Kesshite
Itte Shimau
I own nothing. Inuyasha isn’t mine and
neither are any of the characters or anything else. He belongs to Rumiko
Takahashi-sama. I am but a poor college student with no money or anything
really. *Sniffle*
A brief warning before we begin, this fic contains major angst and two bakas who just can’t seem to realize they love each other (i.e. Inuyasha and Kagome, but I'm sure you already knew that. I’m doing my best to make this story longer, as requested by a few people. It seems to get a bit longer each time I add a chapter. My muse of destruction, Jyuu-chan has helped out a lot on this one; ‘bout time, ne? ENJOY! Remember to read and review! It keeps an author's muses alive!
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A short breeze swept through the higher branches of the trees in the
ancient forest, hardly noticeable to anyone below stuck in the summer heat. The green grass had grown high in the
clearing surrounding the old Bone Eater's Well, but a path of dead grass made it
easy to get to the old structure from the nearby village. Higurashi Kagome sat on the well's edge,
peering down into the darkness.
Jumping into it still made her feel uneasy, knowing that often there were
fresh bones present. Unnerving as
it often was, the well was Kagome's only way of getting back to her home and her
own time period.
She sighed shortly, gazing
into the dark well as she dropped her large yellow backpack into it. She heard it hit the ground below with a
heavy thud, quickly noting that there was nothing breakable within it. Finally Kagome leaned forward herself,
ready to jump in. "You’re leaving? Already? But…you just got here a few hours
ago." An inquisitive voice spoke up from behind her. Inuyasha’s pointed dog-ears pricked back
as he stepped up to the well, dead blades of grass falling softly beneath his
weight. He placed one hand on it and gently scraped at the old wood with his
sharp claws, causing a few old, brittle pieces to flake off. Finally he looked
up, golden eyes serious and containing a hint of something else... an emotion
Kagome couldn't place. "Must you go?" He asked, his tone of voice unnaturally
soft.
"I’m sorry,"
Kagome said as she swept a lock of her black hair behind her ear. "But I
promised Souta that I’d take him and his friends on a campout tonight." She was
sitting on the edge of the old Bone Eater’s Well, letting her feet dangle over
the edge inside it. "They've been waiting for weeks for me to have the time for
it. Besides, I…kind of made a
promise that I have to keep, or my mom will kill me."
Inuyasha’s eyes grew wide with surprise. How barbaric humans in Kagome’s
time were! "Y-your mother would kill you for that?!"
"Oh no,"
Kagome responded, amusement ringing in her voice. "It’s just an expression. I
told Souta weeks ago that I’d take him and his friends camping, and Mom’s making
sure I actually do it. She’ll probably ground me if I
don’t.”
The half demon
stared at Kagome strangely. "Okay," He said very slowly. He wondered what
exactly ‘grounding’ was, but he wasn’t about to ask. No matter how long he
stayed around them, humans never failed to confuse him for one reason or
another.
Kagome smiled
again. "I’ll explain it to you later. Right now I’ve really got to go. I’ll
see-"
"You’ll come
back, won’t you?" Inuyasha asked quickly, snapping himself out of deep thought.
He didn’t realize how childishly naive he had sounded until the words were long
out of his mouth. Under any other
circumstance, he would have grown angry with himself, yet, he found himself
eagerly awaiting an answer.
"Of course!"
She replied without hesitation, staring at him curiously. It was terribly unlike
Inuyasha to act like this. "That’s a goofy question." She pointed to the
necklace she was wearing, tucked underneath her white blouse. It was a rather
large chunk of the Shikon no Tama--the jewel that even one tiny shard of could
bestow ultimate power to a youkai or a human with a blackened heart. "We still
have pieces of the jewel to find right? I just have to keep this promise. I’ll
be back tomorrow."
“I…why are you being so
unsure?” She turned her head slightly, again toying with her hair. "You’ve never
questioned me before. Is something wrong?" Kagome’s brown eyes stared into the
dog demon's golden orbs earnestly.
Inuyasha didn’t respond. His
gaze slowly drifted to the ground and sighed softly. He couldn’t bear to tell
her what was going on. It would hurt her too much. He remembered how upset she
had been when he had been nearly killed by that spider demon (1). "I just…" He
began in an unsure tone.
"You...you what?" Kagome's heart began to pound in her chest, nervousness
growing within her. Could Inuyasha actually be about to say something
nice...sweet...debonair?
"I…" His tone became stern
again. He cursed mentally. Why did this subject always end up being so difficult
for him?! "I just happen to like having you around!" He snapped, growling under
his breath. He seemed every bit his usual self. "Do I need a motive for
it?"
Kagome huffed
in frustration, her features narrowing in a deep frown before she sighed. "I’ll
be back tomorrow." She murmured, lowering her gaze. Without another word she
slid down into the well.
Immediately Inuyasha started
after her. "Wait! Kagome!" He shouted into the pitch-dark hole, although the
dark haired girl was already long gone. He stared forlornly into the well for a
few moments, debating whether or not to go after her. She most likely wouldn’t
have the time to listen to him now anyway, since she would be busy with other
things. With a long sigh and a miserable look on his face, Inuyasha stepped away
from the well, his ears folding backward in quick regret. He slouched over,
folding his arms within his robes and stalked off into the nearby forest,
cursing quietly to himself.
* * * * *
Kagome sighed as she removed her backpack and dropped it over the side of
the well to the dusty floor. She swung one leg over the side of the well and
pulled herself up hearing a child’s greeting. “Welcome home
Nee-chan!”
“Souta,”
Kagome smiled at her younger brother, the small dark haired boy sitting on the
steps leading to the well back in her own time. She picked up her backpack and
walked to the steps as Souta stood up. “How long have you been waiting for
me?”
“Not...too long,” The younger boy lied. Honestly he had been sitting on
those steps almost since the moment Kagome had left that morning, but he wasn’t
about to let her know that. Souta had been awaiting the day they were supposed
to be camping for weeks now, and if he had needed to, he would have found some
way to go through the well to find his sister and bring her back. Nothing was
going to stop this camping trip. The boy was very determined of
this.
Souta quickly took his sister by the hand and began leading her out of
the mini shrine. “Hurry and pack!” He said excitedly. “I wanna
go!”
“Okay, okay,” Once she agreed, Souta left her alone and went off in
search of the family cat Buyo. Kagome glanced back towards the well for a
moment, then turned to follow her brother inside.
//You’ll come
back, won’t you?//
~~ Of course
I’ll come back. I always have. I think I’m actually worried about you
Inuyasha... ~~ Kagome thought
as she walked. ~~ You’re just not acting
like yourself. ~~
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No one else was aware of anything wrong as far as Inuyasha knew. He
hadn’t said a word to anyone about it, and he was avoiding people as much as
possible. Yet surely and steadily it was getting worse and worse. The pain was
becoming stronger and lasting longer.
The others he
had seen with it never suffered so long. Stuck right in the middle,
human enough to fall ill with their sicknesses, but not demon enough to recover
on his own. It didn’t really matter all that much now. They all died eventually;
no one ever recovered from something so deadly. It was really only a matter of
time for him now. He shuddered slightly as images of all those he had seen dead
from this in his childhood flashed abruptly through his mind. Inuyasha could
clearly remember thinking how awful it must be to die in such a way when he was
young and still with his mother. ~~ Talk
about a kick in the face... ~~
He walked alone, completely
silent for a long time aside from the sound of his bare feet crunching softly
against dead leaves. Why hadn’t he told Kagome? Because she would worry and baby
him and pity him, that was why. Inuyasha despised pity, there were few things he
loathed more than someone feeling sorry for him. He sighed deeply, furious with
himself. Why was he so stupid? Why didn’t he say what he had been trying to say
for so long when he had the perfect chance? She had been listening and patient,
and he had blown the chance yet again. Kagome didn’t deserve to be teased just
because his emotions couldn’t pull themselves together.
His deep thoughts were suddenly cut off by a sharp, agonizing wave of
pain. He held back a cry and bit his lower lip as it grew--starting in his belly
and spreading throughout his body. Several seconds of nothing but intense pain
passed-- time crept by so slowly it seemed far more like hours rather than
seconds. Finally Inuyasha sagged to his knees and clutched his chest, the source
of the aching, as it had been for weeks now. It hurt so much, but he refused to
let himself cry out. Ill or not, losing battle or not, he was no
weakling.
"Ka…gome…" He moaned through
clenched teeth as tears of pain brimmed his eyes. "I…I told you not to leave
me…I—" He was cut off by a harsh coughing fit that left him nearly unconscious.
He leaned forward, pressing his hands firmly into the damp ground as the pain
finally began to subside. "I…don’t want to be…alone…" He murmured through a
harsh breath. "I don’t know how much longer I have..."
To be
continued…
Notes:
1. You know
what I’m talking about. Book number 5 with the oh-so-cute you don’t smell so bad
scene ^_^
--Hope ya like
all I’ve added! It’s about 3 times longer than it originally was! Yay! Now on to
chapter two! Anything you’d like me to add, let me know! I’m desperate for ideas
here! ^_^