I do not own Inuyasha. I wrote this to help myself cope. This isn't the worst day of the year, but it is always one of them.
Her class had just ended, and she was heading across campus to another building. Her class didn't start for almost an hour, but it was just better to be there early. This was normally her favorite walk. She had a crush on a certain guy who always passed her here. She knew he was way out of her league, but it still usually felt good to see him. Today was not a typical day though. She was doing a marvellous job at not thinking about that. Her mind was in much darker territory today.
She plastered on a fake smile so people wouldn't notice how much she hated this day. It really was pathetic how a date on the calendar could make or break her once a year. But this was the worst day of the year. Every year. She walked in a sort of daze, barely paying attention too much except to make sure she was walking in the right direction. Then she saw him. She looked straight at him and gave him her best smile. Normally, she would appreciate seeing him, but not today. Today she just needed her classes to be over. She needed to sit on her bed alone and cry all night and eat ice cream.
Unfortunately, Inuyasha had other plans. He came to a complete stop about 6 feet ahead of her. She took a few steps and when she realized he was waiting for her; she stopped too. SHe was staring at him, waiting to see if he would say anything. Then he started growling. It was soft, but almost sounded visceral. He was staring at her, and he was growling.
"Inuyasha, are you ok? You're kinda growling…" She couldn't but glance around hoping to see that there was someone else that had irritated him, and not that he was growling at her. Today was bad enough, but having the guy you've been crushing on for over a year growling like he hates you was enough to finish breaking her heart. She looked back at him, terrified of what he would say, but the noise stopped and he stepped closer. Gods, he looked like a predator stalking its prey and even with everything going on a part of her couldn't help but think how sexy he was.
His voice was deep and gruff. It almost sounded angry, but she didn't feel like he was angry at her. "I'm fine." Then he let out a long sigh and his voice came out so low, almost as if he was embarrassed about what he was about to say. "Are you okay? You're not as happy as you usually are."
She gasped instinctively and felt her eyes go wide. She had kept this a secret from everyone! Even her roommate. How was he able to see through her so easily? She could feel the tears pooling and she felt so weak and vulnerable she wanted to run away and hide. Since running from him was pointless, she couldn't outrun him in a million years. She dropped her head to hide her tears as much as possible.
He wouldn't even give her that dignity though. She felt his knuckle land beneath her chin and pull her head back up so she was staring at him again. His eyes were a beautiful gold, and she knew them well, but today they seemed filled with a deep concern, and that was definitely new. He was worried about her.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Hell, even she didn't believe it. It sounded like the biggest lie in her life, and she could feel her body trying to call her out on her lies with silent sobs.
"Kagome, can you skip your next class?" She felt her eyes go wide again. Was he really asking her that? He had things to do. He had classes to get to. Why was he standing here? She had wanted to spend time with him for so long though, that even with her mind in shambles she felt herself nod. Then he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in against his side and she felt safe. Like the rest of the world couldn't see her anymore.
After they got a little further from the campus he pulled out his phone and sent a text. Then he suggested she see if there was a classmate who would let her copy the notes from the class they were skipping. She quickly pulled out her phone and sent off a text getting an 'of course' from her friend. All the while she remained under his arm, as if shielded from the world. It was a shame he couldn't shield her from herself.
They came to a small little park, and he seemed to know exactly where to go. They soon arrived at a little fountain that had a bench hidden near the shrubs. He sat her down and sat next to her. His arm wasn't around her, and she really missed the warmth from his body.
It took her some time to get her courage up to speak. This wasn't something she enjoyed talking about. "How did you know I was sad?" She spoke quietly, trusting his enhanced hearing to pick up her words and not trusting her voice enough to speak above a whisper.
"Keh, I just could, okay? Now did someone hurt you?"
Had someone hurt her? That was one way to put it, and she couldn't hold back the chuckle. Yeah, someone she loved more than anything hurt her. But it wasn't on purpose. "I guess you could say that someone hurt me, but it wasn't intentional. I'm fine. Really. This is just a bad day. Everyone has them y'know." She sat thinking about the realization that someone had hurt her, and that was why she was so sad. Even if it was an accident, it had hurt her. But she couldn't be mad at them.
"Kagome, who hurt you?!" His voice was angry now and ripped her out of her thoughts. Why was he so angry? Angry on her behalf, no less. He did seem to be a fighter and maybe that was just how he handled his problems. She couldn't help the butterflies that erupted thinking about how he seemed to want to help her deal with her problems.
"No one you can punish, Inuyasha. Trust me, they were punished enough." As the realization came to a head, she felt tears coming back again. Before she could cover her face with her hands, his arms wrapped around her and her head was on his shoulder.
"Hey, I've got you. It's okay. Go ahead, I've got you."
She could remember the last man that held her as she cried, and she began sobbing violently. The man who held her before when she cried couldn't do it anymore, and it killed her. The first man she ever loved. She would never see him in this lifetime again, and that was why this day was terrible. She had no idea how long she sobbed into his shoulder, but when her tears calmed down she was more embarrassed than she had ever been. She pulled away, and as much as she missed being in his arms, it wasn't fair to use him like this. She took a deep breath and a bottle of water materialized in front of her. She took a grateful sip and studiously ignored the headache she could feel creeping up on her from crying. Then she pulled out a few tissues and used one to wipe her face and then used another to try to wipe his shirt from her crying on his shoulder.
"Keh, it's washable. Don't worry about it. Now, do you wanna talk about it?"
Her eyes dropped to her lap. She did, but why did he want to listen? She nodded slightly, then realized he was still trying to protect her, "But it's not what you think…" She took a deep breath bracing herself for the pain she was preparing to unleash and took another sip of the water hoping to calm her nerves.
"I hate this day. It hurts. I don't want this day to exist, but it still does. It seems like a lifetime ago, but it still hurts as if it were yesterday." Her voice sounded far away, yet the words echoed inside of her. "I miss my dad. It's been sixteen years. I know it seems foolish that after sixteen years I can still let it hurt me, but I miss him. There was so much he was supposed to see. I wanted him to see me become the person I am today." She lost her nerve to continue and heard her voice trail off. Fighting the tears that were sure to come, she reached for another tissue.
Then his arms grabbed her and lifted her onto his lap, with her head now on the other shoulder. His arms were wrapped around her back, holding her tightly to him. She felt herself melt into him as her tears returned. Hiding from the world in his embrace. She was safe from everything else but her heart. He would make sure of it.