Deceitful Time
Chapter Twenty-One: Delay

"I'm back," she whispered to herself as she looked up to see the clear, bright, blue sky that always told her that she was home—wait, no, not home… not home, she sighed to herself, she was in the Feudal Era. That wasn't her home…

"Finally!" She heard an abrupt scoff that made her jump and grab her heart before looking up to see Shippou hop up into view but he wasn't the one that had grunted, it was Inuyasha—good old, half-demon, adorable puppy dog eared, Inuyasha.

"Kagome!" Shippou cried out, "we were worried! We thought that guy wouldn't let you come back!"

That guy? She cocked her head slightly until it dawned on her, "oh, Inuyasha? Well, other Inuyasha…?" She got the strangest feeling saying that with the one she had known longer looking down at her with an annoyed look—the look she knew so well.

"What took ya' so long?" Inuyasha gripped once she had climbed her way out of the well and hoped off to the ground. His eyes wondered over her briefly, she looked different since she wasn't wearing her usual uniform—it was Sunday, there was no need for her to wear that—but instead a pair of jeans, brown boots, a deeper brown sweater she didn't zip up, and a pink shirt underneath it. The fact that she was wearing her hair up in a pony-tail, too, was different.

"It's a long story, I'd rather just tell everyone at once," since Sango, Miroku, and even probably Kaede were going to ask her the exact same thing.

"Are you feeling better?" Inuyasha mumbled, trying his best to sound detached from the topic, as they all headed back to Kaede's hut—Shippou clinging happily to Kagome's shoulder.

"Oh, yeah, I'm great," she assured with her boastful smile. "All the bruises and stuff are gone. I'm completely fine now."

"Really?" Shippou awed.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I'm sorry I didn't keep my promise, Shippou. My mind was kind of boggled by everything so…"

"That's OK, you are here now!" He declared, "and you are going to stay with us for a while too, right?"

She was never happier to hear Kaede call out her name as they walked into view of her hut. That caught little Shippou's attention enough that she didn't need to answer the question that made her breath lodge in her own throat. Though, she didn't notice how Inuyasha had caught the look of dread and how it etched itself in her face. He just pressed his lips together, tightened his folded arms, and glanced away.

She couldn't leave… she just couldn't. They weren't done finding all the jewel shards and Naraku was dead… yeah, that's the only reason he couldn't have her leave. Yet, not even the stubborn half-demon could believe that.

{xoxoxoxoxo}

"I thought… there weren't any demons from where you are from," Sango was the first to break the silence after Kagome gave them a highly edited version of the events that transpired while she was away. Of course, she left out all that pertained to possible-rape and all that had to do with her friends and pretty much all she could when it came to the full demon Inuyasha.

"Yeah, so did I," Kagome laughed lightly, "but apparently something happened and their numbers just got cut drastically. Now they have this whole secret democratic society thing, it's really kind of funny."

"Democratic…?" Miroku mused on the foreign word.

"Uh," she dragged out for a while before brushing it off with a wave of her hands, that'd just take far too long to explain, "it's nothing."

"Well," Kaede nodded, "it's good to hear that you are well, Kagome. I had heard of munashii demons but never encountered one myself. I would like to think I would have been able to recognize the bite mark if I had."

"Don't worry, Kaede, everything turned out fine," she assured with a nod of her head.

"So, Lady Kagome, how long are you back for?" Miroku asked the question they were all privately pondering.

Of course she'd be asked that question… and, of course, she hadn't an answer. Should she stay or should she go? Had she ever been so torn over one question in all her existence? In her era there was a man—well, demon—that adored her and a family that doted over her, friends that cared for her… but here she had friends that mattered more, friends that knew her better than even her own family did, and a boy that, while difficult and rough around the edges, still cared about her—even if he'd never say it. A boy that wasn't as confident as he would be in the future, a boy that was a bit awkward, a boy that's wounds he unknowingly wore right on his sleeves. Wounds that she'd only make deeper if she choice to leave… and she couldn't do that, he opened himself up to her like he had never done before, and if she left the Feudal Era for good he'd just think she was abandoning him like everyone else in his life and… wouldn't she? But then she'd be abandoning him in the Modern Era, wouldn't she?

Perhaps… she could somehow sort out a way to just continue to do what she always had? Jump back and forth between them? Help her friends collect jewel shards, help them destroy Naraku, and go to school only occasionally and see her family only once in a blue moon? And then how would Inuyasha take it? He wouldn't let her just linger here when he thought she might die. He wouldn't like that…she'd make her worry constantly and she couldn't do that.

Still, as she sat there next to the other Inuyasha she couldn't help but not want to leave. She couldn't help but shrug her shoulders and break the silence that had begun to float around all of them, "I don't know. I need to go home tonight, though…"

"I see," Miroku replied with a nod.

"Keh, you're never here anymore," Inuyasha grumbled bitterly as he turned his cheek to her and glared out the little window of Kaede's hut.

"I know," she mumbled back as she looked to the floor. She just… didn't know what to do. She didn't know what she wanted to do, she didn't know where she belonged, she didn't… if only she could be like Inuyasha and be at two places at once, wouldn't that be grand?

"Then stop going back there and just stay here already," he suggested with spite laced words.

"It's not that easy," she retorted with her usual feistiness.

"Yes it is!" He bickered as he turned to glare at her—all could see where it was going, another classic fight.

"Anyway," Sango interrupted before that could happen, "with the addition of the shikon shard from that demon we believe we now have almost all the shards that are left—expect for the ones that Naraku has."

"That's great," Kagome chimed; it was nice to know that her friends were still able to do without her while she was away for the month and a half.

{xoxoxoxoxo}

The day had faded away from her and she barely noticed until she saw the hint of pink and orange in the distance. Most of the day she spent talking to Sango and Miroku about this and that, how things were while she was gone, and all that happened. She got them to tell her about each fight and any wounds that were sustained during it—she just couldn't help but worry.

"Lady Kagome," Miroku began with slightly furrowed brows as his eyes wondered to Kaede's hut where Inuyasha, Shippou, and Kaede all lingered—the boys still eating and poor old lady were left to clean up after all of them because she had refused their offers to help over and over again.

"Yes?" She replied with a smile as they began on the walk they decided to take after the meal had finished.

"Inuyasha," he dragged out before he let his eyes linger with Sango's.

"He's been beating himself up about allowing you to be taken like that… it was the night of the new moon and we think he hates himself more because of that. He is already sensitive about that night and now that something like that happened he…" Sango sighed, "you know how he is."

"Even though he won't admit it, we can tell," Miroku assured, "he was frantic trying to find you, he didn't sleep or eat… if you could tell him everything is alright and you do not blame him for that at all it would be for the best."

"We know you don't," Sango added, "of course, but it would help him to hear that."

"Oh," she murmured back with a nod as she diverted her gaze from them, "I didn't think about that." It only made sense that he'd be self-destructive enough to do that. Why couldn't she live in a simple world were everything was cut and dry? Of black and white? Instead, she was always left in the gray. Sometimes free-will was a bitch, sometimes she just wished that there was some higher being or something to make her decisions for her so she wouldn't have to deal with the confusion life brought… she wouldn't have to feel her stomach twisted as she wondered which path she should follow.

At least at that moment she knew one thing she had to do for sure.

"I'll see you guys later, OK?" She said right before she turned on her heels to run back to Kaede's hut just like her friends thought she would. "Hey, Inuyasha?" She began as she popped in just enough to see him and Shippou had somehow managed to get in an argument—why was she not surprised?

"What?" He grunted while he pushed Shippou away, the little fellow tried his best to walk forward even though Inuyasha's hand was securely placed on his head.

"You're a jerk, Inuyasha! Kagome! He's been really mean since you left! Make him 'sit'! He deserves it!"

"Shut up!"

"Gods," Kagome muttered to herself with a sigh, some things she'll never miss, "Inuyasha stop picking on Shippou he's just a little boy. You are such a bully."

"Keh," he scoffed as he pushed Shippou away so he rolled onto his back and stood up, crossing his arms and turning his head way from Kagome, "whatever."

He was so childish… it was really hard at moments like that to think that the man she slept with the night before and the man that stood before her were all the same person. Why did that pang of guilt pulse through her? She hadn't done anything wrong… she wasn't really with the Inuyasha that stood before her and she hadn't done anything but literally sleep with the Inuyasha of the future.

"Do you want to go on a walk with me?"

"Why?"

"Why not?" She grunted back with a hand securely rested upon her hip, "Inuyasha, come."

"Fine," he grumbled and reluctantly followed her out. She didn't say anything at all as they headed through the village to enter the forest, it was only then that she glanced back to catch Inuyasha staring so intently at her, of course, the moment he caught that he turned his head. A small smile crept up her lips as she watched his cheeks redden, he was… cute.

"Don't your feet get cold? The weather isn't going to warm up for another few weeks."

"Huh?" He mumbled like he always did, "my feet?"

"You go barefoot," she stopped once they got into the clearing with the well, to turn around all the way to look at him, her hands held behind her back, "aren't they really cold? Are you cold?"

"What?" He muttered with a cocked brow and folded arms, "should I wear those ridiculous things that guy does?"

She tilted her head slightly before she figured out the only person he could be talking about is… "you buy really weird stuff. You're really rich and somehow became very fashionable."

"He's not me!" she straightened up when she heard that shout, her brows furrowed a bit as she tilted her head. "He's not."

"Alright," she whispered lightly with a nod, "you're right… you two aren't anything alike."

"You like him better?" He murmured as his eyes averted hers to the well, the object that would take her to her world tonight and… he wouldn't know if she'd come back.

She pressed her lips together as she glanced away from him, too. Truthfully… yes. She was in love with him, but… was it him or a mixture between the two? Who knew? She surely didn't, but that didn't mean at all that she didn't care deeply for the man that stood just a few feet in front of her. She took a small breath as she slowly moved forward to gradually swing her hands from behind her back to grasp on one of his. That snapped his yellow stare to her hazels. Honesty was the best policy, wasn't it?

But when the truth would do nothing but hurt someone she cared so deeply about she just couldn't say it. Somehow, while their eyes were locked like they did a spell seemed to cut through the haze that had clouded her mind. Somehow, that very spell led her to close her eyes and do what her heart always used to beckon for yet she wasn't brave enough to carry through… until now.

She pressed her lips to his and it didn't feel wrong, it didn't feel as if she was betraying her boyfriend because—for even but a moment—she just stopped pondering about matters that were out of her hand, she stopped worrying over what she couldn't change, and she just… lived.

It was innocent, too. She put some more pressure before pulling away and prying her eyes open to see that he had never closed his, that they were wide and awe-struck. He could take whatever answer he wanted from that—and, yes, she was aware that it might imply a lie—but since she was not going to vocalize it… then she wasn't lying, right? Well, she'd rather think that. Perhaps she was being a bit deceitful…

He glanced away before he blinked again and opened his mouth to say something. She waited for a while yet never ever left his flustered lips so she smiled again and let go of his hand. "It's getting dark…"

"Yeah," he managed.

"I need to go back," she whispered, finally getting him to look back at her. "I promise to come back soon. I just promised someone else that I'd be back tonight."

"That Shiro guy," he murmured while, once more, his gaze glanced away from her.

"Yep," she sighed slightly, "if I don't come back tonight he'll just come and get me. He worries… he thinks…"

"That I'd let you die here," Inuyasha scoffed as he folded his arms, willing his gaze to turn back to her, "do you think I would?"

"No," she earnestly hushed, "no, I don't." He would never mean to, he would never let her; it would be something that was out of his hand if it ever happened. Something he'd lament over for centuries… "I don't have school tomorrow; it's a holiday so I'll be back then, OK?"

"Holiday?"

"I'll tell you about it when I come back, OK?" She laughed as she walked over to the well and sat down on it so she could shift around.

"Promise," he spat out before she could jump away, "promise… you'll be back tomorrow and keep it this time."

"I promise I'll be back tomorrow," she swore sincerely, "OK?"

"Alright," he muttered with a sigh.

"I'll be back!" She kept up even as she jumped off and fell down to the bottom of the well only to hit the ground and roll over to hit the wall as well. "Ouch," she gripped silently as she leaned over to lie down on the ground and grab her ankle.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha shouted down as he glanced down to the well, "hey! Are you OK!"

"My ankle," she whined. He took no time to jump over the side of the well and land next to her, he picked up in his arm and stood up. "I have a shard, I should be able to get through," she complained as he leaped out of the well yet didn't put her down.

"Do you think it closed up again?" He inquired as he began towards the village.

"I don't know why it would," she winced. "Inuyasha—well, Shiro locked up the well before so I got why that happened."

"Maybe he did it again," he grumbled as he landed in front of Kaede's hut.

"He wouldn't do that," she sassed, "he wants me to come there not stay here."

"Whatever," he grumbled before he walked through the bamboo-straw door, "Kaede, Kagome hurt herself."

"Aye?" The old lady cracked as she stood up and walked around the fire to come examine the girl.

"I didn't hurt myself," she protested as he gently put her down so she could stand on her foot that didn't hurt. "I tried to go back down the well to go home tonight but it didn't let me and I landed funny on my ankle. I think I might have twisted it."

"Aye," she nodded, "it is going to swell up, how about ye sit down and let me examine it closer?"

"Alright," she muttered as she limped over to sit down next to the fire and warm up.

"So are you staying the night, Kagome?" Shippou giddily asked as he jumped into her lap.

"Apparently," she tried her best to smile at the little boy before she laughed to lighten the mood, "if I had known this was going to happen I would have brought my backpack and all my stuff."

{xoxoxoxoxo}

It had been so long since she had to sleep in an old hut that hadn't a door to block out the chilly wind or a soft mattress to lie on and a mass quantity of sheets and a lovely comforter to tangle herself in. It was hard to sleep because of that… well, that and the fact that she couldn't help but stare at the moon all night long and ponder was he looking there too and wonder where she was? Why she hadn't returned? Why she hadn't kept her word? Why he couldn't get through the well? Because she knew that if he could he would have showed up by now…

Was he alright? Of course, of course, she scolded herself for thinking that anything might have happened. It's not like anyone had tried to kill him while she was there. He was fine… it was just the well was on the fritz. What a bother… it shouldn't be so strange to sleep without warm arms around her but it was. It was like the spot beside her was empty—a void that was calling out for someone.

Once dawn broke she gave up on the off and on sleeping she had been doing to slowly and silently—she hoped so, at least—limp towards the well. She rubbed her arms vigorously as she headed through the forest. She knew that once the sun fully came up, by mid-day, it would be alright weather, she'd be fine in the sweater she had.

"Are you going to work again?" She whispered as she leaned over the well. "Will you let me go home?"

'No' she could almost hear a bitter voice beckon up to her as she narrowed her eyes. It would be a bad idea to jump in again when she already hurt her ankle but… that didn't stop her from sitting on the well and turning so her feet hung into the middle of the well. She took one deep breath before she almost pushed off but felt a hand grasp her arm and pull her to stop. Right away, her eyes snapped to see a golden pair staring at her.

"What are you doing?" He scolded, "you wanna break your foot?"

"No," she grumbled with pouted lips as she looked down, "will you take me down, then?"

He huffed out a breath, a clear sign he didn't want to but he still took her into his arms and leaped to the bottom. "Still not workin'," he declared before he jumped out and set her down. "You're stupid, ya' know that?"

She just rolled her eyes at that, she didn't need to get into a fight with him so early in the morning. "It's cold let's just go back."

"You shouldn't go wondering around alone," he kept up, not moving from his spot at all. She glanced to him as she tightened her sweater around her, "something bad could happenin'. Demons are still lurking around here and you don't even have your bow and arrow to protect yourself!"

He worried… far more than he needed to. She couldn't help but press her lips as she stared at him… would he be so antsy if his future self hadn't come and told him that she was going to die here? No, she was fairly certain at least, since before he'd at least allow her to walk freely around the village and to the well alone. "Inuyasha," she sighed, "don't worry about me. I promise… I won't get myself killed or anything."

"Keh," he just folded his arms as he turned away, "how can you say that when you don't even have your weapons to protect you?"

"OK, from now on I'll always have them with me," she assured as she took a step forward only to feel a pang of pain cascade up her leg from the ankle.

He heard her near-silent wince and turned around to see her cringe, he sighed before he knelt down, "get on. You're only going to make that worse."

A smile crossed her lips as she limped over to wrap her arms around his neck and let him lift her up. How long had it been since he carried her like that? It was the classic way he always did, it warmed her up for certain as she leaned her head against him and closed her eyes, "thank you."

"Uh-huh," he muttered back.

{xoxoxoxoxo}

Apparently she had fallen asleep on the short journey back because the next time she let her eyes flutter open the sun was openly shining through the window and she could hear hushed gossiping between Shippou and Kaede occurring behind her. Still, she didn't feel like getting up yet so she just snuggled up to the sheets that were wrapped around her and closed her eyes again.

Only for them to snap open as she looked to register what she had seen—the sheets weren't sheets… it was Inuyasha's suikan. Slowly, she sat up, still with the suikan wrapped around her shoulders.

"Good morning!" Shippou chimed as he leaped over into her lap, "did you sleep well?"

"Mmhm," she nodded as she rubbed her eyes free of the grub that came from sleeping. "Where is everyone?"

"Sango and Miroku went on a walk a while ago," Shippou shrugged, "and Inuyasha's somewhere. He's been acting funny since you two went on that walk yesterday, what is it that you adults do on 'walk's that makes you guys act so funny when you come back?"

Oh, the little boy was more perspective than he lets on, how bothersome. "Nothing, nothing, Inuyasha always acts funny."

"That's true," Shippou nodded, "are you hungry? I helped Kaede make breakfast."

"Yeah, sure, I'm hungry," she nodded as her eyes wondered to the door, "where is Inuyasha?"

"On the roof, probably," he replied as he waltzed over to bring Kagome back a bowl of rice.

"Thank you," she listened throughout her meal as Kaede and Shippou spoke of what happened while she was away, it was all the same as Sango and Miroku had told her but she just nodded and listened. "Did Inuyasha eat?" She asked after she had helped Kaede clean up.

"I believe so, he never misses a chance to devour food," Kaede kidded with a smile, "it is good to see you safely returned. Inuyasha was edgy the entire time you were gone and made any excuse he could to return her to check on the well."

Kagome nodded with a weak smile, she knew he must have worried while she was away yet… as time ticked by and she grew closer to the Inuyasha of the future she… stopped thinking about it, stopped worrying about his worries. She held back a sigh as she got up and hobbled out of the hut to look up and see that Shippou was right, he had been lying up there the entire time which meant one thing—he had heard all they were talking about.

"I'd come up there but I can't," she called out.

"You better not, I don't want to have to catch you," he replied. It took some time before he sat up to look at her.

"Will you come down?" She questioned with a tilt of her head, "please?"

"Fine," he murmured before he leaped to her side, "what?"

"Here," she pushed his suikan back to him, "thank you, it was nice of you."

"You just kept clinging to it so I had to take it off," he replied as he tried his best to sound detached as he took it and put it back on.

"Mmhm," she nodded.

"So are we just going to stay here until the well opens up or are we going to go search for shards?" Inuyasha inquired as he tightened his suikan.

"Stay…" she glanced away, "I… just one more day, alright?"

"Fine," he grunted, "just rest today so when we leave then your ankle doesn't get in our way."

"Alright," she shook her head but with a smile since she knew that was his way of showing that he cared.

How long could the well stay sealed up? Why did it? Why'd things only have to add onto her already boggled mind? It just wasn't fair… midway through the day she thought up a reason. A reason that frightened her… what if the well sealed up because… it was just her fate to die in the Feudal Era? That even the well was on fate's cruel side? Of course, she'd never share this theory with anyone else… if she must die—which she'd much rather not—then she didn't need to worry the others.

She really didn't have any intention of wondering away from the well, though, so it really better open up for her today or else she'd have to use her ankle as an excuse not to leave, how long would that last? Maybe a week? And every day she prolonged it she'd probably piss Inuyasha off more and more…

"Kohaku!" She jumped when she heard her friend's cry.

"Sango, wait!" Miroku shouted.

"Come on, Shippou," Kagome called as she got up and walked out of the hut to see Sango take off on Kirara and Miroku running after her. "What happened?"

"Kohaku showed up," Inuyasha replied as he leaped off the hut, "it's got to be a trap…"

"Come on," she replied as she shouldered her bow and set of arrows. "We have to help them, Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha nodded weakly as he knelt down so she could hop on, "Shippou stay."

"What?" He shouted, "no!"

"Yeah, Shippou, stay," Kagome requested, "it'll be dangerous. I'd hate for anything to happen to you, please stay and protect Kaede in case anything happens here?"

"Fine…" he grumbled, "I'm only staying to protect Kaede."

"We know, thank you, Shippou," she smiled before Inuyasha leaped off.

{xoxoxoxoxo}

Long before they saw the horde of demons both the half-demon and priestess could sense their presence. She prepped herself to shot at them the second they came into sight to clear a path for them to find their friends that were sure to be bombarded with problems.

"Do you feel any jewel shards?" He had to ask.

"No," which meant Naraku himself wasn't there.

"You stay near me when we get there, alright?"

"OK," it's not like she wanted to scurry away from him when they were in the midst of a hundred demons, anyway. Right then those very demons came into view so she let loose her arrow, allowing it to ignite in pink wonder before it struck them and cleared a path for them. He quickly set her down so he could unsheathe his sword and start swinging at the demons but all the while making sure that Kagome was close behind him, shooting off arrows in every direction.

"Miroku, Sango!" she shouted out as she reloaded.

"Kagome!" Miroku replied.

"Where are you!" But her question was answered for her when she looked to her left to see the power of his wind tunnel at work. He probably really shouldn't be doing that, she was sure.

Adrenaline flowed through all of them as they kept at the task at hand until there were none left and the crash that always came after that rush came to them. Kagome took the opportunity to sit down and pant until she could recover a steady breath and rub her still aching ankle.

"Kagome, Inuyasha," Sango sighed as she ran up to them, "I'm sorry… I should have known that this was going to happen it's just…"

"Don't worry," Kagome assured her with her warm smile, "we know. Where'd he go?"

"I don't know, I lost him when the demons attacked," she replied with a frown, "but I think he went up into the mountains."

"We could check there, if you would like," Miroku offered as he walked over to sit down next to Kagome, rubbing his cursed hand all the while.

"No," Sango shook her head lightly as her eyes fell upon the monk, "your hand isn't well… we shouldn't."

"We got pretty far away from the village," Inuyasha began as he sheathed his sword, "it'll take a day or so to get back if we go at a normal pace."

"Or…" Kagome dragged out as her eyes lingered on her friend, "we could go up the mountain and see if Kohaku is there."

"Kagome," Sango whispered before she knelt down next to her, "your ankle is still hurt, we shouldn't… it's fine, he's probably gone."

"Please, Sango, let's go," Kagome kept up. Yes, it was probably another trap. Yes, they were probably all going to experience another near-death clash but… she didn't care at that moment. It was what Sango's heart truly wanted, she could tell, and if it was Souta she would do exactly that. "Don't let us hold you back from what you want, Sango," she was sure she had done plenty of that from her absence anyway.

"Inuyasha, what do you think?" Sango asked as she turned her head to look up at her half-demon companion.

"It'll be dangerous," he murmured as his golden gaze glanced over Kagome's ankle a few times, "but… if it's a trap that means Naraku has something to do with it and it might help us get closer to him. We just all have to stick together and not go running off alone," he shot a special glare to Sango on that one.

"Yes, I understand," she nodded.

Then it was settled, they'd head up the mountain after they all had a rest. It seemed as if, Kagome pondered to herself, that fate meant to keep her away from the well… away from her home, from the other Inuyasha, from life.

A/N: Suikan: robe of the Fire Rat that Inuyasha wears. Let me just point out that I'm not great at writing fighting scenes and action stuff and I don't enjoy it, hence why they are bad.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter nevertheless, thank you for the reviews and reading.

To Reviewer Mina: To answer your question (how are you going to get past inuyasha to wait 500 years for kagome when he hasent experienced all that he was supposed to and fallen in love with her?): It was answered at the A/N on Chapter 20. By Future-Inu interfering in the past/future he has created an alternative future to occur. So the past him and the present him really aren't the same person any longer. The future that the past-Inu will have and the present Kagome is going to be different because future-Inu interfered.