Hiya! I am seriously not feeling the love here. I spend all that time writing this story for you, and all I get in return are nine reviews. And few of them are more than three words long. I must admit, the story is not a real thrill seeker at the moment, but it is a work in progress. I do my best to make these characters more like I would like while not straying to far out of their normal actions, and no one seems to appreciate it. If things do not look up soon, I am going to have to abandon this story all together and start up a new one. I apologize to those of you who are actually loyal readers, but I really must put my foot down on this. Well, the reviews are nice, so maybe I will keep going. Only time will tell.

Disclaimer: I tried in the last chapter, and got the hell beaten out of me, so until I find a way to bypass this restraint order and get a nice haggle for it,

I do not own Inu-Yasha. I really think I need the restraint form more than she does at the moment.

Mrs. Higurashi, Sota, and Gramps walked inside their house after the play at Sota's school, only to find the floor was wet inside every room. Nothing was missing, so they assumed Kagome, and Inu-Yasha had been there. Why Kagome had not stopped by long, or cleaned up the mess, they did not stop to wonder. Over the last three years such strange things had happened that they had learned to stop questioning things that would otherwise cause most other families to panic over. Sota and Gramps went straight to bed, leaving Mrs. Higurashi to clean the mess and wash the dishes left out earlier. As she was washing the dishes, she noticed something sitting in front of the Sacred Tree. When she realized it was Kagome, she grabbed an umbrella and ran out of the house, slowing and stopping only five feet from her.

The sight caused Mrs. Higurashi to catch her breath. In the gray of the chilly night, and the glow of the rain, she might have just been staring at an angel rather than her daughter. Her arms crossed over her knees with her forehead on them, the slight gray of her otherwise white school uniform giving her skin a soft sort of ash color, the raven locks of hair laid gently across her shoulder, the slight glow that seemed to come off her due to the rain, all spoke of a beauty seen only in the books of goddesses. Kagome looked up, and the face still spoke of beauty, but there was an empty look to it. Her face held no expression, her eyes were blank, but as a mother, Mrs. Higurashi saw the undeniable pain dancing just beneath the surface.

"Kagome? What's wrong? Why are you out here in the rain without so much as an umbrella?"

Tears filled Kagome's eyes, and the pain she had fought down for the last several hours resurfaced, more strongly than before.

"Oh, mom." Was all she managed before her sobs once again racked he body, this time more viciously than before. Mrs. Higurashi held her child gently, rocking back and forth whispering words of comfort. As the story spilled out, Mrs. Higurashi was surprised to find that she was not the slightest bit mad at Inu-Yasha, rather she was mad at her daughter for believing such things.

"Kagome," her mother began firmly, "you know that is not true. You are-"

"A burden. I always was. My friends get hurt because they protect me. I am second in everything. He was right on that. My archery has gotten better, but Kikyo is first. My spiritual powers second her. My rank seconds her. I myself even second her, really only a reincarnation of her. I am definitely second too, in-" she broke off there, tears now starting anew. She had been about to say that she came second to Inu-Yasha, but it hurt too much to say out loud. If she said it, she felt like it was truly cemented. She knew it already was, but she did not want to finalize it.

"Nothing I do, not even things I do that are naturally apart of me I do best at. That never bugged me at first, I was a newly found reincarnation of one of the most loved mikos', but after people started to know me for me, it was kind of annoying. Even now, three years later, all anyone ever seems to do is compare me to her. And rarely ever in a good way. And whether or not they know, it hurts. Especially when it is done by some of my closet friends. So, I decided, that . . . I am. . . . going to stay . . . here." She finished off, trying and failing to swallow a new sob.

"But Kagome, what about the Sacred Jewel? What about Inu-Yasha? Don't you think he and all your friends will miss you?"

Kagome hiccuped at Inu-Yasha's name, but otherwise kept under control for the first time that night.

"The only Shards left are the ones that Koga and Kohaku carry. There is no more need of me there. As for Inu-Yasha . . . . . he won't miss me. He never did. I was just a 'shard detector.' Now that he knows where they are, all I will do is stand in the way. He already decided a long time ago that he will go to hell with Kikyo, he only needs to finish cleaning up, and he's ready to go. I was always interfering, Kikyo said that when we first met, and she was right. If he wants to go to hell with her, than so be it. It's his choice."

Mrs. Higurashi remained silent. Without knowing, Kagome had told her what was wrong. Mrs. Higurashi knew Kagome cared deeply for the hanyou, but sense he loved Kikyo, there was nothing to be done. Him going to hell was affecting her more than she would know until it happened.

"And the rest of your friends? They are going to miss you, and you them."

"I will miss them . . . .but it was bound to happen anyway. When the jewel was complete, I would have to stay in the era I belong in. We all knew that."

Mrs. Higurashi played her last hand.

"You are right about one thing Kagome. You would have to stay in the era you belong in. But it isn't this one." Seeing the shocked look on Kagome's face she continued. "This is no longer your era Kagome. It stopped being so after the first day you fell down the well. I knew that, and a selfish part of me refused to see it, but it is the truth. You don't belong here. You never did. Even when you were small I knew there was something different about you. You were so interested in adventure histories. You could care less about non-fiction, but fiction was your favorite. Grandpa knew this and started to tell you stories of the shrine, things he so fully believed to be true. For the first few years of your life you loved them. Especially ones dealing with demons, and mikos.

You one day stopped loving them. After you had heard all of them, you stopped remembering them, and started looking at them as though they were nothing more than lies. It was so sudden. It seemed to me at the time you were searching for information. It was as if you had heard all there was to offer, and none of it seemed to be what you were looking for. The tree was always your favorite spot. You would sit there and tell stories when you were young. The odd thing is . . . . the main character . . . was always a woman named . . . . Kikyo."

Kagome looked at her mother as though she had just slapped her. Did she really tell stories dealing with the long dead woman? Did a small part of her remember her past life? It was impossible to say.

Her mother rose and began to walk up the stairs to her house. Just as Miroku had done to Inu-Yasha, she turned at the last minute to offer one more piece of advice.

"Kagome. Remember. Home is not were your blood dwells, it is were your heart dwells." With that she turned and left.

Kagome, now shocked to her very core, stood slowly as she finished digesting this new bit of information. Her mother was right. She didn't belong here. She had grown up with a strange feeling, like there was a giant hole in her. When she first 'visited' the feudal era, that feeling vanished. She didn't even realize it until now. The hole was gone, as though it had never been there. Whenever she returned, as much as she loved this era's technology, a small part of her missed what she left behind.

Kagome gave a small smile as she went inside to take a shower. She had made her decision, even though it strongly contradicted her feelings.

well, what do ya think? Kinda pointless, but I figured you would want to know what ran wild in Kagome's mind, and what those 'dark thoughts' were.

See ya!

Lil' Pup out