Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters affiliated with it; furthermore no monetary profit is made from the publishing of this story.

Pivot

Warm smiles and gentle glances...a woman with black, long hair. Kagome...? Cherry blossoms spilled over the two of them sitting side by side; then, suddenly, the leaves blushed into the russet tinge of autumn and he could see the woman in his arms. Holding on to him, trusting in him, lo-

'Die, Inuyasha!' The woman had yelled and he felt like listening to her.

The words cut him to the quick – he never saw the arrow coming. He grasped at the image of the woman he was in love with, in vain. Her sneer, her cold eyes; something was off! Something was wrong...but he was sleepy, so...sleepy...

Why? His heart shed tears even as his mind shut down. Suki nano ni...

She watched him toss and turn. He let out a keening whine; her arms tightened around him.

"You're okay, Inuyasha. You're safe..." She whispered softly, trying to pacify him. When he finally awoke she could see tears still shining in his eyes.

"You had a nightmare. You're alright now."

His eyes just widened even more.

"Y-y-you...! Get away from me!"

"Inuyasha!"

"Let me go! Let me go!" He wiggled out of her arms and ran out.

"Inuyasha! Come back here! What's wrong?"

She followed him to the well house and jumped in.

The tears scorched his cheeks but they wouldn't stop coming. Kagome...she had lied to him as well. He remembered now.

She had treated him as a dog too. Told him to 'sit', humiliated him. And he had thought...

The tears strengthened their flow again. His big brother had been right. No-one would want a half-breed. No-one could want a half-breed. The only one who would allow him to even share his existence was...

With a heavy heart he decided it was time. He would return.

Translation Notes: Suki na no ni means: But...I love you.

Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay. I've recently relocated into a much much larger dictionary - a veritable palace of words - and as such have had no time to update. I much appreciate all your messages and feedback and I would like to assure you this story will not be abandoned. My apologies if I haven't managed to reply to all individually; just know I do read them and I'm always very happy to hear from you! I shall do my best to update as fast as I can. Much love and gratitude to all for making this story reach over 13,000 hits and 232 reviews and for very kindly nominating it as this quarter's IYFG best drama (inufan625)!! (smiles and rainbows):3