Disclaimer: I do not own Inu-Yasha or any of its characters. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

A/N: Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad those of you who reviewed enjoyed the prologue. Some of this is pretty serious and introspective, but there will be some humorous parts. This is probably one of the more serious chapters actually… Anyway, it's weird that I had time to write another chapter this soon, but hey, might as well write when you have the inspiration, right? Haha… Bad pun… That's enough of me, enjoy!

Chapter 2: The Plan

"So that fortune-teller told you about the man you're going to marry?" Sango asked curiously as they sat around their campfire.

"Yes. Lady Keiko said that I would marry a dark-haired man with dark eyes. Not like that vagueness is going to help me much. Let's see, dark hair and dark eyes… that narrows it down to the male population of Asia…"

Not even that is a good approximation though… The world is full of dark-eyed, dark-haired boys… But Asia's pretty much the extent of their knowledge, so I won't even mention the many other continents my mysterious husband could come from…

"I am offended, Kagome, that you would not call upon my expertise. As you know, I have a great gift for fortune-telling…" Miroku commented while chewing on a piece of fish.

"Which you use to flirt with every woman you meet…" Sango muttered, sipping her tea as Miroku paled a bit in embarrassment.

"Now Sango, jealousy does not become you…" The icy glare she gave him shut Miroku up quite quickly.

"Why are we still talking about this? It was a waste of time, it's over, let's focus on that rumor about Naraku…" Inu-Yasha was in a fouler mood than ever. After beating Miroku to a bloody pulp, he'd threatened any man that even looked in Kagome's direction. Kagome had pretended to be fascinated with the ground on the way back to Kaede's hut. No eye contact meant there was less chance of Inu-Yasha's aggressiveness getting the better of him. But after this comment, Kagome wanted to beat Inu-Yasha up. She leaped to her feet, glaring daggers at him.

"So you're saying that my future is a waste of time? That my life is unimportant in comparison to the almighty jewel shards?" She hissed.

"Stupid wench, stop putting words in my mouth!" Inu-Yasha joined her in a standing position, furrowing his brow.

"Well that's what you're saying right? I've spent the last year of my life here, helping you, Inu-Yasha! Have I ever told you that finding the jewel shards was a waste of time? This is the first break we've had in a long time! I don't see why we can't focus on something other than the stupid jewel once in a lifetime!"

"What right do you have to complain? You're the one who broke the thing in the first place! If Kikyo was the one helping us, we would have completed the jewel a long time ago! Kikyo never wanted to go home or go to the hot springs or have her fortune told by some stupid old hag with a bad wig…" Inu-Yasha immediately regretted his words when he saw the look of pain and betrayal flash across Kagome's visage. She just stared at him, mouth slightly agape, tears beginning to well in the back of her eyes.

"She was wearing a wig?" Miroku asked curiously. No one answered his inquiry.

"I'm sorry, Inu-Yasha. I'm sorry that I shattered the jewel. I'm sorry that I miss my family and my world. I'm sorry that you don't share my affinity for cleanliness… But most of all, I'm sorry that I'm not Kikyo." He didn't even care about the insult as he saw the look in her eyes that spoke the words she'd never say. How could you say that to me? Don't you care about me at all? What am I to you?

I do… I do care! Damn it, Kagome, don't do this to me! Inu-Yasha knew this could only end in disaster.

Yell at me, sit me, curse me, just don't give me that wilted look… Don't hide behind that cold face!

"Kagome… Wait, that's not what I meant…" He was in a state of panic now.

"I know Inu-Yasha. You never say what you mean. I'm going home now." She hoisted her over-sized yellow backpack over her shoulder and headed towards the well, disappearing from sight.

"Inu-Yasha, you're such an idiot…" Shippo shrieked in his high-pitch voice.

"Where'd you come from? I thought you were sleeping!" Inu-Yasha retorted.

"I can hear you being a jerk even when I'm dreaming!" Shippo replied angrily.

"How could you say something like that to Kagome? Don't you know how hard it is for her to be compared to Kikyo? Especially in this place where Kikyo lived and Kagome freed you!" Sango added angrily.

"That was a blow below the belt, I'm afraid. I don't know if we can count on Kagome returning anytime soon…" Miroku winced, hoping his comment would not earn him another beating.

"Ye must learn to control your temper, Inu-Yasha." Kaede scolded.

"Where'd you come from? Is everyone coming out of the woodworks to insult me?" He nearly screamed when Kiara came up to him and meowed in displeasure.

"I don't have anything to apologize for! Kagome never focuses on our mission. We're better off without her! No more stopping for baths or to help stupid villagers! Good riddance!"

"You're such a fool…" Shippo remarked coldly, returning to Kaede's hut.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with the boy…" Miroku stood, abandoning his food and heading inside. Sango, Kiara, and Kaede silently followed, leaving Inu-Yasha all alone by the dying fire.

"Why do they always take her side…?" Inu-Yasha muttered irritably.

Because she's always right and you treat her like she has no feelings at all… The little voice in his head chided.

Hey, you're me, shouldn't you at least be on my side?

No, actually, Kagome's right and you're a jerk. The voice inside his head disappeared then, abandoning him like his so-called friends.

"It figures." He muttered. "Lousy conscience…" He silently sprinted until he reached the Sacred Tree… and the well.

"This is where we first met," he whispered.

Had it really only been a year? It was hard to remember a life before Kagome. Somehow, he always felt closer to her when he was nestled in the branches of this tree, waiting for her to return from her strange era. He couldn't deny it. He got angry when she decided on whim to abandon him to return through the well to her home. Inu-Yasha didn't do a lot of deep thinking, but he truly believed that fate had brought Kagome to him. She'd been pulled through the well a year ago by Mistress Centipede. That's when she'd taken pity on her incarnation's former love and freed him from his fifty-year nap. Kagome had been destined to come to this era. Perhaps she was destined to remain…

She was such a foolish girl. Freeing a demon who wanted the blood of whoever bore her soul. Kagome had nearly died more times than he'd like to think about in the last year. She was a magnet for danger. He could have killed her right then and there the first day she stepped through the well. He could've, but could he have? Could he have really killed someone who looked so much like Kikyo? Someone who shared her tragic soul? Could he kill his savior? At one point, probably. But he'd changed…

He'd rather die than tell her, but Kagome was a sort of mission for him. Protecting her and keeping her safe was a part of his daily routine. Without her, there was little meaning in life. Without Kagome, the sky looked a little grayer, the grass seemed a little less green, and his patience grew thin. What was the point of anything without Kagome there? He hated to admit how dependant he'd become on Kagome for his happiness. She made him feel like an ordinary man. Not a cursed half-demon, half-human who brought death and ruin to anyone connected to him. Not a man who would no doubt cause Kagome's downfall just like every person before her. When she smiled, when she laughed, he felt like he was home. Kagome was his home.

He hated the well. It was what divided them. It was a constant reminder that Kagome was not of this era. That Kagome belonged in the world of kaars, skool, and boys like that stupid Hobo. A world free of the violence, fear, and uncertainty that plagued the Feudal Era. How could he ask her to give up such a safe, care-free place? As much as he hated to admit it, there were people in Kagome's world that loved her as much as h- Sango, Miroku, and Shippo did. She couldn't just abandon her family and friends. She could probably abandon Hobo. He'd make her abandon Hobo. But not her mother, grandfather, and Souta. Sesshoumaru hardly represented a caring family member, but he understood how important family ties could be. Why would she give up a world full of ramen, hot baths, and TV to face death, dirtiness, and despair on a daily basis in this era? It would be stupid to even ask her to stay.

When it's over… What will Kagome do? Will she leave and never return? Will I ever see her again?

This train of thought was painful. Going a week without Kagome was torture. The idea of an immortal lifetime without her was unbearable… When Kagome left, the others would be fine. True, they'd be sad. Kagome was Sango's best friend. She was like a sister to the woman who'd lost her entire community to Naraku's treachery. Sango would take it hard, but the perverted monk would probably help her overcome her sadness. Kagome would presumably only leave for good when Naraku was vanquished. Assuming Miroku lived that long, he'd marry Sango. They'd console each other and produce Miroku's many-desired heirs. They'd finally have a normal family. Or as normal as a monk and a demon slayer's family could be. When it was over, Sango and Miroku would move on with their lives…

Shippo. It would be hard on Shippo to lose his adopted mother. The woman who saved him after his life took a tragic turn. But Shippo was strong. (Whether he believed it or not.) He made friends easily among humans and demons alike. Shippo could probably stay with Kaede if nothing else. She was fond of the mischievous little fox demon. And he would grow up and head out on his own someday. He was young yet. He'd move on.

But for Inu-Yasha… It wouldn't be that easy. It could never be that easy. Kagome was his light, his hope, his world… He couldn't imagine a world without Kagome in it. True, he said stupid things to her, he hurt her feelings, he made a complete ass of himself nine times out of ten, but he always was comforted by the knowledge that Kagome would come back. Kagome had promised to stay by his side a long time ago. Kagome kept her promises.

The idea of anyone or anything taking Kagome away from him filled him with a mixture of anger, sadness, and hopelessness. Whether it was her era or her stupid, dark-haired husband, something was going to take Kagome from him. Even if she kept coming through the well after Naraku was defeated and the jewel finally completed. She couldn't keep coming back forever. She was going to marry some dark-haired man, have four children, and move on with her life. How would her husband react if he saw his wife jumping into an old well? How could she tuck her kids in at night if she was here, fighting off demons? Kagome might not even live near the shrine when she grew up. True, in this era, people rarely strayed far from their birthplace, but in the future, people sometimes moved thousands of miles away from home. There wasn't that consistency of residency. Kagome might leave Japan and never return. That made his heart cold. The idea of never seeing Kagome again was… unbearable. Kagome was his best friend. She'd risked her life for him countless times. She continued to stay by his side no matter how much shit he put her through. Kagome was his world. How could he go on without her?

But Kikyo… Why was he forgetting about Kikyo? How could he ever forget about Kikyo?

"I promised her my life…" He whispered.

How often he lost sight of that promise these days. Kikyo had died because of him. She'd pinned him to the sacred tree, but she'd sealed him. In spite of all common sense, Kikyo had spared his life and given him a second chance. But now that she was back from the grave, he could not look upon her without feeling immense guilt and sorrow. He owed Kikyo his life. Without her, he never would have learned what it felt like to love someone. Without Kikyo sealing him to that tree, without Kikyo dying… he never would have met Kagome. But that was no consolation to the much-wronged priestess. And if the only thing that would bring her peace was him accompanying her to hell, then he would comply with her request. He owed Kikyo. He couldn't help but pity his first love. He just couldn't let go of his feelings for her. True, they had faded considerably over the years, but his heart still skipped a beat every time he saw her beautiful porcelain face. She might no longer have the feelings she once had for him, but she had been his intended. The woman he'd been willing to abandon his demon heritage for. The woman he'd planned on marrying over fifty years ago. Funny how life didn't turn out the way you planned.

If someone had asked him back then how he pictured his life fifty years from now, he would have said he'd be dead. But dead after a long, happy, human life with Kikyo. Maybe they would have even had children… Who knows? Lacking his supernatural strength would have been frustrating, but as a human in a small, peaceful village, how often would he have needed it anyway? At that time, it would have been a price he would have gladly paid for a family and community that accepted him. The powers of a full-fledged demon, the approval of his brother, nothing else mattered if he had a family that loved him. Kikyo had given him hope that that dream could become a reality. That hope had died with her.

But then… Then Kagome appeared. Filled with her ridiculous ideas about friendship and acceptance. The only woman he'd ever known who might even be capable of loving a half-demon. But now… Now that stupid old witch who thought it was beneath her to tell him his fortune had told Kagome that she would marry some damn dark-haired man. And despite Kagome's observation about how that hardly narrowed down her search for love, it left out someone who'd always vied for her affections. He couldn't help but curse as a lock of his bright white hair fell in front of his eye. He would never marry Kagome. He'd always dared to dream that she might someday consider him as a potential suitor, a long, long time from now. If he didn't go to hell with Kikyo. If she was able to keep coming through the well. If he ever got over his all-encompassing shyness and was able to tell her he at least liked her. Then, he'd always seen that as a far-off, unlikely, possibility. But now it would never be. Even if that hag was wrong, Kagome believed her. She wouldn't give him a second look if he was not her destiny. Or even worse… what if he was destined to court Kagome, but she rejected him for this dark-haired man?! How would he ever recover from that? He snarled, clenching his fist. How dare she reject him? How dare she put him through all of this?

"I can't let that happen! I won't let her be with anyone else! If Kagome's not destined to be with me, then I'll just have to keep all those dark-haired men away from her, too!" With that promise made to himself, he leaped through the well, intent on giving the girl from the future a piece of his mind. And perhaps he'd beat the living daylights out of that Hobo kid, too. He had dark hair… right?

A/N: Well, chapter two is finished. I probably should be writing my French composition… But you know… Ze French is not inspiring me right now… Please review and let me know if I should continue this. I can always just write it for my own amusement. I haven't written any fanfiction in a long time and I'm pretty ashamed of all my old stuff, so this is sort of a fresh start for me. I don't have the heart to delete my old stuff, but I've contemplated it a lot lately… Oh well. I originally planned on this being a one-shot, but now that I'm actually writing it, I could see it continuing on for many chapters. (Not twenty or anything, but considerably more than one…) Please review and let me know what you think! I'll have the next chapter up soon!