Here’s the second half. Hope you enjoy.
YoukaiLuvr
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Don’t Fall In Love!
Part IIInuyasha jerked upright with a start.
-Okay…that was a little
weird, even for me,- he thought.
He leapt off the roof and gently pushed aside the bamboo curtain to peek inside. Everyone was there – Kaede, Sango, Miroku, Kirara, Kagome, and Shippou – and all were fast asleep…which most reasonable people would be in the middle of the night.
Closing the bamboo curtain softly, Inuyasha stepped away from the hut before bounding toward the Goshinboku. Once there, he took another leap and settled himself into the nook of his favorite branch.
What could that dream…vision…whatever the hell it was…have meant? Surely not it’s literal meaning…right? Not falling in love? With Kagome? He snorted. That was completely impossible – him falling in love with her.
…right?
Oh, who the ******** was he kidding?
His youkai was right – he was like a lovesick pup without Kagome. She was everything to him – his life, his light, his very world.
His features, which had softened when he first thought of Kagome, twisted themselves back into a scowl.
-Great,- he thought.
-Now I sound like one of those wimpy guys that’re on those stupid ‘teevee’ plays every day.-Inuyasha shifted against the tree and closed his eyes, to try to get back to sleep.
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Inuyasha opened his eyes to find that he was looking straight into the morning sun.
“Ahh...” he hissed, quickly shutting his sensitive eyes before reopening them – making sure to look down this time. When he did open his eyes again, he saw a large piece of stone on the grass below.
-Huh,- he thought.
-That wasn’t there yesterday...-Curiosity got the better of him and he leapt down from his perch to investigate. It was slightly familiar at first, but it wasn’t until he took a quick sniff that he recognized it.
-It’s one of Shippou’s trick statues,- he realized.
-But what’s it doing out here? He would have sent his mushrooms if there was trouble.-A gust of wind blew by and ruffled something white at the bottom of the statue.
-Huh?-Inuyasha leapt down and pulled at the something. After a few tugs, it came loose; it was a piece of paper. One side was nearly blank, save for a few neat, hand-written characters in the middle, spelling out his name. He flipped it over to see the other side.
His golden eyes widened when he caught the scent from the paper and recognized the writing. It was a note from Kagome...
Inuyasha,
I saw you sleeping and didn’t have the heart to wake you up. I know you’ll be waking soon, though, so would you come find me? I want to talk to you about something. You’ll probably use your nose, but just in case, I’m down by the riverbank. See you soon.
Love,
KagomeInuyasha stared at the note for a minute.
-Wha...-He took another sniff of the paper. Yep, that was Kagome that had written it, alright. Though, there was something else…just the smallest hint of nervousness.
-Nervous? She was nervous when she wrote this?- he thought. He turned and started to walk toward the river as he thought.
-What could she have to talk to me about that would make her nervous? That used to be whenever Kikyou would come up, but she’s gone now. I don’t know what it could be…unless…unless she’s planning on going back – to stay! -With that terrifying thought in mind, Inuyasha began to sprint toward the river, desperate to see Kagome. If her mind couldn’t be changed, at least he could see her before she left...
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As the river came into sight, Inuyasha skidded to a stop. There was Kagome, sitting on the riverbank. Her legs were curled up under her as she tossed small pebbles into the river, creating ripples inside of ripples. She didn’t look up as he approached, merely stayed her hand from it’s movements as he moved closer. Not looking at him, she spoke.
“You got my note, I see...”
“Yeah,” he said, softly. He came over and gingerly sat down beside her, waiting for her to speak. She heaved a sigh before doing so.
“Well, I want you to know that I’ve made up my mind about where I want to live,” she said.
Inuyasha’s heart froze.
“I want to stay here, to make a life for myself here.”
His heart suddenly started again – only much faster this time.
“But…”
At her word, his heart stilled again. Inuyasha groaned internally; this girl was going to be the death of him, he just knew it.
“But, I’m not sure if this is the right place for me – if I belong here...”
“Wha’dya mean ‘not the right place for you’?!” Inuyasha barked, startled that she could think so. Kagome just threw another rock in the water before answering.
“I mean just that, Inuyasha…think about it this way: I’ve told you that to live and be accepted in the future, I would need to continue on with my schooling – my learning.”
He nodded; she continued.
“Well, I got my final grades back from those last exams I had to take – the ones about a week before the fight with Naraku.”
Inuyasha thought back; that was one hell of a week, for both of them. Kagome had insisted that she needed one week – seven freakin’ days! – at her house,
alone. She had said that if she took these tests and did well on them, then she wouldn’t have to go back for any more schooling
Quite needless to say, Inuyasha was rather excited about the prospect of having Kagome solely in the Feudal Era – with the occasional trip to restock on essentials such as Ramen, of course – and with some decent persuasion, he let her return.
“Anyway –”
Kagome’s voice brought him out of his reverie.
“My grades were passing, but only just. They weren’t good enough to enter a college – one of the higher schools – but good enough to get me out of my current one. The problem comes when you realize that to get a job that can support myself and my family, I’d have to have that higher learning. But that’s irrelevant now. Things are what they are and I can’t change a thing.”
Inuyasha thought about what she said. “So, what exactly does that have to do with me?”
She sighed, again.
“I guess I’m trying to say that I would have limited options in the future…ngh, this isn’t coming out right. Look, Inuyasha,” she said, turning to look him in the eye.
“I’m just going to say this. I’m going back, Inuyasha, tomorrow morning.”
The hanyou’s heart sunk.
-I knew it...-“Oi! I thought you just said you wanted to stay here! Now you say you want to go back?!”
Kagome just bowed her head, avoiding his gaze.
“I know it doesn’t seem like I told the truth before, but I did. I want to stay here – more than anything – but…well, let me just say this, please.”
Inuyasha just watched her as she took a deep breath and raised her head to look at him again before continuing.
“I…I love you, Inuyasha. I love you just as you are – a hanyou; I think I have since I first saw you on the tree…. But I say that to say this – I’m staying here through tonight before I leave in the morning. I’m not asking you to see me off or anything; all I want from you is simply to know exactly how you feel about me.”
He froze.
“I want to know if you feel the same, if you could care less, if I’m just a friend…hell, Inuyasha, I’m not even sure if I would care if you hated me right now. I just want to know where I stand. I want this stupid circle we’ve been running in for three years to stop. We’ve managed to tell each other everything throughout the time we’ve known one another; with what I’ve told you today, I have no more secrets from you. I hope you can tell me your last secrets, too.”
Kagome fell quiet and the resulting silence was deafening to the hanyou. Finally, he broke it.
“So, you’re leaving in the morning?” he asked, dreading her answer.
“Yes,” she said, heavily. “Unless I have a reason and a purpose to stay, then yeah, I will be leaving. So, I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”
She stood up and walked away, back toward the village, leaving Inuyasha to his own confused thoughts.
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Inuyasha did not move from the riverside until nearly midday, when his legs reminded him that they weren’t used to being inactive for so long during the day, which prompted him to go for a run to try to sort out his thoughts.
-What the hell am I going to do? Kagome says that she doesn’t want to go back, that she wants to stay here, that she lo-loves me...but even so, she’s going home tomorrow?! I don’t understand. She’s gotta know we…I need her here. I can’t just…just let her leave. Aw, ********> do I do?!-
Inuyasha ran straight on until dusk, then turned and ran back to the village. Night had long since fallen by the time he returned to Kaede’s hut and walked inside to find it’s inhabitants all asleep. A wonderful smell reached his nose; following it, he found a small covered bowl nestled in the still glowing coals. Another note was folded beside the firepit and trapped under a pair of chopsticks. Picking it up along with the chopsticks holding it, he sat down and read it by the light of the dying embers.
Inuyasha,
The bowl in the coals is some stew for you. I’m guessing you’ll be back soon, considering what I told you earlier. And no, the others don’t know yet. I haven’t told them yet…I’ll tell them in the morning. I hope to see you in the morning…Good night.
Love,
Kagome
Inuyasha numbly set the paper down and picked up the bowl of stew, eating it as he thought over all that had happened in the last half-day. That wacko dream…Kagome leaving... He had to make his decision now.
In his heart, he never wanted to be separated from the girl that had stumbled into this time, into a quest, a life she was never meant for, into a world that was so different than the one she was born to…but also stumbled into the lives of an elderly miko, a kitsune kit, a taijya, an houshi, countless others…including one very stubborn inu-hanyou – all whom would be forever grateful to her for her presence.
But he also wanted her to be safe, and happy, and well-cared for…just as someone such as her should be; he just wasn’t sure if he could provide any of those things for her. She lived for the first fifteen years of her life in the future, a world where men like that Houbou…Houjou…whatever… had the means to support themselves, Kagome, and a family…if they had one together. What could he, Inuyasha, offer her? A fresh kill every few days, a sturdy hut, his love…but that was about it. Nothing on the level she deserved, that was for sure.
By the time he had finished his stew, Inuyasha had come to a decision. He sat down the bowl, laying the chopsticks on top, and crept over to where Kagome was sleeping. Shippou had apparently decided to sleep next to Kirara’s larger form that night, seeing as he was curled up in her tail. The hanyou gently poked Kagome’s shoulder with a claw.
“Kagome…” he whispered.
Nothing.
Poke. Poke-poke.
“Kagome,” he whispered, slightly louder this time.
She stirred and blinked. “Mhmm, huh? Inuyasha?”
“Yeah, it’s me. Will you come with me for a minute?” he asked.
She sat up, running a hand through her hair. “Yeah, sure. Just give me one second to grab a sweater.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, pulling off his haori and handing it to her. “Just come on.”
She took the haori without question and put it on as she stood up, following him out the door.
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Once Inuyasha and Kagome left the hut, he bent down, opening his back to her and silently asking her to climb on. When she did so without hesitation, he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding.
“Where are we going, Inuyasha?”
“Don’t quite know yet…I’ll know it when I see it.”
He truly didn’t know. Having only come to this decision about ten minutes ago, he hadn’t had a lot of time to come up with a plan…but he knew there was a little spot here somewhere…there it was...
Inuyasha made a swift left turn, then came to a stop in front of a small clearing – one where the trees grew such that the moonlight came straight down to fill it. Kagome slid off his back and he turned to face her.
“Okay, Inuyasha, you brought me out here; what’s going on?”
“I’ve been thinking about what you told me earlier, Kagome….”
She blushed; only his demon-enhanced eyes allowed him to see it, though, in the reduced light.
“And I’ve come to the only conclusion I can...”
She closed her eyes, as if bracing for his response.
“I realize that I can’t offer you much in return – basically myself and Tetsusaiga – but I know that somehow…someway…in three years, you’ve gotten me to fall completely and hopelessly in love with you. And, if you go home…well…you’ll have an escort, ‘cause you’re not leaving me behind.”
Kagome, for her part, hadn’t heard much past ‘in love with you,’ but was waiting for him to finish.
Inuyasha finished his confession and was waiting. He hoped Kagome would change her mind with what he said, but if her mind was truly set, there was no telling.
“Inuyasha, you dolt...”
He flinched. - So I was wrong, huh?-
The next thing he knew, a warm body had been slammed against his.
- What the heck? -
He looked down to see a head of black hair pressed against his chest. “Ka-Kagome?”
“What you just said…that’s what I’ve been wanting to hear for the past three years…ever since I realized I loved you...”
Inuyasha visibly relaxed at her words, bringing his arms up to wrap around her.
“So…you’re not leaving then?”
“I don’t know, Inuyasha…where will we stay? What will we do?” she asked, not wanting to leave him at all, but wanting to know the more than the generalities…her mother will want to know, at least.
“Well…for now you can stay with Kaede-baba. While you’re there, I’ll build us a hut.”
“A hut? Us?”
“Yeah, a hut. I mean, I’m assuming you’re gonna want to stay in the village…and I can make it with more than one bedroom, if you want.”
Kagome nodded, a little surprised – but sort of not – at his willingness to do such a thing and his planning…so far, he seemed to think of any thing she could possibly object to.
“Then once the hut is done, you can finish your training with Kaede; I’ll stay here, protect the place…with the Jewel still here and Naraku gone, there’ll definitely be more creatures popping out of the woodwork to come after it.”
“So, it seems as if you’ve thought of everything….”
“Well, not everything…I honestly didn’t know what you’d say, so I really didn’t think of anything past that...”
Kagome slipped her hand into his, squeezing it gently. “Then we’ll just have to do what’s always worked for us.”
He cocked his head at her in question. “What do you mean?”
“We’ll just take it one day at a time – deal with life as it comes. It’s all we’ve been able to do for the past three years, so for now, it will work as a plan of action.”
“Heh…alright.”
Kagome tugged on their joined hands, pulling him back the way they came, back to the village.
“Come on, Inuyasha. Let’s go home.”
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I know the ending was kinda weak, but I purposely didn't put a lot of detail there - I'll explore that in my other stories. And yeah...I just realized Inu's a bit OOC...oh well. What's done is done.
YoukaiLuvr
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