author's Note: The first three chapters are the original story I posted, which I plan to continue later.