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Chapter 3: Something Isn't Right
The breeze stirs Kagome's hair in front of her, temporarily blocking her view, until she reaches up and glides behind her ears to somewhat hold in place. The wind is rather strong and sudden as she walks in what she thinks is the right direction, but it carries no voices, no footsteps, no sounds of animals bristling through the leaves.
Kagome moves slowly through the trees, bow gripped tight in one hand, eyes scanning the terrain like it might vanish if she blinks too hard. Despite it being years since she had held her sacred bow, it felt like just yesterday that she had drew it back and struck an enemy with it. Nothing felt strange about it, unlike taking years off of doing any hobby or sport usually. She knew her bow belonged to her, with her, and she would never lose her talent with it.
Every root, every patch of moss is familiar—but there's a weight to the air that wasn't there before. Like the forest is holding its breath, wary of welcoming her back.
She steps over a fallen branch and pauses, listening. She briefly closes her eyes and tries to feel that magnetic pull deep within her that would always lead her towards Inuyasha. It was her way of finding him every single time, without a doubt of going in the wrong direction. Fortunately, he would usually be the one to reach her first, so she never came into contact with potential danger, but she was always heading in the right direction towards him.
But this time, there was nothing.
No angry voices yelling, no clashing metal. No distant laughter from Shippo. None of Miroku's complaints or Sango's sharp reprimands. Just the creak of the wood bending with the wind and her own footsteps.
Her heart thuds louder than it should.
Was she too late?
The village—Kaede's village—should be nearby. But standing from the edge of the forest, about to enter, she can't see the usual smoke curling up from the huts. No warm glow from cooking fires. Just gray skies and stillness. And she remembers very clearly being able to spot it through the trees, only taking a few minutes to walk and reach the village.
She swallows.
"Hello?" She calls softly, her voice cracking into the quiet. "Kaede? Sango? Inuyasha?"
She just wanted somebody, anybody, to clarify that she was in the right place, and that they were still here.
No answer.
Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves, she begins to trudge forward into the forest. She walks for what feels like forever, tension coiled tight in her shoulders, each step growing heavier than the last. The path ahead narrows, weaving through shadowed trees, their trunks tall and unmoving, like sentinels of a forgotten time. The village should be just through the next clearing of trees. She remembers this stretch, almost—but now, there's nothing but silence. No voices. No warmth. Not even the rustle of life through the underbrush.
It's like the land itself is asleep.
And then—she hears it.
A sharp shift above her. A branch above creaking, too precise to be wind. Her breath hitches. She stops walking, the hairs at the back of her neck standing on edge. For the first time since getting here, something moves out of the corner of her eye.
The weight of her bow, once awkward in her grip, now feels natural. Her fingers instinctively curl around it tighter; feet rooted in place. Her senses, once dulled by modern life, surge awake again. Her spiritual powers begin to hum beneath her, already at a stance to protect herself.
Another sound. A rustle to the left.
She whirls in the same direction of the sound, trying to keep up with it. Her heart is hammering against her ribs. Her voice comes before she thinks—clearer than she feels.
"Who's there?" she calls, breath catching in her throat. She knows that if it's an enemy, they will most likely not respond to keep their identity hidden, human or demon.
And that's exactly what happened. Silence answers. But the air in the forest has changed. It carries a presence now. She knows she's being watched by something. Not malevolent, but... aware. Heavy.
Another heartbeat passes. Then—
A blur of movement drops from above, landing just ahead of her with a soundless grace that makes her stagger back. Her breath catches as she lifts her bow halfway, already knowing it's too late. The figure is fast—too fast to be a human.
He straightens slowly.
Golden eyes flash beneath the shadow of silver hair. The red of his haori catches faint moonlight, too familiar to mistake. Broad shoulders. Clawed hands. A sword tucked away in its sheath at his hip.
And that expression—wary, guarded, and unmistakably him.
Her voice escapes in a whisper, unsteady and disbelieving. "Inuyasha..?"
He doesn't move. Doesn't soften. He stands tensed, shoulders squared, hand hovering near the hilt of Tessaiga. His eyes narrow, studying her like a threat he can't quite name.
Kagome doesn't take another step. She knows better. Her heart feels like it's caught in her throat, and for a moment, all she can do is meet his gaze and pray.
Then—he moves. Barely. His nose twitches.
His frown deepens as he inhales again, this time slower and measured. Conflicted.
"...You smell..." His voice is low, rough around the edges. Not unkind, but guarded, as if even speaking the words aloud might betray something inside of him. "Familiar."
The way he says it—cautious, confused—makes her heart ache. An ache she didn't think could be more painful than all of the times she had tried to come back through the well only to be left in the well house, alone and desperate.
Inuyasha takes one step forward. Then another. Not threateningly, but curiously. His eyes search her face, slowly, like he's trying to place her, to connect something just out of reach. There's a flicker in his gaze—hesitation, maybe recognition—but it fades too quickly.
"I-it's me," she breathes, pulse thudding painfully in her chest. "Kagome."
For the first time, the name seems to strike him. His brow knits together, his expression unreadable. Something about the name lingers in his ears, though he doesn't respond. The name matters—he just doesn't know why.
Kagome swallows hard and steps closer, barely more than a shift forward. "You know me," she urges, her arm somewhat slack with her bow hanging by her hip but still raised. "You have to. You pulled me through the well more times than I can count. We traveled together—we fought together. Naraku, the Shikon Jewel. You...you were always with me. You waited for me."
The words fall between them, heavy with history he doesn't seem to remember.
Still, he doesn't back away.
A breeze stirs the forest floor, lifting strands of her hair and carrying her scent towards him again. He breathes in sharply this time, and she sees it—the subtle flinch. The way something in him tightens, not in fear, but recognition. Faint and buried.
"I don't remember that," he says at last. The words are spoken slowly, carefully. They sound like the truth—but also like a confession he doesn't want to give.
Kagome's chest tightens. She's afraid to breathe. This couldn't be—
"But... your scent. It's—" He hesitates, glancing down and clenching his hand briefly. "It's not unfamiliar."
She doesn't dare speak. Not right away.
His eyes flick to her again. "But I've never seen you before."
The words land like a blade. They're not meant to be cruel—but they still cut deep. Almost too deep.
Kagome feels the sting behind her eyes but does her best to hold it back by biting the inside of her mouth. If she cries now, it won't help. She just meets his gaze and steadies her voice.
"You haven't. Not like this." She lowers her bow fully, arms falling to her sides in quiet surrender. "I'm not here to hurt you. I just needed to see... if anything here still remembered me."
For a long moment, he doesn't answer.
Then his eyes flick away from her—to her bow, to her modern clothes, to the worn strap of her yellow backpack—and back again. Like he's trying to make sense of something too fractured to understand.
"You're not from here," he mutters under his breath, more of a thought than statement.
She nods slowly. "Not anymore."
The silence stretches again, taught and uncertain.
Finally, he exhales and shifts his stance. His head tilts slightly, toward the trees, as if testing the wind.
"The well," he murmurs. "That energy... it woke me up."
The breath she didn't realize she was holding escapes in a rush. Her eyes widen.
"So you did feel it?" Her voice comes out with a hint of excitement and hope, glad to not be the only one who felt it too.
He doesn't respond at first. His brows furrow, and for a second, she sees it—something flickering behind his eyes. Not memory. Not yet. But a trace of emotion that doesn't make sense to him. It makes her throat tighten.
"Yeah," he says softly.
And in that one single word, something fragile and hopeful blooms in her chest.
They stand there—two pieces of a puzzle neither fully remembers how to fit—watching each other with wariness and something deeper neither knows how to name.
He hasn't walked away. And somehow, that's enough for Kagome—for now.
The silence stretches again, thin and taut. Kagome doesn't know what to say—if she should say anything at all. Her heart still hammers, but she forces herself to breathe through it. Her eyes advert up to the pair of dog ears that twitch in her direction, probably able to hear her heart pounding out of her chest. She can feel the moment slipping away like sand between her fingers.
Inuyasha turns his head, gaze flickering toward the darkened path behind her.
"You said you're looking for the village?" he asks, voice rough, like it's scraped from disuse.
Kagome doesn't mention the fact that she never directly said it, in hopes that his memory is a little clearer and does remember her staying in the village throughout their journey. But she nods, even though he isn't looking at her. "Yes."
He lets out a low breath, clearly annoyed with himself. "Tch. Fine. I'll take you there."
Her eyes widen, startled by the offer—but she says nothing, afraid to break whatever strange truce has settled between them.
He doesn't wait. He starts walking, hands shoved into the sleeves of his fire-rat haori, steps quiet and purposeful.
Kagome hesitates only a second before following. They walk in silence.
The forest is quieter than she remembers—less alive. Maybe the energy in this world has changed, or maybe it's just the strangeness of walking beside him like this, when everything is different and not at all the way she imagined it would be.
She glances at him out of the corner of her eye.
He's just ahead, shoulders tense, ears twitching slightly every time a leaf rustles or a branch creaks. The claws on his hands glint faintly in the moonlight.
She almost speaks. Almost asks a dozen things.
But then she catches the way his brows are furrowed, like he's lost in thought—and she wonders if pressing too hard would make him shut down. If he is anything like the hanyou she knew before, that would probably be the outcome.
So instead, she watches the way the shadows of the trees dance slide across his haori. The way his hair shifts with the wind. The way everything about him is familiar and not.
Even his scent is the same—earthy, sharp, a little wild, but there's something different, too. Like the memory of a fire long burned out.
She swallows hard and looks away. After a while, he breaks their silence and speaks, quietly.
"You said we knew each other."
She blinks, surprised, before glancing back over at him. "Yes."
He's still walking, not meeting her gaze or even looking in her direction. "For how long?"
She hesitates. "Three years. Maybe more. I-I don't know how time works between our worlds exactly, but it felt like a lifetime." Her gaze is forward, focused on the dirt path ahead, but her eyes are glossed over as if she's reliving memories.
Inuyasha is silent for a long moment. Then, so softly she almost misses it, he speaks.
"Did I protect you?"
Her breath catches. His ears pick up on the small gasp that leaves her still body, for only a brief moment.
"Always." Her voice is barely a whisper.
That seems to land somewhere deep in him. His step falters—just for a second—but he recovers quickly. She doesn't comment on it. Doesn't need to.
Inuyasha knows he only protects the people he deeply cares for. Kaede, Sango, Miroku, Shippo.. but something about the fact that he always protected her too makes something inside of him stir.
They keep walking. The forest starts to thin, and the scent of smoke and damp soil tells her the village isn't far now. Her chest tightens at the thought of it—of seeing it again after all this time. Of what might be waiting.
Of who won't be.
When the first roof comes into view between the trees, she slows, heart in her throat. Inuyasha does too.
He finally glances at her, uncertain.
"This is it," he says gruffly. "You'll find someone to talk to there." His clawed finger points in the direction of Kaede's hut. The same location Kagome remembers it being in three years ago
Kagome meets his eyes. "Are you not coming with me?" She hated the thought of not seeing him anymore so soon.
He looks away. "Not unless I have to."
Something in his tone makes her think he's not avoiding her—just everything that's waiting for him in that village.
She nods, even though it hurts. "Thank you," she says quietly.
He doesn't answer.
But when she turns to walk towards the village, she swears she hears him breathe her name under his breath. Like he's trying it out. Testing the weight of it.
Like he wants to remember.