1095.73 Days Without You

Chapter Six: Thirty-Two Days Without You

"Hey, Kagome!" InuYasha barked from the opposite end of the hallway and Kagome's shoulders slumped, her brand new blue blazer too stiff to imitate the motion. It was hard to believe that she discovered the correct wish, purified the Sacred Jewel, and returned through the well with InuYasha over a month ago. Life certainly changed for her—for all of their friends—and Kagome was happy to volunteer her drastic transformation from middle schooler fretting over an evil half-demon and high school entrance exams to a high schooler predicting her friend's next comment with almost psychic accuracy. 'InuYasha's picked you up for the third time this week; things are so serious,' Kagome thought to herself as Ayumi tucked a small chuckle behind the back of her hand.

"This is the third time this week," Ayumi said, that small laugh peeking out from between her fingers. Kagome groaned and, honestly, she didn't care if InuYasha heard it. If he did, the sheen in his amber eyes hardly showed it as he stopped in front of the two school girls. Ayumi landed a playful jab to Kagome's arm, turning her focus to the half-demon. "I was just about to tell Kagome that you picking her up is so sweet."

In typical InuYasha fashion, InuYasha turned his nose to the ceiling. "Well, I wouldn't have to come 'n get her if she didn't take so damn long to leave," he grumbled, a contradictory haze of pink spreading across the bridge of his nose.

Kagome rolled her eyes."Okay, okay—let's just go home already," she carped, placing her hands against his back and pushing him down the hallway. InuYasha's feet scrambled to keep up with the motion but the longer the three congregated, the more likely it was for whispers of the temperamental delinquent boy—not student—to finally reach her teachers. It wasn't that Kagome was ashamed to be seen with InuYasha. As a matter of fact, the truth was far from it. These new days of peace were overflowing with late-night kisses, confessions, touches, and conversations. Yes, Kagome was confident that if her life changed in any other way, it would be a nightmare.

Still, InuYasha had a lot of learning to do when it came to the customs of the Modern Era. The teachers of this school would never know he was a half-demon from the past. And that's why they'd forbid him from entering the building if they thought he was just a boy. Kagome loved InuYasha, but even the thought of reasoning with him on the matter gave her a headache.

Kagome turned her head back to Ayumi. "Meet you at the train station tomorrow?"

-X-

The overall frigid A/C in Seiyu Supermarket had nothing on the teeth-chattering Arctic tundra that its frozen meat and seafood section omitted. Kagome was relieved that she and InuYasha managed to come out on the other side after thirty bone-chilling seconds.

"Where's the ramen, Kagome?" InuYasha asked instantly, nearly leaping in the air as he turned around to face her. Excitement exuberated from the tips of his white fuzzy ears all the way his pointed toes. Clearly, the extra cold atmosphere hadn't affected him. Must be a half-demon perk, and those billowing pants.

Instead of answering her boyfriend, Kagome found herself drawn to the easygoing smirk he sported. Without Naraku hovering over him, InuYasha's shoulders seemed lighter; his smiles more genuine. He looked at her with these wide, golden eyes that couldn't possibly know hardship.

The schoolgirl turned priestess hoped these grocery store trips Mama made them take would be a part of their future forever.

Even though a forever with InuYasha was a wonderful fantasy to build in her mind, the present unfolded before them both and there was ramen waiting. Kagome shook her head and took InuYasha's hand, leading the way. InuYasha boldly tangled his fingers between hers, all while continuing to gape at their surroundings. "How does your world have so much food?"

"Distributors?" Kagome answered, albeit not confidently.

InuYasha plunged his focus back down to her eye level. "Dis—what?"

Kagome waved him off, pointing to several long, packed shelves. "Well, never mind that InuYasha, look: ramen!"

Kagome's world enchanted InuYasha; the unadulterated merriment and unabashed exploration he'd taken to shown while he vigorously inspected ramen flavors. It reminded her about his habit of wandering through the halls of Yosono High. She had to at least try getting him to stop. While she pondered the best way to approach the topic, she realized that it felt like hours since they left school which was strange. It had only been minutes. She couldn't explain it, but that didn't mean she couldn't attempt asking InuYasha to change their after school meeting place.

"You know you could wait outside for me," Kagome started.

Without missing a beat or tearing his attention away from scanning for the right flavor, InuYasha simply stated, "If I wait outside, you'll just get distracted."

"That's not true! You're going to get me in trouble," Kagome huffed.

"Haven't yet."

Like a chest puffed out in pride, Kagome's bottom lip protruded. Only she wanted to draw InuYasha's focus to it so he could see her absolutely pouting.

A light of recognition sparked in his eyes and for a split second, Kagome believed he had a tidbit to add to their conversation. Of course, she ended up watching InuYasha grab four cups of ramen—two in each hand—from seemingly opposite ends of the shelves instead.

"InuYasha," Kagome whined.

"Yes?" He asked, lowering all of the styrofoam cups into their already full green basket.

Maybe it was the way he had answered her with such gentle sincerity or maybe it was because she missed him so much that waltzing into a potential argument—Wait. She missed InuYasha. The idea sent her reeling backward.

"I—I, I miss you, InuYasha," she stuttered, brows furrowing together. "How is it possible that I miss you when we've spent every single day together since we defeated Naraku and the Sacred Jewel?"

"The Sacred Jewel?" InuYasha asked, cocking his head to the side, appearing way too cool. How was he this calm? Couldn't he hear how quickly her heart was beating—it shook her veins with absolute force. That was when Kagome realized it.

"The Sacred Jewel."

With a resounding beat, her best friend and their entire lives faded into infinite darkness.

"Sacred Jewel!" Kagome shouted, eyes searching for a familiar sight. Soon thereafter, as if calling out its name was the same as summoning it, the Jewel appeared with the arrow she shot a few moments before Naraku passed. "Why did you bring me here?"

"You really thought that you could defeat me?"

"But InuYasha and I—"

"InuYasha was never here," the Jewel cut her off. The choir of demons speaking within continued, nearly paralyzing the priestess."He's never coming."

What the jewel was claiming didn't make sense. Kagome swore she already lived through this experience. Despite all of the odds, InuYasha rescued her and she went home. They went home. She already endured this awful limbo, she'd endured the taunting. She spent three days alone. "No, that can't be true!" If he needed to, InuYasha would find a way to her once more because the girl who overcame time and the boy who was just overcome were much larger than any jewel.

"Don't you understand? This is where you're meant to be," The Sacred Jewel insisted and it paused, maybe anticipating a gasp from Kagome. She remained silent. "Well, we showed you a vision of what your life could be..."

"What are you talking about?" Kagome asked and it was then that she caught sight of retired green and white fabric. 'No way...'

"Would you like to return to the world you saw?" Kagome's body erupted into a cold sweat, and as she clutched her fists, she realized her bow was gone. There was nothing here. "All you have to do is wish for it and you can return."

"InuYasha!" Kagome wailed. InuYasha and her life together hadn't been an illusion. There was no way the Sacred Jewel showed her another vision. If it was trying to get Kagome to make a wish, she'd refuse. Especially if wishing meant she'd lose InuYasha.

"InuYasha!" The high schooler called out again without any response. The Sacred Jewel stopped taunting her. "What have you done?" She asked, voice shaking from nerves. No answer. Kagome's breath quickened. This wasn't right. There was no way that she was still trapped.

"InuYasha!" She screamed, tears pooling at the corner of her eyes. She missed him so much.

The jewel faded into black but Kagome hadn't noticed. The only thing that mattered was finding a spec of red, a dash of stark white hair, a peek of amber eyes that glowed. The darkness was consuming her as she waited for InuYasha. Just the sound of his voice would put her at ease. She just needed to talk to InuYasha. If only she could hear him. "InuYasha..." Her tears seared her cheeks and without warning, an even sharper pain struck her in the middle of her back. It sent straight into the light.

"InuYasha!" Kagome exclaimed, gripping the sides of her desk and throwing her body into an unsteady standing position.

The cringing sound of 32 chairs screeched against the floor as 33 pairs of eyes, including Ms. Suzuki's, faced Kagome. The high schooler's breathing slowed, but her heartbeat skyrocketed. "Higurashi," Ms. Suzuki began, rearranging her glasses so they laid higher on the bridge of her nose."Hallway—now."

"Yes ma'am," Kagome rushed to say, cheeks turning the same shade of red as the Robe of the Fire Rat.

-X-

A/N: I took the name Yosono High from Kyokai no Rin-ne. I don't remember the exact chapter number, but there is an arc where the ghost of a teacher from the neighboring district/school ended up at Rin-ne's school. I thought using the name would be a nice shoutout to Rumic World.

Also, a recent development that I've really enjoyed about my writing process for this series (as I have started many chapters, it's just the finishing them that gets me—LOL) is the playlist I've come up with for it. To share it with you, in a way, I'll be including lyrics from one song that I believe fit the chapter I've written. This time, it's Death Cab For Cuties' song "I Dreamt We Spoke Again".

"Is anything the way it used to be? I dreamt we spoke, I dreamt we spoke again but when I awoke, when I awoke I could not remember anything you said."

Until next time,
~hanmajo