Kagome looked at the little fox demon.
Poor Shippo. To have lost his entire clan must have been awful.
They sat together in respectful silence for a long moment before the young boy stood up and took his friends hand.
"Thankyou for coming with me today Kagome. It has meant a lot that you cared so much." She held his hand the entire way home. It felt nice to have made a real friend. Not one that made her confused, or her heart flutter.
Once again her thoughts were with the half demon who had left the day before. She still had not heard from him. He would have been great company when those things were flying around last night, she thought to herself.
She was sitting around with Shippo, showing him how to play Go Fish when his shadow fell over them. Kagome turned around and smiled.
"Welcome back grumpy! Want to play?" Inuyasha shook his head, but sat down next to the couple and watched them swap cards back and forth. He appeared to be in deep thought, but that was how Inuyasha always appeared.
"So where have you been, huh?" Kagome questioned, Inuyasha looked up at the girl with pain in his eyes. He looked like he was going to say something, but chose to swallow it back instead.
"I had some things to do is all. Why are you so nosey all of a sudden?" He demanded, but the girl was not going to let him turn things around on her so she just shrugged.
"Kagome, may I come with you? To find the jewel shards I mean? I need to get big and strong to avenge my village." Shippo asked her with puppy dog eyes. She wanted to say no for many reasons, but her heart couldn't tell that baby face the truth. So she chose to not say anything.
"We can talk about it later, right? When you know who's not around?" He tilted his head Inuyashas way, and Kagome just nodded. Why not, she thought.
What would happen to Kagome if Kikyo found out she was her reincarnation? Would she be killed? Inuyasha thought to himself.
He couldn't quite wrap his head around the revelations of last night. First, the woman he loved was alive. Second, her betrayal was merely a spell put upon her. Third, she needed her soul back to live, but Kagome had it.
For some reason though, he decided to not tell Kikyo. He thought Kagome meant nothing. She was just some girl who was getting in his way of the sacred jewel. But now, now everytime he looked at her, his stomach fluttered; and it was not because of how much she looked like Kikyo.
The sun began to fall, and everyone fled into their home for the night. Shippo hurried to Kaedes, but Kagome stayed behind.
"Inuyasha, will you stay with us tonight? There is plenty of room, and those things really frighten Shippo."
He thought for a moment. He felt the strong need to protect Kagome from her fears, but the thought of Kikyo kept him from saying yes. He shook his head instead. The look of disappointment made him flinch, so he took off into the forest instead.
"Inuyasha! I have been waiting for you." He felt his heart melt at the sight of her. He remembered the question he had to ask before he forgot.
"Kikyo, who stole your remains and brought you back to life?" She gasped and took a step away from him.
"Why does it matter, I am here now." She shifted her eyes away and turned the other direction, hiding her face completely.
He grabbed her shoulders and spun her around, he needed to know. Something didn't feel right.
"Why does it matter Inuyasha!" She screamed! That was answer enough, he felt as betrayed as he had the day she kissed Onigumo. He turned around and ran out of the forest.
The souls were all around him, he pushed past them and hurried into Kaedes hut. Slamming the door behind him. Everyone was laying on their mats. Shippo and the aged preistess were sleeping, while the monk and the girl were playing cards.
Kagome sat up, and Miroku turned around and feigned sleep.
"Where have you been going? You are acting strange, do you know something about these weird monsters?" Kagome whispered furiously.
Inuyasha didn't reply. Instead he just came and sat next to her. She leaned over and grabbed a mat that was close by. He laid down next to her as she almost as soon as her head hit the mat fell asleep. He wasn't tired anymore. He just wanted to watch her.
That was the thing about Kagome. She made everything feel so easy. That it was going to be alright, and they would figure everything out. She had no cares in the world. Kikyo on the other hand. He had loved her. They were the same, both stuck wanting to be someone they were not.
He recalled the last conversation he had with Kikyo, before she died. He kept trying to push it out of his head, but the memory kept returning.
"Inuyasha, stop!" Kikyo yelled, running through the forest after him. He looked over his shoulder as he ran at full speed through the trees. He was clutching the jewel. He decided he would rather be full demon than live as a fragile human.
He had just caught Kikyo and that disgusting Onigumo.
"I have just been playing with Inuyasha, something to pass the time. I could never love someone who is a half demon."
"Could you love someone who is half a man? I will never walk like Inuyasha can. Or provide like Inuyasha can. Why do you want me?"
"I want you because you see past the shikon jewel. You saw my heart from the beginning. That was all I ever wanted."
Inuyasha paused in remembering. Kikyo said Onigumo blinded her and when they were together she forgot about him completely. If she forgot about him, why would she compare them to each other. She was lying.
He took a deep breathe and kept pushing his mind.
He ducked behind a tree and Kikyo ran past him, bow in hand. She nodded at something. What was that? Was someone with her? He took a chance and ran past her. He made it to the tree in which they had first encountered each other.
"Inuyasha! How could you kill my village! I trusted you!" and with that she shot him, pinning him to the tree. He began to fall asleep. He then saw Kikyo shake her head and then something running behind her preparing to leap.
What was that? I never killed anybody from her village. I don't understand. Everything happened so fast that day. Can I really trust her? Inuyasha wondered. He felt guilty afterwards, she loved him, right?
He pushed again for the last bit of his memory before the fifty year slumber and there it was.
A tiny dragon demon rushed into Kikyo. She fell to the ground as it came out of her stomach. Blood covered her white top, and soaked her entire body. As he was closing his eyes, he caught hers for a split moment.
"Go to hell Inuyasha, I will make sure you follow me in death." and then it all went black.
What was that? Was that demon sent to kill her, or did he just stumble upon the jewel and she was a victim of circumstance? He wanted desperately to believe her, but their were too many odd pieces.
He soon fell asleep next to his first loves reincarnate. It was an odd feeling, but if felt right. With Kikyo alive again, was it right to have feelings for Kagome. The guilt made him pull away and turn around. He should have died with her, not trying to get closer to this girl. Thinking about Kagome made his stomach flutter, was he allowed to feel this way?