Chapter Two: The Usual

Kagome and Inuyasha made their way through the woods and towards Kaede's village. They did not speak of Kagome's worries but instead walked in silence, the hanyo a bit ahead. Finally Inuyasha cleared his throat.

"Erm… so… there have been some disturbances in the villages around here lately.," Inuyasha said, "Kaede claims it's some sort of snake demon and she thinks it probably has a jewel shard. You know what that means…"

Kagome sighed heavily. "Yeah. We have to go after it. "

Inuyasha rolled his eyes but continued walking. The sarcasm in his voice was biting. "Well don't get all excited about it or anything. I mean, you only spent about a million years at home this time. You shouldn't complain."

Kagome stared at the back of his silver head. She was not in the mood to argue right now but she also was not about to take any abuse from him either. Who the hell did he think he was? She missed school every week to come search for shards with him, missed out on time with her mother, her brother, her grandfather… Didn't he appreciate her at all? Evidently not. She wound her fingers into tight fists as she continued in step.

"Excuse me Inuyasha, but I happen to have a lot of things I need to do when I go home, thank you very much!" Kagome spat.

"Oh yeah? What could possibly be so important in 'your time' anyway? I mean, I've seen your school, and it's pretty dumb if you ask me-"

"Well I didn't ask you, did I?" Kagome interjected, feeling her face get hot with anger, "I have things I need to do, alright? Why do you have to be so ridiculous Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha stopped walking and spun around to face Kagome who also stopped abruptly. His fangs were barred in annoyance. "Ridiculous? ME?! I'M not the one who broke the jewel shard, REMEMBER? That was YOUR fault! Now YOU have to be the one to find them and you can't stop until we have them all! GOT THAT?"

There was a moment of silence and heavy breathing where neither said anything. Kagome's head was lowered and Inuyasha sensed that he was about to be in a world of pain. After all, these arguments were commonplace between the two of them and they generally ended with Kagome storming away in fury after "sitting" Inuyasha into oblivion. He figured that this situation should be no different and braced himself for a beating as Kagome slowly began to raise her head. He closed his eyes momentarily, but after realizing that nothing had happened, opened them again. Kagome was looking up at him, tears streaming down her rosy red cheeks, a look of pure despair in her face. He stood, shocked for a moment, not quite sure what to do.

"Kagome…" he whispered softly, "I…"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome sobbed, "Why do you have to be so mean?!" and with that she spun around and dashed into the forest.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha called, but did not follow her. Damnit, I really screwed up this time, he thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Kagome ran aimlessly through the trees. She eventually found herself in Kaede's village where Kaede herself was standing outside her hut, waiting. She was surprised to see Kagome in such a state, and immediately went to her.

"What's wrong child?" Kaede asked as Kagome collapsed to her knees in tears.

"Inuyasha… he… and my grandpa… I just can't do anything!" Kagome sputtered.

"Hold on now, what did Inuyasha do?" Kaede patted the crying girls back and knelt beside her in an attempt to search her face.

"I… I don't… nothing really.. It's just…" Kagome took in a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. "I just have trouble balancing things here with my own time. I feel like I'm missing my own life! I have no idea what's going on back home in school, among friends, in the word! And my own family… I think there may be something terribly wrong but I can't do anything about it because I'm always here!"

"Oh I see, ye be overwhelmed by everything that is expected of ye. Well, don't you worry yourself child. Think about it, finding all the pieces of the sacred jewel shard is just as essential to the future as it is to this time. There might be no future as you know it if you were not searching for the shards, and that my dear, I think is very important. Don't worry yeself with other things at the moment. You know what must be done."

Kagome relaxed a little at this. She stood up and brushed the dirt off her skirt, wiping her eyes of tears. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I need to focus and not let everything get me down." With that she made her way towards the hut where she would wait for Inuyasha to show up. Once he did they would most likely end up pretending that nothing had happened at all.