Best Friend

By Ami/Clara

Dedicated to all the people who review and don't flame this fic

Inu Yasha had been sitting in the Shinboku tree when it had started. He had always felt calmer, somehow more at peace when resting there. Ironic, in that it had been the place where he had died. Maybe it was because death had been the only true peace he had experienced.. He enjoyed life more, though. Especially those people in it. With that thought, as if catching her cue, Kagome arrived.

Inu Yasha smelled her before he saw her. She smelled of cherry blossoms and peach trees. Soon, she appeared beneath the tree, gazing up at him. "Hey!" Kagome beamed up at him. He would never admit it to anyone, but he would kill for that smile. Or not kill, as the case may be. That fact would probably get him in trouble later on in life, so best not to let it get out. After all, there were already rumors that he was in love with her. Everyone was already hitting a little too close to home. Still, there were always rumors. What did it matter if they were true?

Feigning irritation, Inu Yasha hopped out of the tree. "What do you want, wench?" He growled out. He wondered how good of a mood Kagome was in. Would she be angry with that added name, or would it not phase her?

The answer was the latter, as Kagome ignored the comment, and continued on with the conversation. "Guess what?!"

Hm? What was she so happy about today? "You finally see it my way and are going to abandon that "school" of yours to stay here to look for the jewel shards," he ventured.

"Nope! I just realized something that's made me really happy," she told him, grinning.

Damn. Knew it was too much to hope for. Oh, well. At least she was happy. Inu Yasha liked it when she was happy. Still, she hadn't really explained what it was that had caused her joy. "And what exactly would that be?"

"Now that..." said Kagome conspiratorially, "is a secret!" She closed her eyes and smiled manaically. When there was a great deal of silence on Inu Yasha's part, who was wondering if perhaps Kagome had gone insane, she frowned, opening her eyes. "Oh, yeah. You wouldn't understand that reference at all."

"Reference to what?" asked Inu Yasha, annoyed.

"Just something from my time. Never mind." Kagome smiled again, obviously not letting that small disappointment get her down. There was another period of silence, then Kagome spoke again. "Inu Yasha, you're my best friend. You know that, right?"

What had brought this on? Either way, Inu Yasha felt something warm and fuzzy grow inside. Then Kagome hugged him and her good cheer spread to Inu Yasha, who found himself blushing and grinning. "Come on," said Kagome, "Let's go find everyone else." And with that, she walked off, humming to herself.

Later that day...

"Inu Yasha, can I ask you something?" queried Kagome. The pair was relatively alone in the village. Most of the villagers were off doing various tasks and chores they did every day. Kaede was with Miroku, Sango, and Shippou, who had all been commandeered by her to find a special herb in the forest. It was needed for a potion Kaede had to prepare for a sick villager.

"Uh, sure," replied Inu Yasha. He wondered what she wanted to know.

"Well, it's not a question, so much as advice," said Kagome. "I mean, that is, you would know since you're a guy, and you're supposed to get advice from your best friend, right? And you're-" Realizing she was babbling, Kagome stopped herself. "Um... You see, I like someone. But I don't know if they like me. I mean, they act like they do sometimes, and we spend a lot of time with one another when I'm around, but I don't always treat him as well as I should considering all of the nice things he does for me, and I don't know how to tell him." Again, she spoke in a rushed voice, trying to get it all out at once.

She... she liked someone? Someone else? Inu Yasha felt, for a moment, like he'd been kicked in the gut. But, then he thought of something. She had said, "we spend a lot of time together" and "I don't always treat him as well as I should considering all of the nice things he does for me." Well, he and Kagome spent a lot of time together. And he was always saving her, then she would "sit" him. Could she... could she be talking about him? Inu Yasha told her hopefully, "Then I think you should just tell him. I'm sure he feels the same way."

"Thanks, Inu Yasha. But, I think I'll wait awhile before I tell him." Kagome might have said more, but they were interrupted by the arrival of Kaede, Shippou, Miroku, and Sango. Kaede looked weary, Shippou was grinning, Sango was fuming, and Miroku had a red handprint on his cheek. He was grinning anyways. Kagome waved at the group, and pretty soon they were leaving to look for more jewel shards.

Earlier that day (well, actually, at a much later date, but you all know what I mean ^^;)...

Kagome screamed angrily. She couldn't take it anymore! He had never noticed her, they were always fighting, and she just couldn't keep it up. Kagome had admitted to herself that she loved him a long time ago, but it just wasn't working. She had promised herself that she would make him understand and return her feelings, that by the end of the year, they would would be together. But it just wasn't worth it.

She had tried! She had worn make-up, pretty clothes, and fixed up her hair. He had never noticed. He was oblivious to how she had felt. For a while, it had become an obsession with her. It was an obsession with her. A puzzle, a challenge to overcome. And maybe... just maybe... it had become just that. No longer something she truly wanted, merely a habit. A habit to attempt to make him notice her. She tried to summon the familiar emotion of love... but it was gone. Well, the feeling of love was not gone, but the feeling of being -in love- with him was.

Kagome's gaze fell on the pictures on her dresser. There were two of them. One was of herself and her friends from school. She was standing in the middle, one eye closed, winking at the camera. A grin was plastered on her face and she was posing, fingers positioned to make a 'v'. One of her friends was giving her bunny ears. On her other side, another friend had linked her free arm with theirs. Hojo stood a little off to the side, watching the trio, or more specifically, Kagome. He was blushing. Another student had been kind enough to take it for them.

The other was of herself and Inu Yasha, standing in front of Sango, Miroku, Shippou, and Kaede. Inu Yasha had an arm around her shoulder per her instruction. Kaede was holding Shippou, who had an almost angelic look on his face. Kagome remembered that it had not gone well with the words he had been whispering at Inu Yasha to try and get him to glare for the picture. One of Miroku's hands, the one that held the air rip, was waving at the camera, while the other was hidden. One could tell where it was, however, by Sango's outraged expression (and faint blush). The picture had been taken right before she had smacked him with her boomerang.

Kagome smiled a little at the memory, anger forgotten. Two pictures, of the past and the future. And suddenly she had an epiphany. Her smile widened as she made a decision.

Several days later...

Kagome had returned to the future again. She had a "test". Her good mood had lasted throughout their latest adventure, even when she had been covered with the guts of a youkai which had held a shard. Well, she hadn't been very glad at that particular moment, naturally, but she had cheered up fairly quickly, and even returned to her previous happiness.

But, she hadn't told him yet. Inu Yasha frowned. He wondered how much later she meant. Maybe he wasn't the person she had been talking about? But no, that was ridiculous. Still... Inu Yasha decided it would be a good idea to go visit her. It had already been a couple days. Surely she had taken that "test" already. Besides, she was supposed to come back tonight anyways. He would carry her pack and they could return together.

With this in mind, Inu Yasha made his way to the well. Within minutes, he was in the future. He climbed out of the well, nose twitching. The wellhouse was musty and smelled of dust and rotting wood. At least the shrine was further away from the rest of the city, however. Inu Yasha found from the one time he had ventured from Kagome's home that the city reeked. It smelled of smoke and chemicals and other things from his time he did not understand, but did not like nonetheless. There were few trees and many large constructions of glass and steel. At least at the shrine Inu Yasha felt some semblance of normalcy. He did not know how Kagome could stand it.

Moving quietly out of the wellhouse, Inu Yasha stopped in shock. Kagome was walking up the shrine steps, hand in hand with some boy. They stopped at the top step and Inu Yasha heard Kagome tell the stranger, "Thanks for the ring, Hojo." She leaned forward and kissed this "Hojo" on the lips.

She said something else, but Inu Yasha didn't hear past the dull, roaring noise ringing in his ears. Silently, without making a sound, he moved back into the wellhouse. Once the door was closed, Inu Yasha practically threw himself into the well, trying to escape. Going back to his time, in which that terrible event had not occurred yet.

But the knowledge that it had not happened did not erase the knowledge that it would. Nor did it erase the image burned into his mind of her, his Kagome, leaning forward to kiss someone else.

When Kagome finally returned to the past, hours later, Inu Yasha was sitting under the Shinboku tree, still fuming.

I'll kill him, then rip him to pieces! No, first I'll rip him to pieces while he's alive to feel the pain, then I'll kill him! I'll boil him alive! I'll tar and feather him, then put him near a hungry Sesshoumaru (he's always had a weak spot for fowl or anything related to or resembling thereof)! Whatever I do, he dies tonight!! There is no way that puny, sniveling, weak human can have MY Kagome!!!

Inu Yasha continued plotting the unfortunate Hojo's imminent death as Kagome walked up to him. He didn't even notice her as he wondered if human flesh really did taste like chicken. It was only when she called out his name that his revery was broken.

Kagome looked up at him. Inu Yasha hesitantly met her eyes. His widened in disbelief at what he saw there. She knew he knew. Then, she smiled. Inu Yasha felt like he'd just been sitted a hundred times. He would have preferred it to what was happening now. "He asked me out, Inu Yasha."

She smiled. A kick in the gut.

"He even kissed me on the lips!"

She smiled. A stab in the heart.

"Then he escorted me home like a proper gentleman."

She smiled. Salt in the wound.

"Your advice worked, and it went perfectly! Thank you."

She smiled. The perfect irony.

"Well, aren't you going to say something?"

She smiled.

"Inu Yasha, what's wrong?"

Her smile faltered. Too late, too late.

"Wait, are you upset because I now have something else to distract me from the shard hunt?"

He laughed. It seemed kharma had finally come to get him.

"Inu Yasha?"

She looked confused. No, she wouldn't understand.

"What's so funny?"

He couldn't seem to stop laughing. He laughed until he started to cry, while Kagome just watched on in wonder. Come to think of it, this was the first time Inu Yasha had laughed like this in a long time. The last time had been after Naraku had shot him while in Kikyou's form. The last time had been when he thought he'd been betrayed by the love of his life.

They say that laughter is good for the soul. In Inu Yasha's case, they would be wrong.

Finally, after quite awhile, his laughter trailed off, and Inu Yasha managed to wipe away the tears. He looked back up and stared into her eyes, his blank. "Congratulations, Kagome," he said. Inu Yasha's voice was slightly hoarse- surely it was from having laughed so long. He grinned at her. It didn't touch his eyes.

She smiled again, pleased that her best friend was happy for her. Gods, how she smiled. She truly was oblivious. "Thank you," she beamed. "But what was so funny?"

"Nothing, Kagome, nothing." Inu Yasha's voice was full of reassurance and warmth. It showed more emotion than he ever had in the greater part of his lifetime. But his eyes.. his smile.. his soul... they were now empty.

Author's Note: Um, something tells me this is going to be the fic that gets me my first flame ^^;; I tell you, I am a Kagome/Inu Yasha fan and normally ship that pair only! As you can see, Inu Yasha obviously loves Kagome in this, and she loved him, too, but... Agh, I can't believe I wrote this ^^;; Oh, well. If you want, you can flame me, but if you do, please list the reasons or reason why. And no, I will not write anymore Kagome/Hojo fics after this. I don't like the pairing, but this has been stuck in my head for two years now. I've had most of this on my hard drive since... Well, either right before or right after Forward to the Future. I can't remember, as I wrote both around the same time and it's been quite awhile since my freshman year and it's now the end of my junior year. If there's anything similar to this, I haven't read it nor even heard of it, so don't blame me. If there is, I toast them for surviving the same madness I developed when I wrote it. And I feel really bad as I've spent the last however long spending time filling in the holes and editing when I should have been working on Consequences. Or sleeping. Probably sleeping, as I've been sick all day. I think maybe I'll go work on Consequences ch. 6 some more... or maybe not, as it's three in the morning ^^;