To say Koga was resistant to meeting would have been the understatement of the century.

He put it off with logical excuses, claiming he couldn't leave work at just that moment to make the trek to Tokyo and that she had an exam in both 'The Study of Language & Culture' and 'Edo Literature' within the next two weeks. When he reminded her of that she had looked wearily at her textbooks, suddenly dreading the hours of studying she knew she would have to put in to be able to get a decent grade on her exams. Thankfully, her other classes hadn't scheduled exams for the same time or else she would have been in some serious trouble. Monday came around all to quick and without anything settled between her and Koga. She knew what she had to do and she despised herself for it. Part of her wished that she could just do it over the phone, but she knew that wasn't right. They had been such an important part of each other's lives for so long it was only proper to say what needed to be said in person. So, she had started scheming.

Scheming to surprise him at his apartment in two weeks.

As soon as her exams were done she was going to hope the two hour Shinkansen (bullet train) before catching the half hour long bus ride to the cute town Koga lived and worked in. She knew where his apartment was, she had been there before, and she knew his work hours. He had Saturday off and that was when she was planning to arrive. If he refused to go to her, she would go to him.

She sat in her seat in 'History of the Culture of Tea in Japan' and tapped her fingers anxiously against the table. Her thoughts were consumed with Koga and her exams, so she didn't notice Inuyasha slide in beside her until his soothing voice muttered a soft, "Hey."

She spun to look at him, giving herself a little bit of whiplash in the process. Her eyes met his and she could feel the blush instantly rise to her cheeks. Quickly, she looked away and back at her paper, her smile never leaving her face.

"Hey…" Her voice was soft in response. Class was just about to start and the professor had just walked into the classroom.

"Was the movie good this weekend? Sorry I missed it."

She could feel him looking at her and it made her stomach tighten in the most un-welcome way. Her blush grew but she couldn't help but be reminded of their talk in his bedroom, of the romantic tension that had invaded the air between them. Her fingers slide slowly across her paper, gliding over the words on the page, before she answered.

"Yea, I guess?" She turned to look at him, not quite meeting his gaze but not avoiding it either. "I kind of didn't get to finish it due to a certain you-know-who." She winked playfully up at him and was glad when she saw him give her an eager smirk in response.

"Keh, not my fault. You could have still watched the movie." His ears flicked towards the professor who was now carefully putting an old tea set on display.

Her smile faded slightly and she looked at him seriously, daring to actually meet eye contact. "No, I couldn't have." Her look intensified as his eyes widened slightly. Something was there, some electric tingle between them, that clearly told both of them that no, she couldn't have ignored him that night. She couldn't ignore him when he was hurting because she cared, and in a way that she knew she shouldn't.

"Oh…" It came out deep and breathy, as if he was unaware he had uttered it.

She was about to say something else when the professor clapped his hands, drawing their attention. "Now then, as you know you don't have a written exam in this class until the end of term…" There was a mild 'whooping' noise off to the far left. Some students chuckled as the professor sent a death glare towards the offending interrupting student. "… instead, you have a group project. In groups of two I want you to do a presentation and five page write up, which is to be expanded into a fifteen page write up for your final, on the culture and history of tea within a specific era of Japan. Your group is the person sitting next to you right now…" The professor had a mischievous glint in his eyes, glad to not allow the students the right to choose a partner for themselves, forcing the students to pair up with whoever happened to be beside them. "After greeting your partner, please come up and draw an era out of the pot." He motioned towards the old ceramic tea pot in the front of the room that Kagome only now noticed had little pieces of paper sticking out of the top.

She turned and glanced shyly at Inuyasha. "Well, I guess were partners, friend." Her smile grew as the realization set in. They were partners. They would have to spend time on this assignment, together, outside of their group movies with Sango and Miroku. Immediately, she felt ashamed at how excited she was. Her excitement was bubbling up from the pit of her stomach and it took all her willpower to not outwardly express it. But, from the amused look on his face and the way his ears twitched she couldn't help but wonder if he had guessed. Or, worse, if he had heard her heart speed up. Once agains he couldn't help but wonder just how much he could hear. She volunteered to go pick a card from the tea pot and stood up, thankful to be able to leave his side for a brief moment so she could calm herself down. She was the third student to go. She reached her hand in carefully and twirled her fingers through the cards before pulling one out of the pile. The professor looked over at the card, smiled, wrote down the era and their names, and waved her on.

Kagome returned, taking her seat beside Inuyasha and opened the card for him to see.

"The Edo period, huh?" His eyebrows wrinkled slightly. "We haven't really covered that in class much."

She breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly very grateful for her other classes this semester. "Don't worry. We have a month to get this done, plus I'm in 'Edo Literature' and 'Japan: 1800 - 1900' which covers the tail-end of the Edo period. We should be good." She smiled warmly up at him and the way he immediately responded to her set her heart on fire. He smirked and his eyes seemed to twinkle, his ears had immediately turned to focus on her, and his voice was like velvet to her ears.

"I guess we are, Ka-Go-Me." He drew out saying her name, as if he wanted to taste it, experiment with it, see how it felt. Whenever he said it like that it felt like he was teasing her, reminding her of when they first met. But now, unlike then, there was something deep and forbidden laced within his voice, within the way he said something simple like her name. She shook her head, begging her inappropriate thoughts to disappear, before she came to her senses. The professor had started lecture and with one last longing glance at Inuyasha's adorable ears she began hurriedly writing down notes.

The weekend came by fast. Her 'Edo Literature' exam had been the previous Wednesday and she was pretty sure she had rocked it. That had led her into her weekend with a smile even though the weight of the amount of work she had to get done pressed heavily on her shoulders. Her two other classes, 'Japan: 1800 - 1900' and 'Anthropology of Religion' had set up exam dates as well in two weeks. That meant she had an exam next week, two the week after that, and her project with Inuyasha due two weeks after that. She sighed and melted into her bed, the weight of it all crushing her. She tried to focus on the glee she had felt just moments before… but it became impossible. Her eyes flashed towards the black screen of her phone. It was Saturday morning and she was supposed to meet Inuyasha Sunday night to begin researching their project. She reached over and clicked open the phone, glancing at her calendar, before going back to her text messages to Koga. She had been obsessively analyzing and reanalyzing them all week. The last one still said…

Kagome: {Good morning!}

… and that was from the day before. Nearly 24 hours and no response. Regardless of what she knew she had to do, that still hurt. It stung her low and deep, invaded her veins and begged her to give in to the pain she knew was soon to come.

Her exams and projects floated through her mind and she knew, right there in that moment, that if she waited for all of them to finish it would be unfair to not only Koga, but also herself. Her original plan of waiting two weeks was suddenly squashed. She felt herself, without truly realizing what she was doing until it was already done, pack up a small suitcase with things she would need for the night. She glanced back towards her pile of books and slowly reached out and grabbed her textbook for 'The Study of Language & Culture'. She knew she probably wouldn't work up the energy to actually study, but it was a long trip there and it would give her something to distract herself with. She grabbed her phone and opened the text messages, staring too fondly at a new name that sat within her contacts. Inuyasha. He had given her his number because of the project, she knew that, but still… it made her heart stutter. Slowly, she typed her first ever message to him.

Kagome: {I have to cancel this weekend, I'm sorry. We can study for double the amount of time next weekend, if that's ok?}

She put her phone down and dragged her suitcase downstairs. Sango wasn't home so she quickly scrawled a message across the whiteboard on the fridge. She knew she would hear from her later and she was afraid she would loose all nerve if she admitted to anyone what she was going to do. It was something she could only say once. She was ashamed to admit it to herself, she just wasn't brave enough to say the words aloud more than absolutely necessary. She was just pulling her suitcase out of the apartment when her phone beeped. She mentally yelled at herself when she felt the way her heart skipped as Inuyasha's name appeared on her screen.

Inuyasha: {Sure, we have loads of time.}

Inuyasha: {Everything ok?}

She could almost hear the concern in his voice and it made her smile, the tight not of tension within her stomach was even somewhat loosened.

Kagome: {Yea, I just have… something I need to go do. It can't wait.}

Inuyasha: {Ok… good luck, Kagome."

She stared at the message for a moment, debating on replying, before shoving it into her jacket pocket. Inuyasha could wait. What mattered, right now, was the mission she was on.

She managed to review one solitary chapter on her Shinkansen ride, but mostly her thoughts were plagued with the task ahead. How was she going to do this? She still loved him… but not in the way she should. It was a longing for the love they used to have… One that was filled with passion, understanding, and trust. It was a longing for their past love, for what they used to be… Something they could never have back. The more time she thought about it, the more she realized that this feeling, this dread, this fear, had been with her for much longer than she had originally thought. It had begun before she even met Inuyasha, before the weird texts, back when Koga and herself were trying to figure out how to be apart when he had graduated and moved for his job. It had always been there, in there talks about the future, in their plan they had laid out. She had always felt it, it was simply 'something' unknowable and indefinable that had tugged at a piece of her soul and over time it had simply grew. She had tried so hard to ignore it, and that had been wrong. She had kept fighting for what they used to have, but that was simply not what they had anymore. Now their talks were laced with something else, not the love that used to lie beneath every word. She still loved him, she did, but she loved the idea of him, the person she had originally met and fell in love with. This, no matter what, was going to tear her apart. It doesn't matter that it's the right decision, she still knew it would break her having to do this.

When the bus finally stopped and she had to leave its warm embrace the impact of what she was about to do really hit her and she had to force herself to hold back her tears. This wasn't the time to cry, not yet. She dreaded each step she took. It was colder here, this town being slightly up in the mountains. She wrapped her arms around herself and trudged on. About fifteen minutes later she was finally there, standing outside the metal door to his apartment. She felt frozen. She was rooted to the spot, finger raised to the doorbell. She took one, two, three deep breaths and steadied herself before she gently pressed the tip of her left index finger against the doorbell. She caught sight of her ring and twisted it around her finger once again with her thumb, her nervous habit, before forcibly looking away from it and staring at the door in front of her. She could hear footsteps… and laughter… and Koga's voice as he opened the door…

"That must be the pizza! One sec…." His voice trailed off, caught in his throat, as he opened the door and saw that it was not the pizza delivery man, but Kagome, standing there before him. "Ka… Kagome… You're here…" He seemed lost, confused, paralyzed within a nightmare.

"Mhm…" She muttered back, nodding her head slightly. This was not the meeting of lovers, this looked like a meeting of strangers. She looked behind him into the apartment and caught sight of a beautiful woman, her dark red hair in big pigtails.

"Koga, what's taking so long?" The girl paused as she saw Kagome, her eyebrows squinting together in confusion.

Koga looked back toward the girl, then Kagome, then back at the girl again. His eyes lingered there and suddenly Kagome, painfully, understood. She couldn't help but mutter out a soft, "Oh…" as she realized the girl standing in front of her was a wolf demon too.

"Koga?" The girl walked up to Koga cautiously, as if she was trying to approach a rabid animal.

"Ayame, this is…"

The name tasted slightly sour in Kagome's mouth. Just hearing it… it brought her back to the night they had gotten engaged and a mysterious new co-worker had called him on the phone. She swallowed away the sour taste and forced herself to be reasonable. She really wasn't any better than him, after all.

"I'm Kagome…" she finished for him, pushing her way into the apartment, suitcase dragging behind her. "An old friend…" She dared a look back at Koga, his eyes were downcast, before she met Ayame's gaze.

Ayame clearly knew that she was lying. Once glance at the suitcase and her unannounced visit told her that. But, to her credit, she played along.

"I guess, I need to be going then…" She gave Koga a stern look and then promptly left. Koga looked longingly in the direction she had disappeared before shutting the door. His eyes met hers and she knew it was about to start. The end… It was approaching fast.

"We need to talk." Her words broke the silence.

Immediately, something changed within the room. Some unknowing acceptance…. Koga took a few steps forward and wrapped his arms tight around her, pulling her in against his taught muscles and making her clench tightly to the man she loved. Her fingers buried themselves into his shirt as her face snuggled against his chest. She could feel him smelling her hair and she relaxed into him. This felt so familiar… but it didn't feel right anymore. Familiar didn't always mean good and their planned future was no longer a reality. It was no longer what she wanted. So, she had to let go…

Her eyes widened and she slowly released her grip on him and took a step away, breaking his embrace. It was just then that his lips came crashing down upon hers, and she let him. She let both of them enjoy this last kiss before words that couldn't be taken back were said. She let herself enjoy the feel of his lips against hers, the wonderfully familiarity of it, she let herself enjoy the way his fingers knotted in her hair and the way her body molded against his in an all too familiar dance. When he finally pulled away, hands on each side of her face holding her there, their eyes met and she could tell that he knew what was about to come… and that he was going to hurt too.

"Let's… let's sit down…" He sounded wary. He gently took her hand and led her over to the couch, her suitcase forgotten. They sat down next to each other and her head fell against his shoulder, their hands held tightly to each other and she was glad for the steadying factor that provided her. It gave her something tangible to hold onto, to squeeze as her nerves heightened. But, with a terrible lurch, she realized the tingle that his hand against hers used to provide was noticeably lacking.

"Koga, who is Ayame?" Her voice was soft, withdrawn, prepared for the answer she expected.

She felt his muscles tense and was suddenly glad she couldn't see his face from her position. "Nothings happened…" He paused for a moment, as if he was unsure about what he was about to say. "But, I… I've wanted it to." She felt him flinch, guilty, caught, beneath her. She squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"She didn't know about me." Her tone was matter-of-fact and sharp. She took a deep breath, calming herself. She had to remind herself that she was no better. It was too late to take back the sharp undertone though as she felt Koga once again tense, his hand squeezing hers a bit tighter.

"No… but I guess she does now." His voice trailed off regretfully. Kagome leaned back so she could look at him. Really look at him.

"Koga?"

He turned to look at her and she could feel her eyes begin to water.

"I do love you Koga." Her voice cracked a little on his name and she squeezed his hand tightly to steady herself.

"Oh, Kags…" He reached one hand up to lightly cup her cheek. He was staring into her eyes, his own sparkled with unshed tears. He knew what was coming. "I love you, too…" His voice trailed off, becoming a bit more unsteady and gravely towards the end. They stayed like that for a minute, just looking at each other. Kagome blinked and her tears spilt over. They were silent tears, resigned tears, the worst kind. They fell slowly without her permission. She hadn't wanted to cry this quickly, but it was happening. They fell, silent and deadly, and Koga's thumb softly brushed them away. She saw him gulp in effort to contain his own that barely stayed locked within his eyes. With a deep breath she took his hand away from her face and held it tightly against her chest, near her heart.

There was longing between them in that moment. Nothing romantic. A simple longing for the past, for the past they had shared together, for their love when it was new, amazing, and innocent.

"You know, don't you?" She sounded weak and she hated it, the way her voice refused to come out at full volume.

He nodded, breaking their eye contact to look away. "I knew something was wrong. I didn't want to… No… I couldn't admit it." He turned back to look at her and she was struck by his honesty. Her heart warmed within the midst of her pain, she was happy he was being honest, that they both were. They deserved honesty from each other. "I couldn't admit it cause a part of me still loves you. I still love you… I know you know that Kags. But, I'm not…" He trailed off again, unable to finish.

"You're not happy." She supplied with a slight smile. "I'm not sure when it happened. I think it started a long time ago… But, I'm not happy, not like before… It's simply not like before."

He nodded and she saw a lone tear escape him.

That sight… was so utterly rare for Koga that she had never seen him cry before, broke her heart. To see him look so defeated, even though it was the right thing to do, killed a little part of her.

The doorbell rang and Koga stood up abruptly. He opened the door, grabbed what Kagome assumed was a Meat Lover's pizza (with extra meat), paid the delivery man, shut the door, plopped the pizza on the table… forgotten… and rejoined her on the couch. When he sat back down he immediately placed his hand back within hers and she noticed that his painfully quiet tears still hadn't ceased, much like her own.

"I know you like her…" Kagome steeled herself, mentally preparing to be 100% honest with him, "… and I'm not innocent there either."

His startled look caught her off guard but she squeezed his hand and continued.

"There is a boy at school… Inuyasha…" She cursed herself when his name sounded warm on her lips, "… he is a friend of Sango's boyfriend… Nothing ever happened. He knows about you… But…"

Koga raised a hand, cutting her off.

"It's ok. I understand. Ok?" His voice was cracking and she was shockingly disturbed to see even more tears flowing over his cheeks.

The reality of this… the reality of breaking up with someone you loved so strongly for so long… was heartbreaking.

"Oh, Koga!" She threw herself into him, her head against his stomach as her arms wrapped tightly around him. "I'm sorry!"

"Me too, Kagome…" She felt his fingers begin to run through her hair, something he knew she loved. "Me too…"

They stayed like that for a while, holding each other, comforting each other, tears falling silently but unstoppable. Kagome wasn't sure how long it had been before she finally leaned back, prepared for the final words that would end it all officially between them.

Their tear filled eyes met and they both knew, the moment had come.

She looked down at her ring and tried to fully take in how pretty it was. She remembered how she felt when she had gotten it, how it had nearly felt like how it used to be between Koga and her. But, that had only been a temporary departure from the depressing norm. She tried to smile as she looked at it one last time but she couldn't do it. Her heart felt like it was falling apart, the very world they had built together crumbling, as she slowly slid it off of her finger and placed it into the palm of his hand, closing his fingers around it.

"This belongs to you." Her voice was barely audible.

Koga didn't say anything but looked down at his closed fist before staring at her now painfully empty finger.

"This is the end, for real, isn't it?" His voice was full of longing and she immediately succumbed to the deep nature of it.

"Yes." She took a deep breath before leaning forward, closing the small gap between them, and pressed a watery kiss against his lips. "Thank you, Koga…"

"For what?" They were only inches away from each other, eyes searching the other for permission.

"For loving me."

That was all she could say before his lips crashed down onto hers and they fell into each other, allowing themselves one last night together. One last night to reminisce about how they fell in love, the passion they had felt, the love they had truly shared over their time together… They let themselves truly embrace each other one final time…

When the day broke, the sun just rising over the mountain tops, they were climbing into his car. They drove in silence, hands intertwined, as he took her to the train station so she wouldn't need to catch the bus. When the finally got there they sat and let the silence of the envelop them for several minutes before pushing open their doors and letting the morning noise of the outside world in. Kagome pulled her suitcase from the backseat and the sound of the wheels on the gravel of the parking lot made her flinch. A new day was beginning, she was single, the fantasy of a future with Koga was now firmly demolished. He took a step forward and wrapped his arms around her in one, lingering, embrace. They didn't say a word to each other, not even goodbye, because on some level they both knew that if they said that word out loud they would both crumble right there and then in the daylight. They simply looked at each other for a long moment before Kagome turned and pulled her suitcase to the sidewalk and walked about a block over to the train station entrance. When she reached the doors she paused and turned back towards where she came, towards where a depressed looking Koga still stood watching her leave. He smiled vaguely at her and waved. She followed suit, mustering up the best half-smile she could and waved back at him before turning and entering the station.

Just before the doors closed, before she was completely separated from them, she muttered warmly, "Goodbye, Koga." The doors closed behind her, but she knew with his demonic senses that he would hear it. She collapsed, right there on the station's floor. She fell down to her knees as the force of their goodbye rocketed through her. With a shaky breath she stood up, leaning against her suitcase for support, and began to walk towards the Shinkansen and her new, unpredictable, life.

~Author's Note~

So, what did you think? Thank you so much to those who reviewed.

Did the break-up go how you expected? What do you think will happen next?

Please, review! It really helps me write and I update much quicker when there are a few reviews.

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you are enjoying the story.

~ FeudalAi