So when they reached the village, and Kagome spoke up, having apparently decided that his nightly absence entitled her to an extra day in her time, he snapped. They wouldn’t have believed him anyway they never did when it came to Kikyou, and it pissed him off to no end. And with as sour as his mood was, he wasn’t about to correct them. It was clear that they, Kagome included, simply assumed he had been with Kikyou all night. Growling at his indiscretion and wondering what had come over him, he leapt into the tree overlooking their camp and remained awake, eventually watching the sun rise on the eastern horizon.Īs he suspected, the others had given him the icy treatment the entire next day. The scent of her tears and the fact that she had tried to wait up for him filled him with guilt, and he gently placed her in her sleeping bag, his fingers lingering on her cheek in a soothing caress before he caught himself. When he finally returned to camp, he found Kagome propped up against a boulder, fast asleep, her math book in her lap and a burned out flashlight lying next to her open palm. He thought about many things: Kagome, Kikyou, what he wanted, what he should do… Answers eluded him, and hours later he knew no more than when he first began reflecting. Sighing in self-disgust, Inuyasha sat down on a branch and stared wistfully at the near-perfect half moon. The miko he had abandoned to go see his former love. It was different now, in large part because of the kind miko who had shown him how to trust again. When he was young the trees had been his only friends, the wind his only comfort as it wrapped around him. At times like these, when his emotions were in utter turmoil, he sought out his old childhood refuge-the trees. He departed soon after, but did not return to camp. She nodded, apparently accepting his less than enthusiastic answer for what it was, the temporary outcome of an inner battle, fought within a man wavering in his once iron-clad convictions. “If it comes to that,” had been his soft-spoken reply. His heart rebelled against the notion, but his mind, his deep-seated honor quashed it. When she once again asked if he remembered his promise to her, he hesitated in answering. Even so, he still saw far too much of the frigid, bitter, dead Kikyou for his liking. More of Kagome’s influence…just what happened to Kikyou at that lake, where Kagome purified Naraku’s poison from her body? She had changed, though only to someone who knew her well. Flashes of contentment, the subtle and momentary softening of her eyes, fleeting glimpses of the old Kikyou he hadn’t seen in over fifty years. He did notice something different about her, however. The meeting had been short he and Kikyou didn’t have much to say to each other anymore. So, heedless of the angry glares and cold shoulders he would undoubtedly receive in the morning, he left. But of the many things he owed Kikyou, the first was his attention when she called. If he looked back at her, saw the hurt in her normally dazzling expression, there was a very real possibility that he wouldn’t have been able to go at all. He didn’t need to he could sense her sadness, her heartache without the use of his eyes. He hadn’t even glanced at Kagome as he disappeared among the trees. It had been nearly dusk, while they were on their way back to the village so she could take some more of her ‘test’ things, when Kikyou’s shinidamachu had made their appearance. He scowled as he remembered exactly why Kagome had thought it necessary to utilize the kotodama rosary’s subduing power. Her departure had been marked with an argument, abruptly ended by the dreaded ‘osuwari’ command. Of course, Inuyasha’s good mood might have had more to do with what day it was, or more specifically, who was supposed to return that day. One couldn’t help but smile on a day like this, not even the normally surly hanyou who lounged against the ancient tree standing proudly next to a clearing within which sat an innocent-looking wooden well. The sun was shining brightly, the birds singing merrily as if rejoicing in nature’s beauty. It started out as a normal day in the feudal era.
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