A/N: Hey! Sorry sorry sorry!!! I know I should have updated sooner but things have been hectic. My dad started his 7th cycle for chemo so I have been sitting with him at the hospital and trying to take care of the house and my school work. UGH! lol. Well It's here so I won't keep you waiting! CHAPTER FOUR OF ALSC!!!
Guide:
Italics: Thoughts
Last Time:
o0o0o0o
"What?" InuYasha asked with a voice of heartbreak.
"I said get away from me. I don't want to hear your lies." Kagome replied.
o0o0o0o
"You don't love me and if you really do… I don't want it. All it does is make me hurt."
o0o0o0o
After taking a few deep breaths, she lifted her head up and spoke the words that would forever haunt InuYasha.
"I want you to leave…"
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"I want you to leave so I can think. I don't want you to come back. No matter how long I take."
o0o0o0o
"In case this is goodbye." He whispered. "I love you."
With that InuYasha tenderly and lightly kissed Kagome on the forehead, released her, and flew into the air and back down the well leaving a stunned and sobbing Kagome to fall to the floor once again.
A Love So Cold
Chapter Three: Sometimes It's Better to Move On
"InuYasha! You need to come down!" Sango's angry and concerned voice echoed through the forest.
Sighing, she sat at the base of the Goshinboku, massaged her temples, and thought of what she could possibly say to comfort the half-demon.
Almost three months had past since Kagome had left and they had found InuYasha sitting at the bottom of the well. His cries of anguish, fear, and defeat were heard from the village. After many hours of convincing on Sango's part, he had left the well. Unfortunately the only other place he would go was the Goshinboku; which is where he had been sitting ever since.
The hanyou would not come down unless it was by force. About once a week, Sango would have to distract him while Shippo knocked him off the tree and Miroku subdued him. Sango feared they could not keep it up much longer.
So once again, Miroku had left it up to her to knock some sense into their dog demon friend.
"InuYasha…" Sango looked ahead with a pained look in her eyes. "I think it's time to admit that Kagome isn't coming back."
With a swoosh and a smash, InuYasha stood before Sango, giving her the most evil of glares.
"Don't. Say. That." InuYasha growled. "Don't EVER say that! She is coming back!"
The demon exterminator rose to feet and looked straight into the eyes of her half-demon friend.
"It's been three months. I don't thin-"
"NO! SHE IS COMING BACK! WE WILL WAIT FOR HER AS LONG AS IT TAKES!"
"INUYASHA!"
InuYasha's anger slid away and was slowly replaced with fear of the woman in front of him.
Sango fumed as she walked closer to InuYasha and raised her voice.
"The village is filled with refugees from villages in the east! They were destroyed by Naraku! Did you forget about him?! He is growing stronger by the day! Rumors say that he posses more than 1/3 of the jewel! WE CANNOT WAIT ANY LONGER!"
Silence and tension was shared between the two until finally InuYasha spoke.
"I didn't forget about him. Kagome matters more to me."
Sango's anger was replaced with compassion as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I understand that. All of us do. It's just that we have a responsibility. Even Kagome would understand that. We have to stop him InuYasha."
"Alright…" he said wearily, flattening his dog ears to his head. "We will leave in the morning."
"Not until you get some food and take a bath." A man said walking out from behind a tree, carrying a staff. "You look like you got into a fight with a dirty pig demon and lost!"
"MIROKU!" Sango scolded the monk.
Shippo appeared behind Miroku "It's true."
It was in fact true. InuYasha's haori was torn and was in desperate need of a cleaning. Particles of dirt clung to his hair, stealing his natural silver shine. Worst off was his face. From rarely eating it appeared as if the half-demon had lost about ten pounds leaving his face gaunt and pale.
All of this did not stop InuYasha from regaining his attitude however. "Miroku… Shippo… You have 5 seconds to run. 5... 4"
Miroku ran as fast as humanly possible leaving Shippo to trail behind him.
"…1! GET BACK HERE!!!" In a flash, InuYasha was right behind them.
"Well…" Sango said to herself. "At least he's back."
Turning toward the village, Sango walked shaking her head and hoping that Miroku and Shippo's beating wasn't too bad.
Five hundred and three years into the future, the priestess/school girl and her family were proof that history repeats itself.
"MOM!!!"
THUMP
THUMP
THUMP
"Ouch." Whined a thirteen year old boy as he sprawled out across the bottom of the stairs.
Nasake Higurashi walked into the foyer with a dish rag in her hand. Seeing her son rubbing his abused head, she questioned him.
"Sota. What on earth are you doing?"
Staring off into space and getting an evil look in his eyes, Sota replied. "I tried to get Kagome out of her room but she pushed me so hard I fell down the stairs."
If the situation weren't serious, Mrs. Higurashi would have been overcome by laughter due to the look on her son's face.
Mrs. Higurashi set her towel aside and helped pick up the little boy. Solemnly, they walked into a room with beige walls; red and browns adorning almost every surface.
Sitting beside her son on the red couch, Nasake clasped her hands together and bent her head down. "Sota… I know that this whole thing with Kagome has been hard to deal with.-"
"Yea! She-"
"But!" She interrupted. "You have to give her time. Just let me handle her. Try to stay out of her way and I'll have a talk with her."
"Another one?" Sota asked.
Sighing, she stood and ruffled the young boys black hair. "Yes Sota… Another one. Why don't you go over to Hitomi's house, ne? She called for you earlier."
Sota's face turned beet red as he grumbled. "I guess I could stop by."
"Hahaha. Just be back by dinner!" Mrs. Higurashi yelled after her son as he stumbled out the door.
After making sure that he was gone, she turned her focus onto more pressing matters.
"I just don't know what to do." She thought sitting once again on the couch. Resting her head on her hands and putting her elbows onto her knees, Nasake began to tear.
"She hasn't been the same since she came back."
FLASHBACK
The sun was setting on the Higurashi Shrine as a middle aged woman walked up what seemed like an endless amount of steps, carrying groceries in her arms.
Wind blew her short black hair as she slowly walked toward her front door. She adjusted the bags she held and prepared to open the door just as a sobbing noise caught her attention. Placing her bags down, she followed the noise to the well house.
The door creaked softly as she slid it open and poked her head inside. She walked to the lip of the well and looked in only to see her daughter crying.
"Kagome?" Mrs. Higurashi spoke gently.
Startled, Kagome snapped her head up. "Mom…"
In less than thirty seconds, Kagome was up the ladder and sobbing in her mothers arms. No words were spoken between the two as Kagome's knees gave way and they both sat on the ground. Mrs. Higurashi rocked her daughter back and fourth making comforting noises.
"Kagome…" She said at a loss for words.
Continuing to sob, Kagome offered bits and pieces of information to her mother. "InuYasha and Kikyo… I love him… he's gone!"
Although Kagome's words were meant to help her mother understand, she still could not, due to Kagome's pauses. Not about to ask her daughter to repeat herself, she contented in holding her as she cried for what seemed like hours.
END FLASHBACK
"I got her out of the well house but now she won't leave her room… She is beginning to look like a ghost; so faint and thin. I can't even get her to eat half the time. What do I do…?"
As if looking for inspiration, Nasake turned her gaze to Kagome's bedroom door. It only took a few minutes before she rose from her chair and headed up the stairs.
Knocking gently on her daughter's door, she called her name and waited for a response.
"Kagome."
Smoothly and quietly, Mrs. Higurashi opened Kagome's bedroom door. What looked like paper balls and articles of clothing were scattered all over her bedroom floor; dishes were lying all over her desk which was also buried in random objects. Her bedroom window was covered in a thick dark blanket allowing only one ray of sunshine to peer through her window. As dark as it was, Mrs. Higurashi was still able to see a small figure under the covers of the bed.
After flicking on the light switch, the older woman jumped in fright as a rustle was heard and her daughters head appeared from under her covers.
"What." Her cool and emotionally drained voice echoed.
The changes in her daughter were so drastic; it took all of her will power not to gasp. Kagome's eyes were void of all life and had lost their luster. Her hair was in a bun but you could still tell that it had not been brushed in days. Her once fair skin had turned so white; it could only be compared to a fresh sheet of snow. Everything that once was Kagome was gone; almost as she had not existed.
"Kagome… I…" Nasake forced the urge to run and hold her daughter down and prepared for a stern talk.
"You need to get up now." She said with authority.
Kagome used what strength she had to glare at her mother, still looking half-dead.
"What? Why."
"Because Kagome," Mrs. Higurashi replied, moving toward her daughter. "You can't keep doing this."
"Doing what?"
"THIS! Sitting in bed all day and staring at the walls or sleeping. Eating in your room and not even bothering to get up, shower, and go to school. You're slowly killing yourself and I won't stand by and watch it anymore!"
As Nasake's voice rose, Kagome's eyes slowly softened.
"Please. I'm begging you. Get up. Do something. Anything! You aren't just hurting yourself you know. You are hurting Grandpa and Sota… and even me. I won't pretend to know what happened but I know that you have to move on. It probably will always hurt, but you need to try. At least attempt to live. If not for me… then for yourself."
Kagome's mother slowly turned and head toward the door.
"We are going out to dinner and a movie tonight. I want you to take a shower and get dressed."
After a five minute stare down, Kagome got out of her bed and headed toward the bathroom. All the while, maintaining her zombie-like appearance.
Mrs. Higurashi waited for the bathroom door to shut and the shower to start before going into the other room and breaking down to tears.
A/N: Well then... I don't know why I put the chapter this way but I rather like it. I put InuYasha and Kagome's way of dealing with it differently, I know. It just came that way. By the way, for translation purposes, Nasake means sympathy or compassion. I put that for Kagome's mothers name because I always thought of that when I thought of her. She didn't really display it this chapter but what are you going to do. It's 6 pages long so I hope this is a big enough apology for my delay. SORRY!!! lol. It's not the best chapter but darn it! I liked it. STAY TUNED!
Thank you! Ja! PLEASE R&R! And check out my other works!