A Distant Promise – Drabble #3
He chose Kagome.
How could he have done otherwise? Not only did she look and smell almost exactly like his first love, she was better than Kikyou in almost every respect. Kikyou had been beautiful, graceful and kind, but Kagome was gorgeous, vivacious, and one-step-beyond kind – she seemed downright self-sacrificing. No matter what their history, Kagome had always stayed with him. When he had yelled at her in the beginning, she had just yelled right back. Eventually, he had realized he couldn't drive her away. It was stupendous. Amazing. Unbelievable. But also, undeniably true.
For once in his life, he had found someone who did not hate him for existing, someone who accepted him exactly the way he had been born. She had believed in him, even after seeing him fail, and she had stood by him, even when he did things to hurt her feelings. She also cooked really good food (like ramen). Yea, it might seem a little bit silly to other people, but one of the reasons Inuyasha had returned to Kagome's time, instead of forcing her to stay in the Warring States Era, was food. How could he face the possibility of a lonely existence without spicy, yummy noodles, once he had experienced the joy of instant ramen firsthand?
In any case, back to the topic at hand. Kagome was pretty, and energetic, and nice, and faithful, and she could cook. Wanting to do something considerate for her, for once, he had chosen to follow her home. That way, they could be together, without loosing her family and her time period in the process.
He had been sad to leave Miroku and Sango behind, but he had figured that being a human (and living with Kagome) would make up for it. And it did… in some ways. But he had never guessed just how awkward it would be, to live in the future. The silver hair and the puppy dog ears had vanished, once he wished to become human, yet he still didn't fit in.
First of all, everyone seemed to be in a hurry. It bothered him. Inuyasha had never been pressed for time in his life, except when he was fighting an enemy, or trying to collect shards of the Jewel of Four Souls before his worst foe could do so. Basically, Kagome had caught him during the busiest part of his existence – he had never run so fast or so far or pressed his group so hard, as when they were trailing Naraku all over Japan. Now that the danger was past, he had anticipated a bit of rest and relaxation. Kicking back in the grass around Kagome's family shrine, maybe napping in the sunshine, while she brought him snacks… that wouldn't have been so bad. But instead, he had to go places, meet people, run errands, and go to school. It was exhausting, and it all seemed so pointless. Living in the future did not bring him any more insight into the nature and purpose of 'tests' and 'lessons' than he had ever had before.
Secondly, there were way too many things to learn. He was expected to learn math, reading, writing, geography, history, and much more – if he did not learn these things, he would never get a good job, and how could he settle down with Kagome, when he could not make a living in this place? For some reason, a person couldn't just be a farmer anymore. How strange! He had lookedforward to being a farmer, when he spoke of marrying Kikyou and living with her for the rest of his life. What was so wrong with farming? It was a venerable occupation! But no one seemed to do it anymore. In fact, Kagome had laughed when he mentioned it. No, really! She had laughed in his face, like it was the silliest idea she had ever heard. His dream of moving to the countryside and building a small house with her slowly dwindled into ashes, as he struggled to attend school, and failed tests over and over.
Worse, the stupid history books were not accurate. They never made any mention of demons or spirits or any of the things he had seen in the past. Kagome had explained that she didn't see many youkai in the future. He hadn't sensed any either, even before giving up his half-demon heritage. But this hadn't bothered him much, until he realized that no one remembered them! There was a difference between burning-out like a falling star and being erased from the annals of history entirely.
Still though, he had chosen her. Once upon a time, Kagome had promised to stay by his side and support him in every thing he did – no matter how much it hurt her. Now, he would return the favor. Surely, it was not so difficult to accustom oneself to a different time period. As long as she was there, as long as they were together, everything would be all right in the end. He just had to try a little harder to belong. With a sigh, he returned to his books.
