It was the following week when Kagome found herself walking the halls of her high school again. Somehow, during her time in the Sengoku Jidai, she had managed to study hard enough to receive entry into the high school close to home. All of her friends had gotten in as well, which was something very important to her, years ago. Now, she had college to think about, entrance exams to study for, and overall life-changing decisions to make. This was moving forward. It was everything she had always dreamed of when she was younger. But her priorities had changed after all the years she spent with InuYasha and the others. They had become her family, her loved ones, and she had been planning to inform everyone on both sides of time where she was going to live the rest of her life. It was going to be by InuYasha's side as his mate, his wife, his lover, for as long as they should live.

She never got the chance to tell anyone, not even InuYasha.

If she had, would it have changed anything? Would their lives be different just because Kagome would have said those words: I'm staying with you forever to him, with all the meaning in the world? Would it have stopped Naraku from killing him, all of them, that day on such a bloody battlefield? No. The answer was no. Nothing would have changed at all.

"Hey, Kagome!" someone called from behind her. It sounded like Eri, so Kagome did her best to smile when she turned around to greet her friend.

"Hey, Eri," Kagome replied, smiling at the short-haired girl, although it didn't contain its usual warmth, Kagome knew. It was so hard to do so, but she knew that there were appearances to keep up. Even with her closest friends.

"We haven't seen you in a while," she commented. "How have you been? Ayumi and I called your house a dozen times. Your grandfather said you had Swine Flu!" Kagome couldn't believe that her jiji was still making up illnesses for her when she went back in time. She swallowed a lump in her throat, realizing that he would never have to cover for her again.

"N-No. I just had the flu. You know Gramps. He gets carried away sometimes," Kagome answered, trying to remain natural. Ayumi and Yuka turned the corner and spotted them, rushing over with similar greetings about her health and how long it had been since they'd last seen her.

"While you were gone, Hojo was a mess!" Ayumi told her.

"He was so worried about you! Why isn't he your boyfriend yet, anyway?" whined Yuka, in her usual manner.

"Because Kagome's still hung up on her two-timing, violent jerk-boyfriend, aren't you, Kagome?" Eri said, looking disappointed. Kagome tried not to let it sting, because it wasn't supposed to. But now that InuYasha was…was no longer a part of her life, Kagome did not want him spoken of so negatively.

"He's not," Kagome replied, some heat in her voice. Her friends quieted down, gazing at her with the most serious of expressions. "He's not a jerk or a two-timer or violent. He's perfect and I love him." This shocked her friends more than the tone of her voice. All three pairs of chocolate eyes widened at this revelation.

"If that's true, Kagome…why are you crying?" Eri asked.

"I'm not crying," Kagome said, her words cracked and broken. It reminded her of that day, when Miroku was killed before their eyes. Sango had cried out with the same amount of broken-hearted agony, only so terribly loud that it cut through Kagome like a knife. It was the same sort of voice that Kagome had used, softly, when she whispered to InuYasha: please don't leave me as he closed his eyes for the last time. Her friends would never understand. Despite their warm hugs and affectionate pats to her hair, they would never, ever understand.

pqpq

Hojo found her after history, when she was leaving for the locker room to get her shoes and books that evening. He was just as tall as he had been, only his hair had gotten a bit longer and his boyish face had thinned out a bit, giving him a more serious look. However, his voice was still that playful, carefree tenor that Kagome could not shake. It did not waver time and time again, even when Kagome stood him up or when she left abruptly in his presence to return to InuYasha. Now, it was no different, except for the fact that Kagome had nowhere to run to. No one to run to.

"Hi, Kagome," he said, still embarrassed around her despite the one-sided chase since they were in middle school.

"Hi, Hojo," she answered, focusing on her breathing, the buttons on his uniform, instead of his face. He wanted to ask her out. He wanted to go on a date, where the two of them would sit together and maybe he'd put his hand on her arm, or try to hold her hand, or even try to kiss her. It was everything that Kagome couldn't do. She couldn't do that even if she tried.

"I'm glad your case of Swine Flu cleared up. I was really worried. I did a bunch of research about it too, but since it's such a new disease, I couldn't find any remedies for it," Hojo explained, but handed her something anyway. It was a bottle of extra-strength vitamins. The man sure knew how to impress a girl. "It says that in order to fight off the virus, you need a strong immune system. Take two of those a day and drink a glass of orange juice and you'll be healthy in no time!"

"Thanks…Hojo, really," Kagome said, putting the plastic bottle into her bag. She managed to smile at him, but it was even more strained than before with her friends, who had told her it was okay to cry after her boyfriend dumped her. If only they knew…

"When you're feeling better, would you be up to maybe catching a movie with me sometime?" he asked, giving her that hopeful look that reminded Kagome too much of Shippou when he desperately wanted something sweet before dinner. She blinked back the tears and with them, the image of the kitsune's shredded, lifeless body on the frosty earth.

"Yeah, sure," she relented. "That sounds great." He probably would have hopped up and down if not in her presence. Kagome kept her eyes level with the button on his jacket, memorizing the insignia, the shine, the shadows, everything not to think about how much it was going to hurt when she went out with the boy before her.

"Great. Well, I hope you feel better soon!" Hojo said, giving her a wink, before walking in the direction of the boy's locker room. He was whistling.

"What have I done…?" Kagome murmured to herself, putting her head in her hands. It took her a long time to move from that spot and get her things. She did not ride her bike home. Instead, she pushed it along down the sidewalks, her gaze on the pavement below her loafers. The sky was pink and orange in the setting yellow of the sun by the time she reached home. Locking her bike on a rack at the bottom level of the shrine, Kagome then set to walking up the long flight of stairs towards her house, keeping her hands deep in the pockets of her coat to stay warm.

"I'm home," she said cheerlessly, upon walking through the sliding door.

"Welcome home," her mother called from the kitchen. Kagome removed her shoes with precise care and then entered the house in her slippers. "How was your day?" her mother inquired, when she passed by in the hallway.

"It was okay," Kagome replied, not looking up from the tatami mats on the floor. "I'm kind of tired. I'm going to bed. Don't wait up for me for dinner." Her mother said nothing as she walked by, taking the stairs at a slow pace towards the upper level. She soaked in the bath and then got into bed, setting her alarm for the following day. Homework untouched, she told herself she would do it in the morning. Because everything kept moving forward and the days did not care that she wanted everything to stop, just for a moment, to mourn what it had long forgotten.

pqpq

When Sunday arrived, Kagome snuck out of the house very early and walked the streets with her parka wrapped tightly around her. It took a half-hour to reach the train station, which she entered with a relieved sigh. Inside, warmth came back to her cheeks and fingertips, leaving her so flushed that she had to unzip her jacket to cool down. The place was practically empty at that time of morning. There was no work on Sunday or school, which left only travelers going home or returning from vacation as her company. Aimlessly, Kagome wandered the station until she came upon a map of the entire system. It was laid out in dizzying crisscrosses of purple, red, green, blue, and other shades of which she could not recall the names. There were a multitude of lines she could take that would fill up her day, but it was only about deciding which one would take her the furthest from this place.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there, but Kagome came back to her senses when footsteps stopped very close to her. With a gentle tilt of her head, Kagome looked to her left. Starting from the floor, she realized she didn't have to move her eyes upward to know who it was. Red and black converse stared back at her, their odd coupling sending that question into her mind again: what happens to the one when the other part of the pair disappears? She moved her eyes forward again, telling her heart that it wasn't him. It wasn't and couldn't be InuYasha. She had to stop tormenting herself. Maybe the D-Line would help her.

"You're the one from last Sunday, aren't you?" he asked suddenly. She nearly fell forward into the Plexiglas map with shock. How did he remember her? And even if he did, what was his purpose in talking to her? She looked at him and his lips flitted upwards in a brief smile, much like the one had had given her the last time they met. "Your eyes," he answered her unasked question. "They're memorable."

"You are too," she found herself replying before her mind could catch up with her tongue. After all, she'd never seen anyone with such golden eyes, except for…"You rode the B-Line and didn't get off the entire time," she added, to distract herself from those thoughts.

"You didn't either," he pointed out.

"I don't really care where I'm going," she said, shrugging a bit beneath the weight of her winter coat. It was true. She didn't care. She just wanted to go somewhere.

"Neither do I," he answered, turning his gaze back towards the map. They stood there looking at the board for a while longer before he finally said: "I think I'm going to Fukushimaken."

"Near Saitama?" Kagome clarified, searching for the route. She found its purple line, following it with her eyes. It was a long ride. And that was something she needed.

"Yeah. I heard it's nice this time of year," he said simply, before turning and walking away. She watched him go up to the nearest Vend-A-Card and put his coins in. Then, he punched in the numbers to receive his pass, which he collected from the slot at the bottom. Then, he was gone without another word, leaving Kagome standing there, flushed and confused. There had to be a reason why he mentioned what train he was taking, right? There had to be a reason for his presence in general and his eyes that were so familiar and the shoes that were both different, but seemed to fit so right together.

She went to the machine as well and paid her fare, receiving the ticket from the bottom. Her fingers moved around it, grasping it, before she went in search of her train. He was already gone, so she could not follow. But a few minutes later, Kagome passed through the turn stall and found her train, spotting him sitting in a seat by the door, waiting. Without saying a word, she sat across from him. Her bag was on the seat beside her, against her leg, her parka open so that she could feel the cool breeze of outside air upon her chest. People came inside and at nine on the dot, the train rolled forward. It stopped several times at different places to let passengers on and off. All day this continued, but the two of them remained in their places across from one another. They did not look at each other and they did not speak the entire trip. Instead, Kagome found herself staring out the window at the world that was moving too quickly for her liking. When the train became crowded in the evening, Kagome stood beside the long-haired man, unspeaking. They rode in silence as the city passed them by, quietly exiting when they reached the correct station. Then they parted without a word.

He to the East and she to the West.

pqpq

Word Count: 2,258