InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Changing Hearts? ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

Changing Hearts?

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DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inu Yasha and company. I do however own this idea...I think.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: First of all, thank you for the reviews. They make my days brighter. This chapter is pretty much a recap of chapters 1 & 3, only from Kagome's point of view. We really didn't find out what she was thinking then. Now seems to be the time, because who else would a teenage girl tell her boy troubles too other than her best friend? Just bear with me, okay? Sorry if it aggravates anyone, but I told you before, this story is kinda writing itself. I have been take hostage by my own imagination. Anyway, read and enjoy as always.

PS--Let me know who you want her to end up with. I can see it ending three different ways. Yes, I said three! Who knows, maybe I will write up all three endings and let you decide which one you like best. Oh, this is PG 13 thanks to some mild language. Back to the Feudal Era we go...

PPS- Just a little note to my reviewer Inu on MediaMiner. I didn't take it as a flame. You are entitled to your opinion! Just so you know, I actually am a die-hard Inu Yasha/Kagome fan. So please don't apologize, it really isn't necessary. I hope you enjoy it! = D

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Chapter 5

Sango watched as Kagome nearly ran from the hut. Something was bothering her all right, and she knew that the guys were involved, but she had a feeling that there was more to it. They walked in companionable silence to the spring. The younger girl seemed to be lost in her thoughts.

"Thank you for getting me out of there." She said softly as she undressed She slid into the water with a sigh. "I wish you could have come with us." And she did. Then she would have been crying on her shoulder, and she wouldn't be so confused now. She knew that her relationship with Miroku had changed because of the past two weeks, but her feelings for Inu Yasha hadn't. She hated the fact that there was tension between her companions, and she really hated that she was the reason.

"Will you tell me what happened?" Kagome sighed and nodded. She looked at the older girl that she thought of as a sister. Yeah, she had to get this out, and who better to tell?

"At first, everything was normal. We left right after I arrived for that rumor to the east. This one actually turned out to be true. The fight wasn't that difficult and we got a single shard out of it. I think it was the third day that Inu Yasha started acting strange. He was being meaner than usual, and we were fighting constantly. I stopped walking with him and started to stay with Miroku and Shippo." She frowned. That had probably hurt his feelings, but she was so tired of fighting. Those two raised her spirits and made her laugh again, at least until the next argument. Suddenly she burst into merry laughter. Sango watched her warily. Her voice had been so expressionless, so completely unlike her, but this laughter sounded like the Kagome she knew.

"Are you going to share?"

"Oh yeah. You know, in the two weeks that we were gone, he only groped me once?" Sango came up sputtering and coughing from the inadvertent dunking she had given herself when she had fallen over. Kagome was laughing and nodding. "I know, its strange isn't it?" She looked at her friend mischievously and whispered "There's more, but you might want to sit down." Sango took her advice and found an underwater rock. At her nod Kagome grinned. "He apologized for it and..." Sango's eyes widened. There was an AND?

"He apologized? No excuses? No stupid little chuckle? No innocent looks? Just an apology?" she cried in disbelief. She didn't know what else to say.

"Yep."

"So what else did he do? You can't leave off there."

"Ok, but remember, you asked for it. HE BLUSHED!!" Sango fell off of her rock, giving herself another dunking. Kagome was laughing so hard tears were streaming down her cheeks. When Sango's head reappeared, Kagome continued. "I couldn't believe it either! I asked exactly the same things that you did, and had your reaction, only my landing wasn't quite as soft." They both dissolved into giggles again. Sango was sure that they had seen stranger things, but right now nothing came close to the thought of the hentai priest blushing. Oh, he would never live this one down. Finally their laughter dried up and they got out of the spring. By the time that they had dressed, the sadness was back in Kagome's eyes.

"That was entertaining, but it got us off track. What happened?"

"Kikyo happened. Again. Like I said, we were arguing constantly. Miroku was with me after every one, you know how I usually end up in tears." Sango nodded. Kagome's heart was too soft, but she wouldn't be Kagome if it were any other way.

"And Inu Yasha ends up in a hole."

"Yeah." A small smile touched her lips but it didn't reach her eyes. The memory of his words still hurt more than she could bear. "Last night he told me that he wouldn't even be with me if he didn't need my help. That I was just a weak imitation of Kikyo." A ragged sigh escaped her and a tear traveled down her cheek unnoticed. Kagome had felt so completely useless at that moment. Any thoughts that she might mean more to him than being a jewel detector were crushed. Sango knew that this couldn't be the worst of it, and her temper was already rising. If the hanyou knew what was good for him, he would stay out of her way for awhile.

"Go on." Sango urged softly.

"Miroku jumped in and stopped him from saying anything else. I had just agreed that I really was useless..."

"You did what? He'll die for making you think that..." Kagome put a placating hand on her friend's arm.

"No, its okay, really. Miroku already took him to task for his harsh words. Then he lectured me until I realized that I wasn't useless. He made me feel really needed and wanted for the first time in those two weeks." Kagome sighed and looked off into the darkness. "But that doesn't matter anyway. Kikyo showed up and Inu Yasha went to her of course. I told him to go. I don't want to force him to stay with me. Anyway, he went and I cried... again. Miroku cheered me up...again. You know, I am really tired of crying." Sango chuckled.

She now knew why the monk's feelings for Kagome had changed. It was almost as if Inu Yasha had pushed him into to it, whether he realized it or not. He had touched off the monk's protective instincts and it had just progressed from there. Kagome just naturally brought out the protective instincts in everyone, including Sango and the Kitsune. You protect what is precious to you, its just nature. Kagome was precious to them, she was the heart that kept them together. Again she wondered if the younger girl realized that both men were in love with her... and what her feelings were now. That would come later, now she needed to hear the rest of the story.

"There isn't much else to tell." Kagome's voice had that strange flat quality again, and Sango knew that the worst was still coming. She tried to prepare herself for it. "Inu Yasha got mad in the morning..." That had been her fault. Well, she had been angry, and she had really only been joking around. "and ran off. Miroku, Shippo and I headed back to the village. Kikyo attacked us. She said that she and Inu Yasha had come up with this plan so that she could get her soul back. That he wasn't with us because he couldn't face the guilt that it would bring." Sango gasped. Kagome looked into her eyes, anger burning out at her. "Don't even think it. He wouldn't betray me...not like that. But he had been sneaking off at night to meet with her while we were asleep." She still didn't know why that upset her so much. When he had made the promise to stay with her, she had known that he wouldn't be able to keep it. "Anyway, Inu Yasha showed up and saved us, but Miroku and I had been injured, which is why it took us so long to get back here."

"Kagome, you do know that they are both in love with you right?"

"What? That is almost laughable. Inu Yasha could care less...he is still in love with Kikyo. And Miroku, well..." She looked down, but not before Sango saw the blush. So her feelings for the monk were changing. "He is just a friend. Someone who was there when I needed him, who cheered me up, and picked up the pieces when I fell apart." Kagome hesitated for a few moments, before adding in a whisper. "I told him that I was in love with Inu Yasha."

"Are you sure that you don't feel any differently toward Miroku?"

"Of course I do! How could I not, after all that he has done for me?" Sango looked at her warmly. "Why does he do this to me?" Kagome whispered brokenly. Sango knew that they were talking about the hanyou again. She was fighting back tears. She had promised herself that she wasn't going to cry.

"I don't think he knows for sure what he wants, Kagome, and that makes him strike out at the most convenient target. Sadly that seems to be you. But I want to tell you, don't turn your nose up at new opportunities. Sometimes its the second chance that counts the most."

"Okay, I will keep an open mind and see what happens. At least I can't see Miroku saying such awful things. He is always the charmer." Sango watched the girl knowingly. The hanyou still held her heart, but his grip was slipping. Kagome could only take so much more pain before she shook him off completely. She wondered if he was aware of that fact.

Suddenly Kagome tensed up. Sango almost ran into her, since she wasn't expecting the sudden stop. As soon as she looked at the girl's face she knew what had caused it. Only one thing made her look like this. Kagome's soft words were just confirmation.

"She is near."

"Then we should get our weapons. We don't want her to come upon us unprotected." Sango no longer had the urge to kill the half-demon. Taking out the soul stealing miko would do just as well, if not better. Then she wouldn't hurt Kagome in the process. They ran toward Kaede's hut. As they did, another ran toward the scent of the grave and spring rain.