InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Entwined Fates ❯ One-Shot

[All right people. I don't know where the hell this came from, but one moment I was reading my old Inu-Yasha mangas and the next I got a WOW idea. Hee hee hee hee… Ha ha ha ha… AH HA HA HA HA HA!!! <maniacal laughter> ha ha…ahem… Anyway…this story comes out to be a "what if…?" of a "what if…?" Okay, I know that sounds really weird, but its true. This is a short story (one shot) and it's a "what if…?" from my "what if…?" story. Yeah, the "Sacred Tree" story. This story comes from the same idea; Inu-Yasha doesn't stay with Kagome, he stays in the past with Kikyo instead. But I do a completely different story from the same concept. That's why I call it a "what if…?" of a "what if…?" Instead of being 5 years later, (which is what happens in my "Sacred Tree" story) it's only been a few months and Kagome is in her new high school (10th grade (sophomore) 1st year). Her friends are with her and so is Hojo. He's still trying to get with her, but Kagome is probably never going to get over Inu-Yasha. She's in severe depressed mode. Also something happened to the Shikon no Tama. It didn't stay in the past with Kikyo and Inu-Yasha (like in my other story)… At the beginning I reveal what really happened with the Shikon no Tama (which actually explains a couple of things. Like why Kagome is the only one that can detect the shards so easily, why it was in her body and why her personality is so different from Kikyo's though she's Kikyo's reincarnation) …and that's where my story begins!!! It's short, shocking and… I don't know…I like it… <grins> I hope my readers enjoy this little story and the amazing twists my insane brain has created!!! ^_____^ Enjoy minna! Ja! ^-_-^ feh.]

Entwined Fates A "What if…?" Inu-Yasha Story

Kagome leaned against the cherry tree, tears sliding down her cheeks. She never noticed them anymore. They always came. Any time she thought… She cried. Only when her mind was completely preoccupied with something else, so she couldn't think, was she free from the heaviness in her heart. It had already been a few months since…since… Kagome closed her eyes and barely stifled a sob from rising. Her adventure had finally come to an end…just in time for her entrance exams. She should have been happy…but she had been sicker these few months than she ever had been while traveling back and forth through time.

Part of her wished that it had never ended. That way…that way… she could still be with him. Still be with… Her heart twisted and her hand clutched at the uniform above the aching organ. To this day…she still couldn't say his name. If she even thought it she would burst into tears and be unable to stop until she passed out. That's what happened when she'd returned home…after it had been all over…

Kagome walked in a daze out of the well and into her house. It seemed unreal. It had happened so quickly. The Shikon no Tama had returned to where it had come from…back into her body, her soul finally merging completely once more. That's what they'd discovered.

The Shikon no Tama… The crystallized soul of the miko Midoriko and the youkais she had defeated… Midoriko had been Kikyo's previous incarnation, just as Kikyo had been Kagome's. Kikyo had been only half a soul reborn and eventually came in contact with the rest of it in the form of the Shikon no Tama. But when Kikyo had burned with the Shikon no Tama, Kagome had been reborn with her complete soul. Midoriko was more like Kagome than Kikyo was.

When Kagome had learned this, suddenly everything was clear. Why Kikyo's personality was so different…because her soul was incomplete; why Kagome could sense the Shikon no Tama kehai so easily…because it was a piece of her soul. She also knew what she had to do. In order to make the Shikon no Tama beyond every youkais' and humans' reach, she had to merge her soul once again. Inu-Yasha had agreed with her in the end…Though it had almost cost her life.

With this knowledge they retrieved the Shikon no Tama in Naraku's possession and destroyed him. She said good-bye to her dear friends, and left Inu-Yasha with a token…her uniform's red necktie…

And then she came home. The Shikon no Tama no longer existed…

And now neither did her entire adventure. It was all a part of a distant past…far beyond her reach…

Kagome entered her home and stared at her mother, grandfather and little brother blankly. It was all over. Everything… gone… like it had never been. She had said good-bye…and then… All over…

I…nu…Ya…sha…

Kagome collapsed onto the floor of her house, deep uncontrollable sobs rising within her and heaving from her with the agony that suddenly ripped her. Kagome couldn't stop crying. No matter how much comfort her family offered she just couldn't stop. Only one thought echoed through her mind.

Inu-Yasha…Inu…Yasha… Inu-Yasha… INU-YASHA!!!

Kagome cried herself unconscious and stayed in bed for an entire week. Unable to move, unable to eat. All she could do was lie there and weep, knowing deep inside that she had lost everything. Everything had been left behind... Everything was long dead... Everything she had loved. Inu-Yasha…

All of her friends were still worried about her. Yuka, Harumi, and Shizuko. Even Hojo… more so than he had ever worried before. They had all made it into the same high school…but Kagome didn't feel happy or content. She had passed the entrance exams with no effort. When she had managed to recoup a little bit from her depression, she poured herself into her studies so that way she couldn't think. About him…about what had happened.

Everyone had been shocked to see Kagome pass the exam with flying colors. Despite the fact that she looked like she was about to die any minute.

Kagome looked down at her hands. She was much thinner than before. She had lost so much weight the last few months. Is this what heartbreak does to you? Kagome thought briefly. She slid down the trunk of the tree and sat down against it.

The cherry orchard looked so beautiful. Sakura was in bloom and it drifted in the wind hauntingly. It reminded her of a memory...from...back then...

"Inu-Yasha! Mi-te! Look! A cherry orchard! And all the sakura is blooming! Isn't it beautiful? Inu-Yasha?" Kagome turned to look back at Inu-Yasha.

He was smiling lightly, but he wasn't looking at the sakura. He was looking at her. "Ah. Su-goi."

Kagome clamped her hand over her mouth as a sob rose and tears began to spill. Iya! I won't cry…I won't… She pulled up her knees and wrapped her arms around them, laying her head on them as she wept. Why…? Why couldn't she just forget and keep on going with her life?

"Higurashi-san?"

Kagome slowly drew up her head and looked up at a blurry yet familiar face. Hojo-kun. Why couldn't I have fallen for him? My life would have been so much easier and simpler…

"Daijoubu?" he asked, bending down to her.

Kagome nodded briefly and wiped her face with the sleeve of her jacket. She looked up him with a weak smile. "Ah. I'm fine, Hojo-kun. What time is it? Am I late?"

He shook his head. "I'm right on time, so that must mean you are too, Higurashi-san. Come on. I'll walk you to class."

Kagome let him help her up and felt a twinge of sadness for him. She liked him. He was so kind and gentle, though perhaps not too bright. She wished she could love him… But she had left her heart in the Sengoku Jidai. She had regained her soul there…but lost her heart… She didn't think that was a very even trade.

She let the breeze dry the tears on her face. Hojo, Harumi, Yuka and Shizuko had stopped asking questions about her tears after a while. They realized they'd never get an answer from her, so they had just accepted it as something private. Kagome was sure Yuka, Shizuko and Harumi had already figured that it had to do with the 'two-timing jerk' Kagome was in love with, but they never mentioned him. Not anymore.

Kagome spotted the small pond amidst the cherry trees that she had always liked. She left Hojo's side to walk over to it, so she could fix herself up before going to class. No one ever said anything when she cried. By now everyone assumed that her crying had to do with an incurable illness that she suffered. She let them believe what they wanted, but she still tried not to look like she had been crying before walking into class.

She stared at her reflection. Her eyes and nose were swollen and red again. She rubbed her face again with her dark green uniform jacket, but her face was still red. She shook her head and sighed, straightening her bag. Kagome had made it into the school she'd wanted. But when she had gotten her uniform-the dark green jacket and skirt, the white shirt with the green tie and black vest-and had tried them on…she had felt no exhilaration, no joy. Instead she had imagined herself in a miko's clothing and beside her was…

Tears slid down Kagome's cheeks as she stared at her reflection. What has he done to me? Kagome thought frantically. She could find no joy in anything anymore. So many simple things that had made her happy before…nothing could lift her spirits… But then again, Kagome had left her deepest and greatest happiness 500 years in the past… Nothing, absolutely nothing, could ever make her happy again.

She saw Hojo place his gentle hand on her shoulder through the reflection. She smiled lightly at him through the image and wiped her face again. "Gomen, Hojo-kun. Let's go. If not, we'll be late. We don't want to make a bad impression, you know."

Kagome looked away from the pond and the vision of a dog-eared boy that the water was creating in the reflection of the floating sakura. She smiled up at Hojo. He only shook his head.

"Making a bad impression, Higurashi-san? The school year began two weeks ago. I don't think being late would make a bad impression now."

Kagome shrugged. "You're right. But we still shouldn't be late." She promptly began to walk toward the school, ignoring her reflection and the swirling waters.

Hojo walked beside her in silence. Kagome clenched her hands. If only I could feel something for you, Hojo-kun, other than friendship. You deserve so much more than I can give… I've already given everything I had to someone else… And he's…he's…

"Higurashi-san?"

"Hai," Kagome said quickly.

"You never told me."

"Eh?"

Hojo turned to her, his eyes serious. "All your friends seem to know what is wrong with you… But you've never told me. Suddenly you were…someone else. None of your smiles are real, it's almost as if…a part of you has died. Is this some sort of strange side-effect of clinical depression that you're going through because of all your previous illnesses?"

Kagome shook her head. "Iya. I just…I just…" She couldn't. He deserved some sort of explanation. She knew it. But she couldn't. "Gomen, Hojo-kun. But I can't talk about it now. I just can't."

"Wakata. I understand. You don't have to tell me yet, Higurashi-san. But I want you to know that I'm here for you," he said, smiling at her.

Gomen, Hojo-kun! Kagome yelled in her head. I don't deserve your friendship or your feelings toward me! I…I love…love someone else and he's…he's…

Kagome buried her tears and her crying heart and gave him a small smile. "Hiya ku, Hojo-kun. If we don't hurry, we're going to be late!"

"Hai!"

Kagome rushed the rest of the way to school, biting her lip. How much longer do I have to live like this?

* * *

Kagome stared at the shrine that housed the Bone Eater's Well. Every time she got too close her heart screamed. So many times… so many times during the early weeks after her permanent return home, she had gone in there and tried to return. But the Well would take her nowhere except the bottom.

It was then that devastation had truly hit.

He was really beyond her reach. Forever.

Kagome pressed a fist to her mouth to squelch the cry that came to her throat. She remembered her reaction when she'd finally discovered that. She had let out a scream of agony so great that everything after had been a haze. Her jii-chan had told her than they had to pull her from the Well by force. After her scream they had found her digging with her hands at the bottom of the well, until her hands were bloody and she had exhausted herself unconscious. Kagome had no clear memory of that. She remembered the pain and the scream and then waking up in her bed, her hands bandaged and her family staring at her worriedly.

Her brother had suggested seeing a psychiatrist, but who would believe her story without actually being a witness to it? They'd just think her crazy and if there was anything Kagome knew for sure… She wasn't crazy. The pain was too real…and so were the memories.

"Ne-san?"

Kagome looked down and saw Souta standing beside her with Buyo in his arms. She smiled down at him and then began to walk back to the house. All she wanted to do was forget. If she could forget then maybe she could go on living. People always said when you lose one you love, you accept it and move on and soon there will be another love filling your heart. The dead don't want you to mourn after them forever. All they want is for you to be happy.

But Kagome couldn't do that. She finally understood why he had chosen to stay in the past. Even though he realized that Kikyo was a part of her and that she was alive while Kikyo was dead… He couldn't let Kikyo go. Just like she couldn't let him go now…

Inu-Yasha…

Kagome collapsed on the floor in an abrupt flow of tears, her body giving out on her.

"NE-SAN!"

* * *

Kagome stared up at her ceiling. After she'd recovered from her bout of depression, she had poured her remaining energy into her homework and studies so she wouldn't have to think about him anymore.

But tonight was the new moon and she couldn't sleep.

What was he doing now? Spending the evening with Kikyo? Hiding from a youkai that was out to get him? Was he in danger? Was he safe? Did he need her? Did he miss her? She saw her memories flicker like a movie on her ceiling. Memories of all the new moons she had spent with him. The spiderheads, when she had first discovered his secret. The peach man, when she had thought for some brief, terrifying moments that he was dead. When she had realized that even though he hated his human form…he had a human heart. Perhaps that day was one of the days when her love deepened even more. She also remembered when he revealed himself to Kouga and to Kagura.

Kagome's heart clenched painfully. Baka. She missed him so much…His smile, gentle, triumphant, and confident. His smirk, his snarl, his frown, his laughter. His face shone like the sun on the darkness of her ceiling and she closed her eyes. But his vision still beamed at her from behind her eyelids. WHY?! WHY CAN'T I JUST FORGET?! PLEASE!!

Kagome cried herself to sleep and dreamt bittersweet, agonizing dreams of him.

* * *

Kagome stared out of the window of class, her sight hazy. It was lunchtime, but Kagome had lost her appetite. The sakura was drifting in the wind and old memories came to haunt her.

"Oi, Kagome!"

She turned and saw Yuka's worried face. She smiled lightly. "Nani, Yuka-chan?"

Yuka shook her head. "You're not eating again."

Kagome lightly smiled. "Ah. I'm not hungry."

Yuka clenched her hands into fists, her eyes tightly shut. Kagome saw tears slide down Yuka's cheeks. "Kagome-chan, it's been months! You haven't improved in the least! I know you're heartsick, but this is too much! At this rate you'll kill yourself!"

Shizuko appeared beside her. "Yuka's right, Kagome. This is too much. You look half-dead. Why don't you try to be happy and recover? Everyone can recover from lovesickness if you really try!"

Kagome smiled at them. "Arigato, minna… But it's not so simple…I just…can't…"

"Kagome."

She looked up at Harumi who slammed her palm on Kagome's desk. "Nani, Harumi-chan?"

Harumi shook her head. "I've had it! I can't stand watching you whither away! Kagome at this rate, you'll never recover! We've tried everything already-"

Yuka nodded. "We've taken you to the movies, to the amusement park-"

Shizuko continued. "To the museum, to the library, to the park, to Osaka with us-"

"And nothing has worked," Harumi finished. "It's time for something drastic." Harumi grinned mischievously. "Clearly, Hojo-kun isn't working. Kagome-chan, there's a new student in Class B. He's really good-looking, very different and a troublemaker! I think you need someone more lively than Hojo-kun! Maybe if we set up a meet-"

"Iie."

Kagome stared unmoved at Harumi, Shizuko and Yuka's shocked expressions. "I refuse. I won't let you guys hook me up with some guy. It won't work. Getting me together with another guy is the worst think you could probably do to me. I don't want any part of it."

"But Kagome-chan…"

"I said, 'iie'."

Silence.

Yuka spoke quietly after a beat. "Is there nothing we can do to help you then? Nothing at all? You're wasting away, Kagome. Right before our eyes."

Kagome remained silent and turned her face back to the window. She heard Yuka sniffle and Harumi's quiet grumbling.

"Kagome-chan… one-gai…"

Shizuko was cut off when the door to the class opened.

"Oi. Have any of you seen my hair tie? It must have fallen down after my fight."

Kagome suddenly stiffened and slowly turned away from the window to the door. That voice…Masaka…It can't be…

"I got it here!" A girl called and went over to the young man at the door. His long black hair hung to his waist and his violet eyes glowed. He held out his hand and the girl gave him the red ribbon. "Isn't this a little girlish for a such a tough guy like you?"

The guy only smirked as he tied his long black hair back. "It was present. It came from a girl's uniform, if you get my drift."

The girl burst out laughing. "Oh, you're so terrible! Even if it really was from a girl's uniform, why would you wear it like that? Is she someone really special?"

"Nah. I just like red." But the look in his eyes spoke otherwise. There was a sudden gentleness there that had every girl watching the spectacle sigh. Except Kagome. She couldn't even breathe.

He waved then and left the room without another word. Harumi only shook her head. "That guy…"

Shizuko smiled and looked at Harumi. "Isn't he the one that's always getting into fights?"

Kagome shot up from her seat. "You know him? He's not the new student you guys were talking about earlier?"

Yuka looked at Kagome curiously. "Iya. The new guy is much more good-looking. And his name is Miro. He's more of a playboy. I don't know this guy's name. All I know is that he's the one I think every guy in school's has already had a fight with."

Shizuko nodded. "He's been here since the beginning of the school year, Kagome-chan. I hear he lives alone, a pretty impressive thing for a guy like him. And I think he's in Class D."

Kagome didn't stay to hear more. She was running toward the door and after him. Was she hallucinating? Maybe he just looked a bit like him and she had confused him for…for… But his hair tie… That… I'm sure of it… That was my uniform tie!

"Kagome-chan! Where are you going?!" Harumi called after her, but Kagome ignored her. She had to find that boy! Tears slid from her eyes. Was it possible…? Inu-Yasha…?

Kagome raced to Class D, but didn't see him there. She ran down to the courtyard, to the fields and ball courts, but didn't see him there. She saw one guy, fairly beaten up, and asked him about him. The boy pointed in the direction of the cherry orchard.

Kagome was out of breath when she arrived, but she didn't stop running and looking. Her heart was pumping with an adrenaline she never thought she would have again. She raced through the trees, her eyes darting everywhere as she looked for him. But she couldn't…

She spotted him then. Standing by the pond that she would always stare into before coming to school. If it was possible for her heart to speed up even more, it did. It felt as if it were trying to escape from her body. Somehow…though she had left her heart back in the Sengoku Jidai…here it was again. She just hoped she wasn't imagining things.

That thought dumped cold water over her spirit. Of course. What was she thinking? He probably only looked at little like him, and of course, in her state she immediately thought it was really him. He could have gotten that hair tie from anyone. There were plenty of uniforms with red neckties. How much of a fool could she be?

"You ran all the way here and now you're not gonna say anything? What a weird on-na."

Kagome stiffened. But that voice… She pressed her hand over her beating heart and gripped her shirt. "Who…who are you?"

The guy leaned against a tree that was beside him. "You followed me here and you're asking me that? I would figure with your eagerness to get here you would know."

Kagome stepped forward. "One-gai. Don't joke with me…" Tears slid unconsciously down her cheeks and her knees threatened to give out on her. Oh, Kami…it was his voice…

"Who says I'm joking? I didn't think I was very popular with the girls. Why would you follow me? You like me or something? But then, how could you when you're asking who I am?"

"ONE-GAI!" Kagome whispered fiercely. He had yet to turn around and look at her. "I need to know… Are you…?"

The boy turned around then, scratching his cheek with his index finger. Kagome's heart skipped a beat. She was probably hallucinating… but he looked just like him. This boy…whoever he was…looked just like…

"Am I who…?" The guy's eyes suddenly widened. "Oi! Wait a minute! You're…"

Kagome's heart stopped. "I…am…"

He took a step toward her and untied his hair. He held out the tie to her. "You're the girl who gave me this, aren't you?"

Darkness shrouded Kagome's vision. Ii…Iie…Am I going to… faint…? Iie…I wanted…I wanted…to see him…

Kagome fell unconscious into the boy's arms, tears slipping from her eyes.

"OI!"

* * *

Kagome slowly came to. She felt warmth all around her. A warmth she hadn't felt in what seemed like ages… She smelled a familiar scent and her heart began to speed up… This scent… Inu-Yasha…

Kagome opened her eyes and found herself wrapped in strong arms. A boy's school jacket lay on top of her, and she was snuggled against the chest the same boy. Her head shot up and she stared into violet eyes.

He smiled down at her. A smile so familiar that her heart cried. Tears slid down her cheeks.

"O-oi! Don't cry! What'd I do? You're the one who passed out! I just made sure you…you…"

"That I what?" Kagome whispered, already knowing the answer. "That I was safe?"

His eyes widened and he slowly nodded. Kagome straightened and stared at him. "How…how can this be…? Are you really…" Kagome's heart clenched. "Inu-Yasha?" she whispered.

His jaw dropped. "Nan da?! How do you know that name?! Unless you really are her! The girl from my dreams! The one who gave me this!" He held up the tie. "You really are her, aren't you? You're…" he paused for a moment and then whispered her name. "Kagome…"

Kagome clenched his shirt. "You…you don't remember?"

Inu-Yasha scratched his head. "Well, yes and no…"

She pounded a fist against his chest, tears swelling in her eyes. Here he was! After all her agony, here he was and he didn't even know her! Her shoulders shook with the force of a sob as she dropped her face against his chest. "You…after all my agony…" She looked up at him, his face blurry because of her tears. "You don't even remember me! What happened?! Why are you here, Inu-Yasha?! Why are you in human form? How…how'd you get here…?" Kagome's rage dwindled with every question as her sobbing grew worse.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her close…like he had so many times before. Kagome could only sit there and let him hold her.

"Kagome…"

She heaved a sob against him and his hold only tightened. "Gomen, ne?" Her eyes widened as tears continued to flow. Inu-Yasha was apologizing? "I guess you can say… I was reincarnated. But unlike you I retain most if not all the memories of my previous life. I've had this tie and this," he pulled back and showed her the rosary around his neck, "For as long as I can remember. I don't remember my parents in this lifetime, only my parents from my previous life… In fact, my previous life is more real to me than this one. It was almost as if I was only here to find…you…"

Kagome stared at him. He gave her his rueful smirk and moved her off of him. He straightened and then faced her. "As for me being human…" Inu-Yasha closed his eyes and Kagome could only watch in shock as she saw his black hair turn white, his ears vanish and then reappear as the doggy ears she knew so well, his fangs and claws grow. When he opened his eyes, they were a brilliant gold. "Guess you can call it adaptation. I'm still a hanyou, like I was in my previous life, but unlike before, I can make my demon power fade whenever I want. Much easier to walk around looking human than like this. I learned how to do this pretty quickly. Necessary for survival these days, you know."

Kagome could only gaze at him dumbfounded. He sat before her. Inu-Yasha…her love…her life… Everything had been a void since she left him behind… and now here he was…

"Osuwari."

B-TONNG!

"O-OI! What the hell?!" Inu-Yasha shot up from the floor, fangs bared.

Kagome threw herself into his arms, weeping. "You're real. You're real. You're not an illusion that'll vanish. You're really here… Inu-Yasha!!"

He blinked for a moment and then wrapped his arms around her and inhaled her scent. "Kagome… I feel…like I've finally come home. All the memories I have of my past life…revolve around you. It was almost as if I willed myself to remember my past life and to be reborn in this time…so I could be with you. I've dreamed of you since I was a child. I knew I had to find you. But the only memories I had of your home was a temple…and there are so many temple homes that I didn't know which one you were in and which family you were. I only knew your name. Kagome…"

Kagome sobbed against his chest and clutched at him. Inu-Yasha…Inu-Yasha. Inu-Yasha. Inu-Yasha. INU-YASHA! "INU-YASHA!"

Inu-Yasha buried his face in her hair and held her, his hands caressing her back. Kagome…

Kagome pulled herself back and stared up at him. "It really is you…"

He rolled his eyes. "You said that plenty of times already, Kagome."

She smiled. Her first true smile since leaving him behind. "I love hearing you say my name. I love holding you, having you here. Inu-Yasha…when I left you behind a piece of me died. I've had a hard time staying alive these last few months. All I wanted was to be with you…" She slammed a fist against his chest. "Mou! I told you I loved you before you pushed me into the well! And I barely survived these last few months! I was in agony! Thinking I'd lost you forever!" Tears slid down her cheeks even more. "Inu-Yasha no baka."

"Kagome?"

"Nani?!" she yelled at him half smiling, half crying. She looked up into his glowing golden eyes and her heart stopped.

"Aishiteru."

Kagome's eyes widened. He smiled his gentle smile down at her. "I don't remember ever telling you that before, but it's true you know. Why else would I follow you like this? I couldn't be with you in one lifetime, but I swore I'd be with you in the next."

"INU-YASHA!!!"

The sakura fell about them as they held each other. Kagome didn't understand completely how he had gotten there, how it was even possible, but she didn't question it. If Inu-Yasha had been reincarnated, she didn't care. He was still the hanyou she loved. Her heart swelled. Arigato…Kami-sama… Arigato…

"Oi! Yasha-kun! Where the hell are you?! Lunch is almost over!"

Kagome pulled away from Inu-Yasha curiously. He smiled at her and slowly began to stand pulling her along with him. When they were both standing, Kagome spoke.

"Yasha-kun?"

Inu-Yasha shrugged. "Ah. Yasha Inuki. At least that's the name I had since I was a child. Though I always knew my true name was Inu-Yasha. I just made sure that people never called me Inuki. Told them, if they used it, they were dead. Feh. Good thing they listened to me."

Kagome began to giggle and Inu-Yasha just narrowed his eyes at her. "What's so funny?!"

"Inuki? No wonder you get into so many fights at school, Inu-Yasha!" Kagome said.

"Oi, Kagome!"

Kagome only laughed and threw herself into his arms, her heart ready to explode. She felt him sigh and then wrap his arms tightly around her. Kagome's heart pounded. After all this agony she had endured, here he was. She looked up at him. She wanted to kiss him. She had always wanted him to be her first kiss, but she had never gotten the chance back in the Sengoku Jidai.

Inu-Yasha seemed to read her mind, because he turned a brilliant shade of red. Kagome felt her face flame up as well, but that didn't stop his hesitant lips from slowly finding hers. Kagome helped him along, by meeting him half way. Her heart sighed in relief when their lips finally touched. Inu-Yasha…

Kagome didn't know how long they stood there. Everything she had ever hoped for was happening. Tears slid down her cheeks as she lost herself in his kiss with only one final thought.

One-gai, Kami-sama… If this is a dream, let me never wake.

* * *

"Kagome! Kagome-chan! Doko?!" Harumi called.

The three girls walked toward the cherry orchard knowing that was where Kagome usually went when she wanted to be alone. As they headed there they saw a boy grumbling near one of the trees.

Shizuko recognized him first. "Ah! Miro-kun!"

The handsome boy turned around and waved at the girls. They quickly approached him.

Yuka asked him, "Miro-kun, why are you here?"

Miro shook his head. "I came looking for Yasha, but I can't find him. After a fight, he usually goes to the orchard. He's weird. He'll beat the crap out of a guy and then go relax by looking at the sakura. I've never met a guy like that before. But I can't find him today."

Harumi blinked. "Miro-kun, I know this will probably sound weird, but who's Yasha-kun?"

Miro rolled his eyes. "My friend. He was the first guy to become my friend…after he picked a fight with me. I think he respected me because I didn't fall for his bait. He's the baka who lost his precious hair tie during the fight today. I think one of the girls in your class had it."

Shizuko slapped her palm with a fist in realization. "The boy Kagome-chan ran after! That must be Yasha-kun!"

Yuka blinked. "That's a strange name."

Miro smirked. "You haven't heard his first name yet."

"Say one more thing Miro and I'll pound your face in. And I don't thing San will be to happy with me if I damage your pretty face."

The three girls and Miro turned around to face the black haired, violet-eyed Inu-Yasha. The girls freaked when they saw Kagome beside him… holding his hand.

Miro whistled. "I wasn't going to say a damn thing, Yasha. But who's this lovely girl? I didn't know you had any interest in girls, let alone a girlfriend."

"Kagome-chan!" Yuka, Harumi and Shizuko cried, rushing to her. Kagome smiled at them and they stopped in their tracks. Shizuko suddenly burst into tears.

Kagome took a worried step toward her friend. "N-Nani-o Shizuko-chan? Dosh ta? What's wrong?"

Harumi and Yuka could only stare at Kagome dumbfounded, but it was the crying Shizuko that spoke first.

"Kagome-chan…I haven't seen you smile at us like that…since before we graduated junior high."

Kagome smiled again and her friends rushed in to give her a hug. She hugged them back and laughed. "Gomen for worrying you guys so much. I'm all right now."

Abruptly the three released her and turned to Inu-Yasha. He started and blinked at them warily. Yuka stepped toward him.

"I don't know you, Yasha-kun, or what you did to Kagome…" Her eyes filled with tears. "De-mo… Arigato… I haven't seen Kagome act like herself in so long…"

Miro only shook his head as the three girls began to weep and thank Inu-Yasha. "What the hell did you do, Yasha?"

"Yasha-kun? Hmph. I could have sworn that you were the one who made them cry, Miro."

"San!"

Kagome finally looked away from her friends to see Inu-Yasha's friend. Miro (if she remembered correctly) was the new student they had wanted to hook her up with. The girl beside him promptly began to lecture him. But it seemed like he was already taken… Kagome's eyes widened.

"AH!!"

Harumi, Yuka, Shizuko, Miro, San and Inu-Yasha all turned to her in surprise. Kagome smiled and only shook her head. Miro and San looked like Miroku and Sango…and from the way they were talked and were acting she could have sworn they were. She turned to Inu-Yasha who was still getting thanks from her friends. Kagome didn't know how he had followed her to this time, but clearly he had brought Miroku and Sango with him.

Tears slid from her eyes. She wondered if Shippou was around somewhere too. All of her friends… Kagome thought she had lost them all to time…and yet here they were. Arigato…Kami-sama…

"Kagome? Dosh ta?"

Kagome looked up into Inu-Yasha's worried eyes. Her heart swelled with love. She pushed her friends out of the way and threw herself into his arms. He caught her and held her close. "Arigato, Inu-Yasha. Aishiteru." Tears of joy slid down her cheeks as she gave him a light squeeze.

He blinked in surprise then smiled. He placed his hands on her waist and lifted into the air and spun her around, loving the sound of her laughter.

Aishiteru, Kagome.