InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Irony ❯ War ( Chapter 10 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: Veema

Chapter 10

I love you guys!

I don't own Inuyasha

My name is Ikuto Kazasami. I've recently had the pleasure of meeting and saving a girl named Kagome. I didn't really think anything of her at first, but then I saw how much spunk she had and...something just sparked. It was like I knew her from a time long ago. When she mistook me for her friend, Nunu-no, I mean Inuyasha, I didn't think anything of it. Now I know that she has feelings for him, and no, he's not gay. He's my enemy, and I swear, I will win this war.

"So Kagome," said Ikuto "has anyone else traveled through the well?"

"Not besides us and Inuyasha." She smiled. "I think you're..." She trailed off, not finishing her sentence, seeing Inuyasha's unhappy expression as he looked at Ikuto.

Inuyasha noticed that Ikuto got closer to Kagome as he waited for her to answer. Inuyasha growled and even though he was one side of Kagome and Ikuto was on the other, Inuyasha decided to switch sides.

"What are you doing?" Ikuto barked.

Inuyasha shoved Ikuto off to the side and stood by Kagome, causing himself to be in the middle. "So Kagome, when is this bozo going home? Doesn't he have a life or something? Isn't he a spoiled rich kid or something?"

Ikuto grumbled and grabbed Kagome's arm and pulled her away from Inuyasha, causing him to be in the middle of the three of them. "What do you think you're talking about, Inuyasha? You don't even know the first thing about me!"

"I know a lot about you, so shut your trap!" Inuyasha pushed Ikuto away from Kagome and knocked him to the ground.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled.

"Don't you have a village to terrorize or something?" Ikuto got up quickly, wanting to prove that Inuyasha wasn't superior to him.

"I could say the same about you" Inuyasha muttered quietly.

"Stop that, Inuyasha!"

Ikuto heard him as well and was infuriated. Inuyasha had kept on walking, which infuriated Ikuto more. He felt his face turn hot and knew that he was red, but didn't care. "Ahhhh!" Ikuto ran at full speed with only his adrenaline and anger to full him and tackled Inuyasha as if Ikuto were a professional football player.

Inuyasha was caught off guard by Ikuto and was knocked down to the ground by him, and while he was still trying to realize that a weak, stupid, idiotic, human just attacked him, Ikuto went further and punched Inuyasha in the face. It hurt, but only because Inuyasha was caught off guard, but a human couldn't dare inflict pain that wound have effect more than a few seconds. Inuyasha caught the next punch to Ikuto's surprise and threw him off of him, while Kagome was yelling for them to stop. "You want to play?" Inuyasha wasn't going to kill him, or seriously hurt him, but he was going to get hurt! "Ahh!"

"Sit!" Ikuto wasn't done fighting, but Kagome ran to him and smacked him upside his head, feeling that the fight wasn't completely Inuyasha's fault. "Earth to Ikuto: Inuyasha is half demon; therefore he could take you down!"

Ikuto pouted and felt the back of his head, still feelings Kagome's blow. "Ouch."

"Serves you right! Now the two of you better stop fighting, or I swear I'll get you!"

"Well, he shouldn't have said that about me!" Ikuto was beyond angry and Kagome was surprised by his anger. It looked like he would hit her, but she knew that he would never hurt her. "I know he called you a demon, but remember that-"

"Don't even say what you were about to, because he only said it that time to piss me off!"

Inuyasha was once again back up on his feet and ready to go, but Kagome's fierce look slightly frightened him and he decided to back off. "Come on," Inuyasha said while trying to hide all of his pain and hatred towards Ikuto inside of him "Miroku and the others are waiting." He was hissing out his words, because if he opened his mouth anymore, he would have completely lost control and would have tried hurt Ikuto, only to have Kagome bind him with her command.

I am Inuyasha, and things as of right now officially bite! Kagome and I were great and we finally made up. I thought I could finally have her, but no, this Ikuso...no, Ikuto had to come and mess everything up. He just thinks he's the best, but I've got news for him: he's nothing compared to me, and if he thinks he's going to take my Kagome, he's got another thing coming.

When they got into the village, Kagome noticed the strange looks that everyone was giving Ikuto. It was the same time when she first came. Some thought she was a demon, and some thought she was a super powered being, especially when she saved a little boy from drowning. Ikuto looked deathly uncomfortable, but who could blame him.

"None of this seems real" he said.

"Keh" Inuyasha replied "Why don't you go home? It'll make my life better."

"In that case, I'll stay."

"Kagome!" yelled Shippo as he spotted her. He was carrying a bucket of water, but dropped it and ran to Kagome, happy to see her.

"Shippo!" she yelled as he jumped into her arms.

Miroku and Sango soon followed after, and Miroku's face was still red from a fresh slap mark from Sango. There were still women leaving from the spot where Miroku was previously reading palms. Before they said their hellos, they were already dumbfounded as they looked at the new boy standing next to Kagome and Inuyasha, confused with a sheepish grin. When they saw his blue jeans, red shirt, and expensive looking gym shoes, they made the assumption that Kagome was not the only one who could travel back in the past.

"I...is this the boy?" Sango asked with widened eyes.

"He certainly does look like Inuyasha" Miroku replied intrigued. "This is interesting."

"Oh," Ikuto smirked brightly and sexily at Kagome "so you've been talking about me."

Kagome blushed, and when Inuyasha saw it, he blurted out "Not very much!"

"They look so much alike!" Shippo jumped out of Kagome's arms and gave Inuyasha and Ikuto good looks. "Wow, I can't believe that Inuyasha has a reincarnation!"

"What?!" Ikuto asked quietly and mystified. "What, who's his..." he trailed off, trying to find out what they were talking about, but when he saw the anger on Inuyasha's face, Kagome looking like a child caught with her hand in a cookie jar, and the three new people he just met looking at him as if he was an idiot, he could only say one thing. "Oh, Hell no!" He backed away from them all and shook his head. "What? No! Not me and...I don't look a thing like him!" he yelled. He was certain at first that he didn't look like him, but then didn't seem so sure.

"You two do look a lot alike." Sango said. "Besides your hair and eyes."

"And your skin" Miroku added. Ikuto grumbled at the mention of his skin tone, but Miroku backed up his observation with a question. "Did you come from the continent?"

"The continent? Could you be a little more specific?" Ikuto took coming to the past surprisingly well, even though he was freaked out, but what they were trying to say was overwhelming, and he was beginning to lose his cool. He was panicking.

"No Miroku, he comes from where I come from, but his mother comes from somewhere far away." Kagome sighed. "It's rather complicated."

Shippo, Miroku, and Sango were still so curious. Inuyasha was acting aggressively, but not as bad as they believed he would. He was obviously sat a couple of times and tamed by Kagome.

"Wait a second" Ikuto said "you people think I'm what?"

"Don't worry about it" Inuyasha said. "You're not, so just drop it."

"But you are!" Kagome said. "He has to be." She calmed down. "Ikuto, I believe that you are Inuyasha's reincarnation."

His eyes expanded as he shuddered aggressively. "No! I am nothing like this stupid...Inuyasha! I don't even believe in that kind of stuff! I'm not him!"

"I agree" Inuyasha said firmly.

"Come on!" Kagome said frustrated. "You two both are half something, you two have the same personal issues, and" she blushed "not to mention some other stuff."

"Not to mention that you two look almost identical" Sango said.

"We don't know anything for sure" Miroku said and then smiled "but whatever the truth may be, I am glad to meet you."

"Same here" Sango said.

"Yeah!" Shippo had a smile on his face. "You're probably a lot nicer than Inuyasha too. Ah!" Shippo held his head that was just struck by Inuyasha. "What did you do that for?"

"Why do you think?" Inuyasha crossed his arms and turned away from Kagome and the others. He liked the thought of having a reincarnation less than Ikuto liked the thought of being his reincarnation. "He needs to go back. We've got serious work to do and we've got to find Naraku. Since he's so foolish, if he stays he'll just fall into one of Naraku's traps before he realizes it, even if we did warn him."

"Naraku?" Ikuto questioned. "Who's..." he shook his head, not even wanting to finish his question. "Kagome, can we talk in private somewhere?"

Inuyasha's ears shot straight up and his eyes opened wide as he heard Ikuto's request. His instincts told him not to trust Ikuto, and he turned around quickly and got right in Ikuto's face. "Whatever you've got to say, you can say it right in front of me!" They hated each other, and it could clearly be seen in their eyes. They were both red in the face with anger, Inuyasha's was redder than Ikuto's, but they were both just as angry as the other. Ikuto didn't have a lot of patience, just like Inuyasha, and wanted to just fight and get it over with, just like Inuyasha, but he knew he couldn't take him, just like Inuyasha knew he couldn't take Ikuto, because Kagome was right there.

It was like Miroku, Sango, and Shippo weren't even there. They could understand Ikuto not realizing their presence, but Inuyasha paid them no mind either. They wanted to say something to stop them from fighting, but they were still so curious of Ikuto and wanted to study his reactions.

"Guys, come on" Kagome said. "It's okay; I'll talk to Ikuto in private. It's fine, Inuyasha."

'So' Ikuto thought 'here I am, starring down a demon that could rip me apart in mere seconds. When I punched his face, I think I hurt my hand more than I hurt his face. It's not wise to take him on, but I've got to. I've got to do it for Kagome.' He got even closer to Inuyasha, until he could feel his body heat. 'All I've got to do is think about this logically. Yes, that's all I've got to do. I should use my head.' He smirked. 'I can't believe that I'm going to do this. Ha! This is really something. I'm going to listen to my brother's advice.'

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at Ikuto. 'What's this bozo smiling for? What's he thinking?'

'Okay, think about this like business. I've got to crush my opponent. He is my opponent, Kagome is my goal. Okay, first rule of business, if you don't meet the requirements of the buyer, aka, Kagome, then I deceive them.' "Inuyasha, Inuyasha, Inuyasha" Ikuto shook his head in a different direction each time he said his name "I'm not simple minded like you, so I'm going to be the mature one and drop my fists first." He backed away. "I thought my questions might offend you, so I wanted to ask Kagome in private, but if you don't mind..."

"I don't mind!" Inuyasha barked. 'What's he trying to do? He's acting completely different than before. He's not this calm. What's he trying to pull?'

Kagome was impressed with Ikuto's decision and smiled. "I thought I'd have to sit Inuyasha." Inuyasha felt the weight of the beads around his neck and was slammed into the ground by her command. "Oops, sorry Inuyasha. I didn't mean to do that to you. It was a complete accident." She smiled, while Ikuto started laughing.

'Man, my brother was right about this stuff. Suno surely is ruthless. If he used this method, what did he do to get his wife? Did he break someone's legs or something?' "Poor, simple-minded, Inuyasha." 'Man, its working. What next? Think, what else did Suno say about business that could help you?' Inuyasha got off the ground and was growling. Ikuto just chuckled more. 'One point for me, none for doggy breath.'

"He can't be Inuyasha's reincarnation" Shippo said "he's much more level-headed than Inuyasha."

"Well" Miroku said "Kagome and Kikyo aren't exactly alike."

"True" Sango said. "This is strange indeed."

Kagome felt uncomfortable at the mention of Kikyo's name, and Ikuto noticed it. "Who's Kikyo?" Something about that name seemed to click and Ikuto felt strange when he heard it.

Kagome's cheerful expression left, even though she tried to keep it. Miroku answered. "Perhaps we should go somewhere private."

Ten minutes later, Kagome was setting a blanket down and taking a couple of things out of her bag. "I did make you guys some food" she gave Inuyasha a glare "but I didn't make anything special for Inuyasha, since he just likes his stupid pickled radish!"

"What's wrong with pickled radish?" Ikuto said sitting down on the blanket. "I love that stuff."

Kagome answered with a moan and just continued getting things prepared for a meal. The sun was still out, but it would set within an hour or so, so Kagome tried to hurry things along.

"What did I say?" Ikuto didn't realize why Kagome was angry at the fact that he liked pickled radish, but it most definitely had something to do with Inuyasha. `Great, I didn't mean to upset her. It's all Inuyasha's fault! That's okay though. I'm still in the lead.'

Miroku decided to answer Ikuto's questions. "Inuyasha can be very inconsiderate of Kagome's feelings and how long she takes preparing meals like this."

"Dig in!" Kagome said, setting the last tray of food out of her bag. Shippo and Inuyasha started eating like savages, while the humans among their group took their time.

"So," Sango said while taking a rice ball "why don't you tell us about yourself, Ikuto?"

"Why do you want to know?" Inuyasha tried to pay as less attention to Ikuto that he possibly could, but he would be glaring him down every other second, trying to make sure he wasn't trying to touch Kagome, talk to Kagome, breath on Kagome, and if he could help it, he would make sure he wouldn't think about Kagome.

"She wasn't talking to you!" Ikuto barked. "Anyway, as you know, I'm from Kagome's time, and I'm sixteen years old. Other than that, there's not much to know about me."

"Stop being so modest!" Kagome shouted, excited that Ikuto was in the past with her. She wanted her friends to know everything, and if he wouldn't tell all, she certainly would. "Come on, you're anything but average." Before Ikuto could respond, Kagome began talking with Sango, Miroku, and Shippo, explaining everything she could remember. "I first met him when he saved my life, and then we've been friends since then. I've been to his house and it's huge! He's probably the richest person in all of Japan. He's half Japanese, half African, well not exactly, since his mother was African-American and-"

"Kagome" Ikuto said with a blush. "Spill anymore and the glass might as well just tip over."

"I'd rather just have the glass break" Inuyasha mumbled.

"Sorry" she calmed down. "It's just that I've been under a lot of pressure trying to get my life together with this world, our time, school, and friends, and now that I've got someone who can travel back here like me, it's..." she shrugged her shoulders "it's just a big relief."

Inuyasha's ears were slumped down as he frowned. 'This is ridiculous! I can travel to her time. Why does she need someone else? I understand her.' "Anyway, he's got to go. Remember? We're on a mission and Naraku hasn't exactly been kind to the humans that we've known. `That ought'a be enough to get this bozo back to his own time. He's going to leave Kagome, or I'll make him leave Kagome.'

Sango sighed, thinking about her brother. "Inuyasha's right. It's too dangerous for him to stay with us."

"It's cool" Ikuto shrugged his shoulders. "I should get home before it's too late anyway. I've got things to do anyway, and I don't need my half brother asking any questions."

"Half?" Inuyasha's ears rose with curiosity and disbelief. `He's got a half brother like me?'

"Yeah" Kagome said. "I know I've told you guys this before. Just another thing you guys have in common."

"Stop it" Inuyasha commanded forcefully but quietly. He didn't want Ikuto to be his reincarnation. It would make things too complicated for him and less complicated for Kagome. 'If Kagome is Kikyo's reincarnation and if it's true what they're saying about Ikuto then...' A flash came into his head, how he and Kikyo had just stepped off of a small boat after taking a trip out on the lake. Kikyo had tripped, and fallen right into Inuyasha's arms. 'Kikyo. I...I can't stop thinking about you, and we were going to live our lives together.' A sweat drop appeared on his head. 'Does this mean that... ?' Another image appeared into Inuyasha's head, but this time, it was Kagome and Ikuto kissing each other and they were happy while being in each other's embrace, just like Inuyasha and Kikyo were, that day by the dock. 'No!' Inuyasha shook his head lightly, trying to get the image out of his head. 'I'm just looking too much into this. No way would they...' Kagome had just laughed at a joke Ikuto had made and saw them both smiling together. 'Would they? Kagome, I don't want to lose you!'

"Are you okay, Inuyasha?" asked Shippo as he reached to take a rice ball from Inuyasha.

Inuyasha pounded Shippo on the head, but it had nothing to do with the rice ball. "Mind your own business, runt!"

"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha looked fearful as he saw Kagome stand up and back away. Miroku, Sango, and the crying Shippo did the same. "What's going on?" asked Ikuto, who was still eating.

"Get up" Kagome said angrily. Ikuto didn't ask questions and stood by Kagome's side. "Sit!"

"Ah!"

"Sit!"

"Ahhhh!"

"Sit! Sit! Sit!"

There was now a giant crader in the ground, and Ikuto looked at Inuyasha curiously. "Wow." He looked back at Kagome. "Bravo-hey!" He called out to her, since she was walking away angrily. "Where is she going?"

"She's obviously had enough of Inuyasha's aggressive behavior." Miroku stated.

'Great' Ikuto thought. 'Now here's my chance. You always take advantage of your opponents weakness. If they can't' perform, you do.' "Hey, Kagome!" He ran after her.

"You should have left me alone!" yelled Shippo to the half conscious, half unconscious Inuyasha.

"Is this a good thing, or a bad thing?" asked Sango. "This doesn't look good for Inuyasha, Miroku."

"She should be happy, Sango. Let's stay out of this. Whatever she decides will be for the best."

"I hope you're right Miroku."

The sun was beginning to set and the forest that Kagome was running back into was already looking dark, but she didn't care. She just needed to get away and think for a little bit. Inuyasha was being ridiculous. Why was he being so horrible after he was just so perfect? "Oh, Inuyasha, I can't believe you." She didn't even realize where she was at first, but then realized that she was starring at the sacred tree.

'The sacred tree? This is where Inuyasha and I met.' She sighed. 'What am I supposed to do? This is where it all ended for Kikyo and Inuyasha. This is where it started for him and me, but...was Kikyo and Inuyasha really supposed to end? Am I supposed to start back up with Inuyasha, or am I fooling myself?' She studied the mark that Inuyasha had left behind when he was pinned. She touched it and remembered him, and how they had a rocky start, but she quickly fell in love with him. "Inuyasha..."

"Kagome."

Kagome turned around, hoping it was him, but it wasn't. It was Ikuto, standing there with a smile. "Oh, it's you."

His smile faded away as he took a step closer. "You don't sound too happy." He realized that it was the same tree that was at Kagome's house and touched the same spot, that Kagome was touching, and she felt her heart thump, and if her heart were a cannon, it would have blasted through her chest. They both removed their hands and Kagome had to catch her breath. Ikuto held his chest and backed away, feeling the most uncomfortable from the time he arrived. "My chest" he complained quietly.

Kagome caught her breath and looked at Ikuto with astonishment in her eyes. 'No way. Did he...' Kagome captured as much air as she could and calmed down. "Did you feel that too?" Kagome's heart became normal and thought it was nothing, but Ikuto was still holding his wounded chest.

"Yeah, I felt that." For the first time of the day, Ikuto had fear and bewilderment in his eyes. He didn't know what to make of any of the events that were occurring. "W-what's going on, Kagome? What just happened to me?" He looked back at the tree, as if he hated it. “What's happening to me?” He grunted like a wild animal as he barked "And what's so special about this tree?"

Kagome hesitated, already feeling the sting of the tragic story. She had told it so many times, and it only worsened each time she thought it over. Every time she thought about Miroku or Sango, it lightened up with each time, not that the pain was less, but the more she told it, the more it seemed just like a story, rather than the truth. But Kikyo's and Inuyasha's story was worse for her to think of. Maybe it was because she's Kikyo's reincarnation, or maybe it was because thinking about Kikyo caused her pain. "This tree...this is where Kikyo pinned Inuyasha and he was sealed for fifty years. I...I was the one to release him."

"But...who is Kikyo and why is she so important?" He saw how sad Kagome was whenever her name was mentioned. He only wanted to relieve her of her pain.

"She...Inuyasha and she were in love with each other."

The pain in Ikuto's chest was still there, but he began to push it in the back of his mind as he thought about this new pain that Inuyasha must have, and the pain that Kagome had within her heart. "If they loved each other, than why Kagome? Why would she hurt him like that? Why whould Kikyo do such a thing?"

Kagome felt her body tense up at the name and a rage came upon her, one that barely made its mark on her. "Naraku, a shape-shifting demon, put them against each other. Inuyasha thought Kikyo had betrayed him, and she thought the same about Inuyasha." She sighed, feeling the weight of the memory. "50 years later, I broke the spell on Inuyasha."

"I-I didn't know, Kagome." He looked back up at the tree, and his chest pains went away. "Poor guy. So, that's why you're here? You're trying to avenge this Kikyo?"

"Not exactly." She looked like a child who was caught by their mother doing something wrong. "You see, to make a long story short, there was this jewel that's really powerful and I was supposed to protect it, but I sort of broke it, and now I'm trying to put it back together again."

Ikuto was surprised how fast Kagome just ran through that story. "Wow. So, that's why?" He cocked an eyebrow curiously. "Is it?"

"Yeah" she said with assurance, but slowly began to lose her confidence. "Well, I don't know. Kikyo could find the jewel shards but-"

"You mean the dead Kikyo?"

"Well, she was brought back to life and-"

"She's alive!"

Kagome felt her heart stop at his reaction. 'Why does he care so much? Don't tell me he's gong to love Kikyo too!' "Yes a witch brought her back to life." Kagome couldn't help but snap at him. “Why do you care so much?”

Ikuto was amazed by how angry Kikyo could make Kagome. He used to think that Kagome couldn't really be angry, but he was obviously wrong. She was human after all. "You don't have to bite my head off Kagome. You just told me that she was dead. It's kind of weird that you just said she was alive. I'm just curious of this new world that I'm in. Nothing about this is normal.” He shrugged his shoulders. “For all I know, I could wake up at any moment.”

Kagome felt convicted. `Great! Why am I pushing him away? I don't want to! I really care about Ikuto…as a friend. It's wrong for me to be jealous of Kikyo, and to think wrongly of Ikuto. There's no point of being jealous of Kikyo.'

When Kagome did not answer, Ikuto decided to avoid Kagome's feelings toward Kikyo and feed his curiosity with another person. “So, how does Inuyasha feel about all of this, I mean..." He shrugged his shoulders, hoping that what he was going to say would have the effect that he wanted. "Why is he still going after you, isn't she the girlfriend that he can't get over?"

Kagome grunted at Ikuto. She couldn't help it. "And what's that supposed to mean?!"

"Uh!" 'Bad move Ikuto! Don't upset the client! What where you thinking?' He scratched his head. "I just mean, if he loves this Kikyo and you're her reincarnation, and" he growled lightly "if I'm really Inuyasha's reincarnation, doesn't that mean that you should be in your own time?"

Kagome was about to comment at his remark, but when she really thought about it, he realized that Ikuto might actually be on to something. 'If they're a couple, then shouldn't I be with my own Inuyasha in my own time?'

Ikuto tried so very hard to hide his smirk. 'Great, she took it how I wanted her to. Inuyasha may lose after all.' "Kagome I..."

When he didn't finish his response, Kagome looked around and tried to see what Ikuto stopped for. "What is it?"

"Don't you hear that?" Ikuto grumbled. As he was trying to listen to everything surrounding them, he resembled Inuyasha so much. Inuyasha wasn't the type of person to just stop and look around him for the heck of it, but when there was a new danger approaching, he would become serious and his dog demon senses would kick in.

Kagome smiled, thinking about Inuyasha and how much she did care about him, even though he could be a real jerk sometimes. 'I guess he is Inuyasha, but...he's not completely Inuyasha. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?' Kagome's thoughts were interrupted by a rumbling in the forest, very close. "I sense something. I think it's a-"

"What is that?" Ikuto yelled when he saw a giant demon emerge from the trees that resembled a centipede.

"The jewel shards!" it screamed loudly with its raspy voice. It was clearly a disgusting demon what was about to devour them, but Ikuto instinctively wrapped his arms around Kagome, in order to shield her from the demon's blow.

Even though it was a spilt second, Kagome began to blush as he held her in his arms, desperately trying to protect her. "Ikuto!" She could have sworn that Inuyasha was holding her in his arms. His warm embrace felt just like Inuyasha's. He held on so tightly and protectively, like he never wanted to let go.

"Kagome!" He yelled back.

"Iron reaver, soul stealer!"

With a yellow flash of light, the threat was over, and the demon's remains began to fall around Ikuto and Kagome. Kagome looked up and realized she was safe, and Ikuto let her go. "What the heck?" Ikuto said.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled happily to see him.

Inuyasha ignored Ikuto completely and grabbed Kagome by her arms, forcefully at first, but then gently and compassionate. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yes." She chuckled gently. "It's not like it was the first time my life was in danger."

"Stop running off so much Kagome, I'm not always going to be there if you keep running away!"

"Kago..." Ikuto's voice was so small and quiet, it barely was a whisper. It was almost just a thought. Inuyasha's ears twitched, hearing his response, but ignored it, as if it didn't really happen. 'Darn it!' Ikuto was happy to see that Kagome was safe from the demon, and didn't think much about himself surviving. He was ashamed that Kagome's safety wasn't the only thing he was concerned about, or even the most important. He was getting through to her, eliminating his competition, and as he watched the two of them stare into each other's eyes, secretly telling each other that they wouldn't leave each other's side; that he would always protect her, and she would always be by his side, Ikuto realized something. 'No matter what I do, she's going to love him. He's stronger than me. He can protect her, and she needs to be protected.'

Ikuto was waiting for Inuyasha to make a smart comment about him being weak and should just go home and stop wasting their time, but he didn't acknowledge his presence at all, which was even worse. 'Can I even compete? Do you love him too much Kagome? Will you stay by his side forever?'

"Are you guys alright?" asked Shippo as he ran with Sango and Miroku to Ikuto, Inuyasha, and Kagome.

Ikuto nodded. "Yeah, we're okay."

He lied.

To be continued.....

A/N: Does Ikuto have a chance? Review and I'll update!