AN: This must be a record, two in a night. Well, I must say the usual. As much as it pains me, I don't own Inuyasha. But, I keep searching eBay dutifully for that auction, piggybank by my side.

Goodbye

Watching the sunset from a hill is relaxing, and both the black-haired teens needed the relaxation. One lay on her back, her eyes closed as she tried not to think about all the things waiting for her when she got up. On one side of the well, she had trouble in threes; three exams in a week, three nagging girls who always spoke of dates and the cutest boys, three family members who missed her dearly but were understanding of the troubles she had, and three, yes, three suitors at her school, Houjo and the two new boys, Kenji and Yuki.

On the other side, she had a nagging half-demon, who constantly spoke about how she would never be there and how she never seemed to care about the shards enough. A perverted monk, who instigated problems more than he solved them, and seemed to always have a smart remark to make. A demon slayer, with weapons galore, who almost literally begged for anger management, but was a good person to talk to in a true crisis. A cat, who refused to do anything but laugh at them with quiet meows during their time alone, but always seemed to be there if she needed a ride away. An adorable kitsune, with a mischievous streak and a sweet tooth the size of the Milky Way galaxy, who loved her dearly, but only seemed to add to the pressure. A wolf demon, who just didn't seem to understand the concept of 'no'.

The other lay on his back, his arms crossed behind his head. He didn't have as many problems as his companion, but the conflict in his mind simply dominated his thoughts. He had been resurrected, and enjoyed the freedom for a moment, only to have his reins pulled by the one who brought him back, the evil half demon Naraku. Naraku wanted him and his brothers to kill Inuyasha and all his friends. Inuyasha, he had no problem with, the silver haired teen got on his nerves, and was always bragging about something he thought he could do. The rest of them didn't seem to be as bad, especially Kagome.

But, the problem came when he and his brothers disobeyed Naraku. The spider seemed to have no qualms about killing one of them in front of the others to motivate them, and it had gotten down to him, Suikotsu, Jakotsu, and Renkotsu. Having been brought back twice put things into new perspective, and he didn't really know what to do. At least, until he had started talking to Kagome in these little 'dates' as she called them. He really didn't understand the significance of naming a meeting after a fruit, but he shook it off as another one of those weird things she did.

Every time they saw each other, they would talk, at least, until sunset. Then they would suddenly fall silent, turning whichever way it was and watch it. It was just something that didn't have to be said. The first time, when she had first told them about her ideas to separate him, the rest of his brothers, and Kohaku from Naraku with miko magic, they were about to finish the conversation when they both got distracted by the beautiful colors out of the corners of their eyes. He snickered inwardly, it just proved that both of them had the attention span of a common fly.

At the end, she turned to him with a smile, "Well, I've gotta get back, Inuyasha will throw a fit if I'm gone too long."

At his nod, he got up quickly, to help her up and she turned, walking away and waving with a smile, "Goodbye, Bankotsu." Without warning, he was beside her and she held her chest, feeling as though she'd almost had a heart attack.

"Don't say goodbye." He seemed so serious, and she was surprised. Normally, he was half-joking with almost everything he said.
"Why not?" She was curious to the reason, but he just kept insisting.

"Say anything else, but not goodbye." He didn't look at her when he spoke, but refused to give up.

"Bankotsu, why shouldn't I say goodbye to you?" Trying to find his eyes under his bangs, she tried in vain to remember if she'd said goodbye last time, only to realize she usually said something like goodnight.

She was even more shocked when he pulled her arms, hugging her and refusing to let go, muttering his words into her shoulder "Goodbye means you aren't coming back."