InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mou Ichido Dake ❯ Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Inuyasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi-sensei.

Author notes: Sorry if they are OOC. This is my first Inuyasha fic. Sorry if there are any English grammar and spelling mistakes. Gomen ne, minna.

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Chapter 2: Present…..meet Past

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For Kikyou, the tracking for thankfully short. When she chanced upon the clearing, it was obvious that a battle had taken place there. She could sense the death of a youkai within the cave. But what she saw was the back of a ningen boy standing in the middle of the cave. However, despite his appearances, Kikyou dared not let down her guard. She knew that many youkai can take on human forms and mask their youki. A strange boy standing in the middle of a battlefield with a dead youkai corpse cannot be normal. She readied her arrow just in time for the boy to turn around.

When he turned around though, Kikyou was taken by surprise again. She half expected a hideous monster and gleaming fangs dripping blood. But the boy looked perfectly normal, pleasant looking in fact, with unnaturally long raven hair and wide violet eyes. He could almost pass for a girl, but his features were too masculine. The boy's eyes widen in surprise, perhaps at the sight of the arrow in front of him. Was it just her, or did she detect a fleeting shadow of pain dancing across his features before they were schooled into a mask of indifference.

"Who are you? Stranger? Are you looking for the Shikon no Tama also?" Kikyou asked.

The boy looked shocked and yet sad at the same time. "Shikon no Tama, nan da sono Shikon no Tama?"

"You dont know. Then all is good. Do not come near me again if you want your life." Kikyou whispered, a sense of deja vu hitting her even as she lowered her bow.

For Inuyasha, the situation was almost laughable, if it was not the fact the it was so pathetic. To think that the first thing that he said again after meeting Kikyou again was the same line that he spoke to her fifty years ago. Suddenly, he heard a thud sound, only to discover that Kikyou had collapsed due to exhaustion from fighting other youkai.

"Foolish woman." Inuyasha grumbled as he made his way towards her to see if she was alright. Yet as he walked closer, the sound of approaching villagers could be heard.

"Kikyou-sama!" "Kikyou onee-sama…."

They are coming soon. Inuyasha realized that Kikyou would be alright after all. He quickly left the clearing, wondering which way should he go now, in this strange and yet familiar world. All he had left now, was the Tetsusaiga, and countless memories of happy and sad times that would never ever be realized again.

Tugging a forelock of his raven hair, a cold fear suddenly entered Inuyasha's heart. Would Kagome still exist if Kikyou did not die fifty years ago? With a sudden renewed sense of mission, Inuyasha began making his way to the Bone-Eater's Well.

"Oh, please let this work!" Inuyasha plead silently as he jumped into the well. To his utmost relief, the well magic surrounded him. Within moments he reached his destination. Taking a whiff of the air, he confirmed that he was now in Kagome's era. Silently he traveled down the familiar path and climb up the tree that leads to Kagome's room. Although it was a bit more difficult in his human form, he managed to accomplished his task and perched himself on the branch nearest to the window.

From the window, he could see a familiar figure was sleeping peacefully on the pink bed. Everything was as it was in his memories; the same pink sheets, the writing desk and the white walls. For a moment, Inuyasha felt such a strong bittersweet emotion welling up within him that tears filled his eyes. Yet he hastily rubbed them away, refusing to show any sign of weakness, even on this New Moon night. However, his movements caused the leaves to rattle against the window. The figure on the bed stirred at the sound and rubbed her eyes opened sleepily, until she caught sight of the hanyou outside the window.

To Inuyasha's surprise, Kagome did not scream. Instead she went to the window and opened it. Without a trace of fear, she asked gently, "Who are you?"

When those words reached his ears, Inuyasha thought he might fall over, yet in a moment he understood. This Kagome does not know him at all. Finally he realized, that he managed to lose Kagome in such a utterly complete way that he could never get her back again no matter how hard he fought. He raised his gaze to meet hers, willing her to understand, to remember what they shared.

When the moment their eyes met, Kagome felt a jolt in her heart. The boy's pain was so strong and palpable that she longed to comfort him, to know his name, to sooth his pain away. She wanted to reach out to him, feeling such a strong sense of familiarity. It was as if his name was on the tip of her tongue. She felt as though if she opened her lips, his name would escape from her mouth and the spell would be broken. Yet when she moved to speak, nothing came out of her because she didn't know the boy's name. Even if every fiber of her body said she should. She lowered her head in shame and when she raised her head a moment later, the boy was gone. It was as if he was never there, just a mere figment of her imagination. She shrugged off the encounter as an aftermath of her dreams and climb back onto the bed, closing her eyes. Yet no matter how hard she tried, she could not forget that gaze, the gaze that took her breathe away.

That night she dreamt. She dreamt of a silver and red figure hugging her. But she would never know who she was dreaming of.

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Back at the well house, Inuyasha gripped the edge of the well so tightly that his knuckles turn white. "I understand now, the price that I must pay for that wish." Inuyasha smiled sardonically, before leaping into the well.

"I will never come back here again. Never," Inuyasha vowed silently in his heart, even as it broke into pieces.

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Author notes: To answer the question of whether this will be Inu/Kag or Inu/Kik, well, I'm not sure too. It is Inu/Kag in the sense that before the story started, I assumed that Inuyasha and Kagome had confessed their feelings for each other. Definitely, Inuyasha still have feelings for Kagome. But as to whether it is possible to work Kagome back into the story, it would have to depend on my muse.

As to whether would it be Inu/Kik, it is still an unknown. Because Kikyou seems to appear more frequently in the first few chapters, it may at first seem be like Inu/Kik. But who knows. There may be more twists coming up. I'm sorry if the story seems a bit slow in the beginning. That is because I'm trying to build up the characters' background and motivations. It would be interesting to write Kagome back into the story, but right now, she lost all her memories of what happened. And since memories shaped our perceptions and character, I believe that even if Kagome comes back, she would not be the same Kagome that Inuyasha remembered. Of course, Inuyasha is now also different. In a sense, it's like a trip back into the past, seeing the same events through the eyes of one who is wiser and more experienced. Kikyou's character would be more like the Miko of the past, however, the variable in the equation is now Inuyasha.

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