Empty Places

Ten

Kikyo coughed even harder, though Kagome still refused to look into Inuyasha's eyes. She felt upon the verge of tears again, she had felt so good just now, and that had all dried up so suddenly, Kikyo leeching the happiness out of every moment she had with Inuyasha, and making her time with him seem meaningless just because she was watching them. Eventually Kagome looked into the golden orbs that were Inuyasha's eyes, and they were wide, and glassy.

'No,' she muttered to him, and he frowned, having no idea what she was talking about. Kagome got up and walked away from him, standing a small distance from him, staring fixedly at the ancient runes carved in the stone, trying to prevent herself from shaking with anger.

Inuyasha looked at her from the ground in bewilderment, and stumbled clumsily to his feet. Kagome heard his scuffling footsteps as he approached her, and she knew as he stopped that he would be staring at her if she turned to face him; though she would not do so.

'Kagome?' he asked quietly, resting a hand on her shoulder, though she would still not face him. 'What's the matter?' She was silent for a moment, though eventually answered.

'Why do you have to do this to me?' she asked, so quiet that only Inuyasha could hear.

'Huh?' Kagome shook with anger, knowing that he knew exactly why she was upset with him.

'Why do you have to make me feel like this? Why do you give me false hope that you want me at your side, only to let her take it away again without even saying a word?' Inuyasha's eyes widened, now realising why she was angry.

'Is that what this is about?' he asked, his voice becoming a little louder as he turned her to face him with his hands on her shoulders.

'Don't sound so surprised when you say that,' she demanded quietly, not meeting his eyes, looking to the ground sorrowfully. 'I told you that if you did this to me…I told you if this happened I would be upset with you…'

'But I haven't even done anything wench!' he insisted.

'Haven't you? You weren't trying to save me a moment ago were you?' Inuyasha looked at her in confusion. 'That water may be black Inuyasha, but it doesn't blind me; you tried to save her while I was drowning under your feet!' she hissed at him, still quietly, making him slightly angry that she was angry with him for something he hadn't done.

'I didn't see you below me, and I came here to save you okay? You called me and I came, maybe that was a bad idea, maybe I shouldn't have answered you at all!'

'Well maybe you shouldn't have!' she muttered, turning away from him once more, folding her arms over her chest crossly.

Inuyasha's temper had soared, he was furious with her, though he knew that maybe she was just a little bit right to be mad too, after all he had put her through with Kikyo; he thought that she even had more right to be mad than he did, as he needed to ask her something that wasn't at all fair to ask of her. He dropped his temper, (something he rarely did), and walked in front of her, tilting her chin so she would look up at him.

'Hey, c'mon,' he said softly, 'I know you have every right to be mad at me, but…I need you right now…' Kagome's eyes widened, and she eventually nodded slightly.

Kagome would not look up from the ground as she followed behind Inuyasha reluctantly towards Kikyo. The priestess looked up at them as they approached her, and Inuyasha knelt beside her, Kagome refusing to make eye contact with her. 'Are you okay?' Kikyo looked at him deeply for a moment, before coughing violently, the blood trickling from in between her fingers as she held her hand to her mouth. Kagome finally looked down at the two at her feet, only to catch a deeply concerned look in Inuyasha's eyes, the kind of worry she'd only ever seen him show to herself, and she turned away again, tears building in her eyes. 'We need to get you out of here,' said Inuyasha, surveying the blood that dripped to the floor. Kikyo looked up to Kagome for a second, only to see the building tears in the girls as she refused to look back at her, though the priestess felt no guilt or sadness for making Kagome cry, nor did she acknowledge the fact that the building tension between the girl and the hanyou was down to her presence.

Inuyasha pulled Kikyo's arm round his neck, and dragged her to her feet, supporting her, though swaying slightly, still a bit dizzy from being flung against the stone steps earlier. As he stood up firmly, he looked around, to find Kagome had left his side. He frowned slightly, as he saw her crouched beside the pool, looking pensively into its depths, He looked to Kikyo, who he leant against the wall so she could still stand, and walked to Kagome's side. His eyes widened as he saw tiny ripples spread across the surface, where Kagome's tears were falling onto it, disturbing the waters. 'Ka…Kagome?' he asked worriedly, crouching at her side. The tears fell even faster as she saw his reflection in the Black Mirror's surface alongside her own. 'Kagome, are you okay?' She whimpered slightly, and tried to wipe her tears from her eyes, but they kept falling.

'Of course I'm not okay…' Inuyasha felt emotion wash over him, almost completely overwhelming him, a mix between guilt and sorrow. 'How can you…How can you ask this of me?'

'Kagome I-'

'No don't, I've had enough of lies, just tell me, how do you expect me to do this for you?' Inuyasha looked down at her reflection in the water, watching the tears splash into it, though not noticing the strange aura the pool began to give off, as Kagome's tears fell into its depths.

'Because I'd do anything that you ask of me…' he muttered.

'That's…not fair, to say that, just because you know that then I will have to do what you ask.'

'Well what do you want me to do? You told me you understood, so tell me what you want me to do.' Kagome did not reply. 'Do you want me to leave her here?' Kagome turned and looked into his eyes through the tears, and looked at him thoughtfully. She wanted to much to tell him to leave her here, to tell him what she really wanted him to do, but those glassy orbs looked deep into her eyes, past her tears, piercing through any thoughts of that kind, before she turned back to the water.

'All I ever wanted was for you to be happy, and I know that if I tell you what I want you to do, that you won't be. So I'll do what you ask of me…but it doesn't make me hate you any less for making me do it.' She got up sharply, and walked over to the wall, pulling the torch into her hand, and waiting for him to follow her.

Inuyasha supported Kikyo along the dark, narrow passage, with Kagome leading them, the torch in her hand. They had been walking for a long while now, and Inuyasha even felt fully healed and strong once more, thanks to his rapidly healing hanyou body. Kagome had not shed another tear since she had spoke with him by the pool, but she had not spoken to him either, they had been walking in silence for hours, and she had not even once looked back at them. Inuyasha had now begun to be really worried about her, it was true, what he had asked of her was unreasonable considering, but she couldn't really expect him to leave Kikyo there, could she? Damn that girl, I never know what she is thinking. First she's mad, then she's not, then she's crying, then she's not talking to me, I have NO idea what she's about! Thought Inuyasha, as he watched the girl from behind, wishing more than anything that she would speak to him, even if the words were angry and harsh, he just needed to know she wasn't that angry that she couldn't even bare to speak to him. He hated the silent treatment from her above any other punishment; (perhaps with the exception of that dreaded word, sit).

Eventually Inuyasha swallowed his pride, and made the first move in trying to get back onto speaking terms with her.

'Kagome,' she stopped, but did not turn to face him. 'I think…I think that maybe we need to stop for a while, to rest.' Kagome stood before him for a moment, not moving or speaking.

'Sure, whatever,' she muttered, in a plain, expressionless voice. And she set the torch in an empty hold along the wall, before sitting down, a short distance from where Inuyasha had set Kikyo down. At least she spoke to me, though it wasn't exactly with feeling, it didn't even sound angry, Inuyasha thought as he set Kikyo down, and the priestess closed her eyes almost immediately, being so tired. Inuyasha looked up to Kagome, and saw her gazing into the blackness of the tunnel ahead, sitting on the rocky ground, her head resting on her hands. He moved hesitantly beside her, and sat down, trying to get her to look at him, though once again, she would not. 'Kagome?' she didn't answer. 'Kagome?'

'What?' she snapped, turning to face him. Inuyasha was taken aback slightly by the sudden harshness of her voice, though he continued the attempts at speaking to her.

'For god's sake, I can't take the silent treatment, yell at me, hit me, insult me, even sit me, but just say something!' Kagome surveyed him for a moment through her hazel orbs, before opening her mouth to reply.

'You want me to say something? Okay I will.' Inuyasha watched her, waiting for her to continue. 'I hate you. After all this time you still won't make decisions whilst caring about my feelings, you're completely selfish!'

'What?'

'All the crappy stuff I have to put up with from you, and I still do what you ask, I do it and I am still here for you, I never let you down or leave your side when you need me. Yet ask you to consider me when you decide something and it's completely beyond you! Do you even care about me at all?' Once again Inuyasha was shocked at her outburst.

'Is that really your opinion of me? Do you really think that little of me? I always think about you before I make decisions, all I ever do is bloody protect you and think about what you want!'

'Like you did just now?'

'I couldn't leave her there to die Kagome-'

'She shot you through your chest with an arrow and left you to die! She took fifty years of your life away!'

'That's not fair, that wasn't her it was Naraku's tricking us that-'

'-and afterwards? When she tried to take you to hell with her? When she tried to kill all of us? Does that not mean anything to you?'

'Kagome,it's more complicated than that-'

'Well fine, stay with Kikyo, get her out of here,' she said leaping to her feet, 'I would rather wander the darkness forever, or have Kazuya catch me than stay here and watch you with her!' She flounced off in the darkness, disappearing from Inuyasha's view almost immediately.

She heard him scramble to his feet, but was determined he would not stop her, and gave him what he had asked for earlier. 'SIT!' she shouted. The beaded-necklace around Inuyasha's neck glowed and he was crushed to the ground, as if some invisible hand had smashed him into the stone below. Before the spell had worn off, she ran up the passage, getting as far away from him as possible, tears streaming down her face.

Suddenly she stopped, and looked down the tunnel to her left. She heard something, running footsteps, and then they stopped. She looked into the darkness, trying to decipher amongst the blackness what it was, then she realised what she was staring at. Kagome flung herself into Sango's arms, crying even harder, and whimpering as the youkai exterminator dropped with her to her knees.

'Kagome-chan? What's wrong? Did Kazuya get to you? Did-'

'No it's – it's Inuyasha,' she cried, her tears pouring down her face.

'What did he do?' asked Miroku, kneeling at their side, Rin, Shippo and Kilala watching sorrowfully, having only just stopped mid leap, as they saw Kagome was crying.

'It's not – it's probably just me overreacting anyway I-'

'Tell us what happened, from when we last saw you,' insisted Sango firmly, pulling the girl to her feet. 'Tell us everything…'

***

Inuyasha nearly jumped out of his skin when something leapt out of the shadows, and collided with his face. It took him a moment to realise that it was Sango, and it was her fist that had smacked him full force across the jaw.

'Sango you crazy wench! What the hell was that for?' he yelled. She smacked him again.

'You insensitive – stupid – selfish – cowardly – asshole!' she yelled, smacking him with each insult.

'What the hell are you talking about?' he shouted, crawling away from her and scrambling desperately to his feet.

'Kagome! What the hell do you think you're doing to her?' Inuyasha hung his head low, not having a real reply, feeling sincerely bad for what he had done, and not caring if Kikyo, who was now awake and watching what was happening carefully, knew of his guilt, as she stared confusedly at the raging Sango.

'I screwed up; I've been a real bastard to her…'

'Yeah well don't just say that to stop me smacking you, because you really did screw up, and you really are a bastard.'

'I know that,' he replied, pulling Kikyo to her feet, though he did not even attempt to help her walk now, and she stood up on her own feet. She could now walk on her own, now being rested, and she walked behind them as Inuyasha trudged along beside Sango. 'Is she okay?' asked Inuyasha, blushing as he felt Kikyo watching and listening carefully.

'Kagome? She's okay, I left her with Miroku and the others, she told me not to come and get you but I…'

'Wanted to smack me about?'

'Yeah,' she replied happily, as they approached the others, standing in the dark.

'What happened to you guys when we fell through?' he asked, not raising his eyes from the ground as he saw Kagome leaning against the wall miserably.

'That water stuff attacked us, it nearly killed us all. Then we got attacked by this spider demon, then right after we all heard you and Kagome shouting at each other, and came running. And that's where we-'

'Found Kagome?' Sango nodded at him, studying his petulant expression carefully; happy he was feeling guilty about being horrible to Kagome again. Serves him right, she thought, looking up to Miroku as they stopped beside the others, Kikyo standing back from them.

Inuyasha looked up to see Kagome, though she realised he was gazing at her, and did not look up; just wiping the remaining tears from her eyes, not wanting to give him nor Kikyo the satisfaction of knowing they made her cry.

'Well all I can say is we've all seen enough of this place to know that Kazuya's weakness is not here, and that-' Miroku was interrupted as Kagome shot up suddenly, making them all jump.

'Oh, I found something,' she said, 'when I was trying to find Inuyasha I…I read the runes on the wall-'

'Those runes were written before the dawn of time, no one of this earth can read them,' interrupted Kikyo, looking at Kagome with superiority and coldness. The majority of the company glared at the priestess hatefully.

'Well,' replied Miroku, watching the woman carefully, 'nice for your contribution, but you're a bit out of place here, so why don't we here what Kagome has to say.' Kikyo sneered slightly, and looked away.

'Yeah, umm…well the runes were suddenly in regular Romanji, and I read them. It told Kazuya's story. It basically said what Sesshomaru told us, but I found some other stuff out.' They all watched her, waiting for her to continue; even Kikyo was looking at the girl from the corner of her eye. 'That black pool that Inuyasha and I were at earlier, the Sages used it as a doorway to the glass path, and hell, to seal damned souls, and that was where Kazuya was sealed. But he was too strong for the pool, and they had to banish the temple to ensure he stayed damned. And they were sealed somewhere called The Door to Sanctuary, or something like that. But also, when I went to look for Inuyasha in the woods before the broken sunrise, I never told you but, Kazuya tried to get me, and this glowing spirit chased it away, and showed me to Inuyasha. And I read that if Kazuya were ever to return, because of his extreme evil, they needed a force of pure good to outbalance it, and that good is Yuna.'

'Yuna?' asked Inuyasha.

'Kazuya's lover, remember she was wrongfully damned? But she was damned so that if Kazuya was ever resurrected, she could return on the night before the broken sunrise and help pure souls like herself.'

'Like you…' muttered Shippo, hopping onto her shoulder. Sango thought she saw Kikyo sneer once more, but she ignored it.

Inuyasha was confused, it for the most part made sense, but there were some fragmented pieces, that didn't fit.

'Then Kazuya didn't attack the spirit because he loves her?'

'But evil can't love,' said Shippo, looking to the hanyou oddly.

'Of course it can, evil is not hollow, it is three-dimensional, and complicated, exactly as love is,' said Inuyasha, glaring at the kitsune slightly. Kagome stared at him, what he had said, it wasn't the type of thing she would expect from him; in fact she had never heard him say anything like that before.

'So Sesshomaru-sama was right?' suggested Rin, tugging at Kagome's skirt.

'Yes,' replied Miroku, 'We did find Kazuya's weakness, it's Yuna.'

With Miroku's words, the temple's walls, ceilings and ground shook violently, and the company struggled to stand. Sango and Miroku fell backwards against the wall, Sango pulling Rin against it to keep her standing. Kagome leant back against the wall, holding Kilala as Shippo quivered on her shoulder, and Inuyasha and Kikyo jumped out of the way as part of the ceiling collapsed.

'I think you pissed it off Miroku!' shouted Shippo.

'Let's get out of here!' the others agreed with Inuyasha, and started to sidle along the wall, avoiding the falling rock. As Kagome edged along the wall, Inuyasha's hand landed over her own, and they stopped for a moment, looking at each other, before pulling away sharply, and looking away from each other. As Inuyasha turned his head away from her, he looked down the passage behind them, and didn't like what he saw.

'Umm, Sango?' muttered Inuyasha.

'What?' asked Sango hot-temperedly, grumpy from her tiredness.

'This won't be good enough.'

'What the hell do you mean?'

'Well…we have company,' he replied, and they all looked down the passage. A pair of narrowed, crimson eyes glared at them in the darkness, a ghostly, shadowy figure attached to them. 'Run!' whispered Inuyasha. They pulled away from the wall, and dashed up the passage, following its straight direction, praying it would lead to a way out.

As he ran along in front of Kagome, Inuyasha could hear Kazuya's footsteps thundering up the tunnel behind them. 'Kagome hurry it up!' he shouted back to her, as she began to fall behind.

'I'm trying,' she called back. Suddenly, Kazuya launched himself forward. A whip like surge of energy slashed across Kagome's back, and she dropped to the floor. Shippo flew off her shoulder, and crashed into Rin along with Kilala. Rin picked up the cat demon, and the others turned to see Kagome crumpled up on the ground. Inuyasha ran to her side, and turned to look at them.

'Get going, try to find the entrance, we'll catch up!' Kagome was surprised to see he still stayed to help her, even though she had been so horrible to him. 'Get up for god's sake!' he ordered her, pulling her to her feet. As he dragged her up, the temple shook even harder, and she fell forward, collapsing into his arms helplessly. 'Stand up!' he shouted, looking down at her. She buried her face in his chest, and now he saw why she was so afraid. The same, billowing, smothering fog was building about them, and it was rising fast. 'It's just fog, its okay you-'

'No…' she whispered to him, her eyes closed in fear. 'It's…something else…'

Inuyasha nearly jumped out of his kin as Kazuya landed only feet away from him, steadily approaching him, a wide, malicious smile across his pallid face.

'So this is the Great Inuyasha,' he mocked in the same, deep, hollow voice. 'You don't look all that to me.' Inuyasha eyed him warily, as he stepped even closer. 'However…' He eyed the trembling girl that clung to Inuyasha evilly, and continued to step slowly forward. Inuyasha followed his eyes' path, and pulled his arms round Kagome as he realised what the creature was looking at.

'Get the hell away,' he warned quietly, but the demon paid him no attention. Inuyasha pulled Tetsusaiga from its sheath, and held it out before him, and Kazuya stopped.

'Aaaah,' the demon muttered calmly in realisation. 'Inuyasha; Inu-no-Taisho and Izayoi's son.' Inuyasha looked at the demon oddly.

'How many Inuyasha's do you think there are?' Kazuya grinned slightly.

'Tell me boy, how is your brother? I have not seen him for such an age.' Inuyasha widened his eyes. 'Though even from the other side I could sense your father's death, and your mother's.' Inuyasha glared at him. 'So many foolish, dead creatures, would you like to join them?'

'Not today thanks,' replied the hanyou, and he waved Tetsusaiga forward sharply, slicing the demon across the chest. Kazuya looked down as his blood dripped from the wound uncontrollably, only to watch Inuyasha's eyes widen in terror, as the wound healed up within the next moment.

Inuyasha pulled Kagome closer to him, and raised Tetsusaiga once more. 'Are you ready?' he asked almost silently in her ear, and she nodded slightly, still keeping her eyes shut as the fog rolled up to her neck. The sword rang as it transformed, but instead of ripping at the demon before it, it swung fiercely into the stone walls surrounding. The stone and rock collapsed on top of Kazuya, and Inuyasha pulled Kagome even closer, and sped up the tunnel, not even touching the ground as he flew through the air, knowing that his small avalanche would not keep the demon back for long.

He skidded to a halt, setting Kagome down on her feet, only narrowly missing colliding with Miroku. 'Why have you stopped? Kazuya is right behind us!' Then he looked forward, and he saw what was wrong. They were at a dead end, only a flat wall of ancient runes before them. 'Oh,' he said, walking towards it. 'So uh…how do we get through?' Sango rolled her eyes.

'Well I suggested breaking through but, priestess here decided that would not work, and otherwise we're all out of ideas.'

'Incorrect,' disagreed Kikyo, stepping forward from the rear of the group. 'I said your idea would not work, I never said I didn't have one.' Kagome walked forward, hysteria building as the fear rose up in her also.

'Kazuya is right behind us! So if you have an idea spill it, otherwise sit back and shut the hell up!' Everyone looked slightly startled by this outburst, but Kikyo just looked just as coldly at her as ever.

'Fine,' she muttered, snatching Kagome's hand roughly by the wrist.

'Hey, what the hell are you-' Kikyo looked at the wounds on Kagome's fingertips from earlier, where she had been digging through the rubble, (they were particularly nasty now, and had even begun bleeding again). Inuyasha only just noticed the wounds, and was surprised he hadn't noticed them earlier. Kikyo ran her fingers over the wounds harshly, and Kagome winced. Kikyo smeared the blood over the runes on the wall, and stood back with the others.

'What the hell was that about?' asked Miroku, as Sango walked to Kagome's side, examining the cuts on her fingers, that had begun to bleed more so than before.

'If you understood anything about anything monk, you would know what the key to this door is.'

'Which is?' asked Miroku impatiently.

'This is a temple from the old age, times where sacrifice and blood was everything to anyone.'

'So it's blood?' asked Shippo, hopping onto Inuyasha's shoulder. Kikyo nodded.

'This temple was designed and made by the past's most petty and cruel beings, of course it's blood…' With this, the blank wall ahead trembled slightly.

A blinding light filled the passage, and the company had to close their eyes because of the radiance of it. When they opened their eyes, the wall was not as it was before. A wide, stone archway stood before them, sunlight pouring through it. Furious, heavy footsteps sounded behind them, and they leapt forward, running through the archway. Stone steps led down from the temple, though nowhere near as steep as the previous steps, and nowhere near as far up. Inuyasha jumped to the ground, the others following close behind, him leading them as far from the temple as possible. Though they had no cause to do so; Kazuya just watched from the shadows of the doorway, watching as they continued to flee from him.

'I think that things could get a little more, interesting…Nikaido?' Nikaido nodded slyly as he slinked out of the shadows and to his master's side, waving his hand forward, urging forth lines upon lines of hungry, horrifying, skeletal creatures that rushed silently after Inuyasha and the others.

The others puffed and panted as they stumbled to a stop, Inuyasha pausing ahead, an annoyed look on his face.

'For god's sake hurry up!' he shouted, though they did not reply, all just sitting down on the grass and leaning against the surrounding trees. The forest about them was alive, and beautiful, the leaves and grass were a rich green, and the sun shone warmly down upon them, yet still they were all exhausted.

'Here's an idea,' panted Miroku, 'you go on ahead, and we'll umm…follow when we've recovered.' The monk collapsed backwards into the grass, and closed his eyes. Inuyasha watched them all; even Kikyo was tired, and rested down against a tree away from the others. Inuyasha eventually gave in, seeing that they were not going to shift no matter what he said, and he sat down grumpily. Kagome and Sango shared a triumphant smile at Inuyasha's defeat, before Inuyasha looked at Kagome, and they broke eye contact to avoid giggling.

Inuyasha gazed unintentionally at Kagome, Miroku had been right; Yuna was Kazuya's weak spot, that's why he was so furious at their discovery. He always knew that everything had a weakness, every enemy, every demon, had a weak point at which they could aim, Kazuya's was just not physical, it was a mental weakness. Apart from the fact that he's absolutely crackers, thought Inuyasha, not realising he was still gazing at Kagome. So that means that I have a weakness, so what is it? Physical or mental? He snapped back into reality as he noticed Kagome was struggling to tend to her wounded fingertips. Inuyasha huffed, and walked over to her, squatting down beside her, and holding out his hand. She looked at him oddly for a moment, before realising what he was doing. He took her hand roughly, and scooped up some of the disgusting, gooey, sterilization substance that was in the first aid kit in Kagome's backpack, (that Sango had been carrying).

Kagome winced as the pads of his fingers smoothed the substance over her fingertips, and he looked at her for a moment, before continuing, though a little softer than before.

'Are you still pissed at me?' he asked quietly, not raising his eyes to her. Kagome watched him for a moment before replying.

'I don't suppose so.'

'Really?' he asked, his ears twitching. She winced.

'Well I will be if you don't watch what you're doing!' she hissed, as his claw grazed one of the wounds, 'why? Do you want me to be angry with you?'

'No,' he replied quickly, making her barely able to suppress a smile. Seeing a dodgy expression on the girl's face, Inuyasha's good, mood evaporated as quickly as it had come. 'But? There's a but isn't there?' she looked at him yet again in silence for a second, before replying to his question.

'I want you to tell me what you think I was angry about.'

'Is that it?' asked Inuyasha, expecting the exception to be far worse. Kagome nodded. 'Well I guess…you were angry because I tried to save Kikyo, when you needed me to save you as well, only I never saw that you needed me.' Kagome continued to watch him as he replied, and that he guessed was her way of telling him that wasn't the whole answer. 'I guess you were angry because…I asked you to help Kikyo, and I wanted to help Kikyo and you didn't.' Inuyasha finished, other than that he had no idea why she would be angry.

'I was angry because of those reasons, and I was angry because you wanted to help her even after everything she has put us through; I was angry because you didn't consider me when you made the decision to help her.' Inuyasha was starting to be angry now; she was being a bit unreasonable.

'It isn't something that is negotiable; someone's life isn't something I can consider you on. Whether or not you like it she is a person, and she needed our help!' Kagome was slightly shocked by his outburst.

'I never said that. I said that you didn't consider me, or even ask me if I was okay with it!' she argued. 'And you...you never look at me without looking for her!'

'Feh! Whatever…'

'No not whatever, I promised I'd always stay by your side, I told you that I'd accept-'

'Well thank you, so very much, you give me permission to make my own choices!' he snapped at her mockingly. 'I never asked you to stay by my side!'

'You did! You told me that you were glad I was with you, and that you-'

'Well maybe I changed my mind!' Kagome's eyes turned glassy, as the others turned to see what they were arguing about now.

'It's not that you're upset about is it Inuyasha?' asked Kagome quietly, tears building in her eyes. Inuyasha looked at her, getting to his feet as she did so. 'You're upset because it was her that I asked you to consider me about.'

'No I'm not, I'm angry because you think I need to consider you on everything!'

'Not everything, just everything that involves me.'

'How does this involve you!' he shouted, making even Kikyo look over to them. 'This is none of your damn business!' Kagome looked at him, the first of the tears spilling from her eyes, (and not the last).

'It is my business…' she whispered to him, 'because I…I lo-'

'Whatever you have to say, this doesn't make this your business, so shut up about it!' Kagome suddenly realised something about why he was being so defensive about Kikyo, and the same, cold, empty feeling returned from earlier. Inuyasha and the others looked at her, though the others with more sympathy than Inuyasha and Kikyo, as they knew what Kagome had been about to tell him, and knew what she had realized from what Inuyasha had just said.

'I can't believe it,' she gasped with tears falling down her cheeks, 'you really do still love her, don't you?' Inuyasha's eyes widened at her words, and he watched as Kagome turned, and ran into the trees.

TBC

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A/N: Dum Dum Dum Dum! And so the plot thickens! Getting better, no? Well I thought so. Sorry to Kikyo fans that I made her and the others' attitudes towards her a little overdone, but remember this fic, and the four that follow take place after the series, and all four movies, plus an epic battle which is revealed in a sequel to this fic has occured which I've made up and contains things they've mentioned, like Naraku's death, Kohaku's disapearance etc. So alot more has happened to make them bitter towards her than everyone's seen. Also don't forget that therefore alot of time has past in which Inuyasha still has lingering affections for Kikyo (which is fine don't get me wrong, even though I'm not particularly fond of her - I feel sorry for her actually, her storyline is quite depressing), but he is technically leading Kagome on, hence the others' frustration at the situation. Hope that explained alot and didn't bore ya ^_^ Please keep readin', and lots of lovely reviews please.

Luv Shigure

x chuu x