InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ No One's Laughing ❯ Confusion ( Chapter 1 )

Well, hello! This is my first fan fiction so go easy on me. I chose the title in honor of my favorite quote by Voltaire: "God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." It amazes me how tough Inuyasha's life seems to be, and I figured I would make it tougher. Ah, cosmic irony. It will make more sense as the story progresses, especially the format. Onward to the story!

Disclaimer: Inuyasha does not belong to me, much to the relief of crazed fans everywhere.

Inuyasha felt hopelessly lost. Everything seemed so foreign. He had never seen these trees or been to this clearing before; he couldn't even remember how he got there. It was like one moment he was in his tree cursing Kagome for being late, and the next he was here. The clearing was not very big, maybe one hundred fifty feet in diameter. It was surrounded by trees on all sides. Each one exceeded the God-tree's height by at good fifty feet. Inuyasha stared in awe at them. They were absolutely overwhelming. This whole place was overwhelming. It was dark and foreboding; as if it was where night waited while the sun brightened the skies.

A familiar scent caught his attention, and he was startled as he turned to meet Kikyo's gaze. She stood there, the shell of her former self, surrounded by the soul skimmers that kept her alive. "Kikyo?" Inuyasha asked confused. Then a noise behind him caused him to whip around. He was greeted with the sight he expected least. Had it been Naraku, Kagura, Shippo, or even his own long dead mother, he wouldn't have been surprised more. His heart wrenched as he saw, right in front of him on the opposite end of the clearing, in all her beautiful glory, Kagome. Her eyes seemed to shine as she looked intently at him.

"Kagome?" He didn't know what else to say besides that. He was standing there between the two women he cared about most in the world, both vying for his affection and hating one another, and he could think of nothing better to say.

Kagome came out of the well that transferred her back and forth through time. She expected to be greeted with Inuyasha yelling at her for being late, or Shippo begging her for food, or even Miroku asking her again to bear his child, face still red from a recent groping attempt on Sango, but instead there was no one. She called out for someone and was answered with silence. "Maybe they're all asleep," she mused aloud to herself as she headed toward the village, lugging her heavy pack.

When she reached the God-tree where Inuyasha usually slept, she walked as silently as she could. She didn't want to wake the temperamental hanyou and face his wrath. When she got to the base she looked up, hoping to steal a glance at the body she wanted so much. Even though he could be a jerk and showed that quite well most of the time, there was just something about him that made her ache with desire. It wasn't as much a sexual desire, a need for his body, but a need for him wholly. His mind. His soul. His heart. When she had that rare chance to see him sleeping, which he did far less than she, she could pretend that that any moment he would wake and hold her in his arms. There would be no Shikon No Tama, no time travelling, no Kikyo. Only the two of them, encompassed by love. But search as she might with probing eyes, Inuyasha was nowhere to be found. "Hmmm. He's probably off with her." This thought brought a light mist to Kagome's eyes. She quickly pushed the thought out of her head and continued on her way to Kaede's hut.

Upon reaching the door flap of her destination, Kagome stopped. Something was wrong. She was overcome by a feeling of dread. It wasn't fear of danger from a youkai or that there were shards nearby. No this was an entirely new feeling for her. She just knew something beyond this flap wasn't right. She swallowed the lump that had built in her throat and entered.

"Kagome, thank goodness you're here!" cried Sango. But Kagome didn't hear her. There, in the middle of the floor, lay Inuyasha. He was shirtless and had Kaede slowly mopping up the sweat that just wouldn't stop coming. His red face was twisted in a mixture of pain and confusion, and his eyes were tightly pressed shut. Kagome gawked. It was as if her only reason for living was there on the floor.

"We found him like this about two hours ago," Miroku informed her.

"The boy has a very high fever, Kagome-chan," said Kaede, "I've never seen one like this before."

"He won't wake up, Kagome! I'm so scared!" wailed Shippo.

Kagome just stared at him dumbly in utter shock and dropped to her knees. She proceeded to do the only thing that seemed right at the time and took Kaede's rag. She placed it on him over and over again gently, trying in vain to remove the unwavering droplets clinging to his skin.

A/N: So, what did you think? I have pretty much written all but the last two chapters so review and I will have more incentive to write them. Also, I am a Literature major in case you were wondering where all the crazy format and structure is coming from. I'm just having fun with it.