InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Silver Winds ❯ Distance ( Chapter 5 )

A/n

Sorry about the bit of a wait, had a rough week, but no worries ^^ I'm better, so you don't have to send me gift baskets…that is, if you still want too. I do love gift baskets ^_^ Anyways, back to the story right? Here we go!

 

 

 

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The fox child waded through the tall grasses, a soft crunch following his padded footsteps. He shifted his paws wearily, pausing once or twice to sniff the air.

 

The scents of the night air seemed to echo, telling him where they had come, and where they would go. The scent of the cherry blossoms was faint now; the village of Edith was far behind them, and their journey had taken them far away from familiar places. Soft aromas fell on gentle summer breezes, beckoning him to stop and listen; to the beat of the world along with the beat of his heart. Elusive shades of violet fell across his back, the high moon hinting at his presence. The young fox shook his head, pushing trivial thoughts from his mind. He pushed the unwanted smells into the background; searching and following the one scent he needed.

 

Inuyasha noticed the small movements in the corner of his eye, the flickers of youkai light pouring from the unrelenting fox. The red clad hanyou rested nearby in a tree, one that was comfortable, and obscured from view. His muscles tensed, and his fists tightened. He knew that the giggling bundle of fuzz was Shippou, but his senses only told him a demon was nearby. Wouldn't they ever learn to ignore the little hairball?

 

He brought a hand to his face, brushing away a tuft of hair that fell near his cheeks. He closed his eyes, blocking out the movement below him, and focusing only on the winds. The breeze tonight was a bit strong, tugging at his hair. It coiled and twisted in vapid motions, until eventually, it receded slowly, like an ocean wave.

 

His thoughts wandered, vivid images appearing in his head. Wisps of ebony hair, rich and flowing, like watery coatings of silk. White and green clothes; uselessly short, and dangerously thin…though soft, and warm to the touch. Grey-blue eyes, fixed with uncertainty, but so intense, and so full of longing…as if they never wanted to look away…

 

Inuyasha chided himself, snapping his gaze away, resting his face in the comfort of the shadows.

 

Too long. It had been too long since he had seen Kagome.

 

His thoughts brought him back to the day she left. Everyone had been utterly shocked by the news, and within 10 minutes of the notice, she was gone.

 

She had left them all to sit and wonder, with only simple good-byes to hang on in their memories.

 

It had been so sudden. The agreement, the news, and then suddenly, she was gone… the small girl had solemnly stepped to the well for the final time, daring to look at him only once, before she leapt in, and vanished.

 

Those eyes…her eyes had said something all on their own. In only a way Inuyasha could know, they had whispered….

 

I'm sorry…I'm sorry it turned out this way…

 

It was enough for him to try to stop her. It was enough to try.

 

He opened his mouth to stop her…and yet no words came. His words were left unheard, and his message, unspoken.

 

Then she was gone.

 

She told them she was to return with food and supplies…but how was he supposed to believe her? What guarantees were there that she would ever return to this world? This was where she truly belonged. This is where she was truly needed.

 

Inuyasha shifted his position, leaning up against the bark of the tree, and heaved a giant sigh.

 

He had tried to be optimistic. He had even tried to be happy that Kikyo was joining the group, but the sudden loss tore away what shred of stability he had left.

 

The group suffered in turn. The fragile hinges of their friendship began to crack under new pressures, and petty arguments. Inuyasha was afraid to admit it, but the group had nearly fallen apart without Kagome in the weeks that followed. Kikyo had wedged herself in-between them all, and now the rest had begun to crumble. The group was disjointed and lost, even on the journey. They had recovered a jewel shard, but at the expense of the team nearly drifting apart.

 

Kikyo was well-mannered and reacted well in battle. She struck with more power, and didn't require Inuyashas protection. It helped speed up the journey, which had long been hindered; but the way she operated lacked that spark of life that Kagome always flaunted. It was as if Kikyo was robotic.

 

Inuyasha stared up at the bright moon, a dull radiance lingering over his skin.

 

Inuyasha got along well with Kikyo, and they caught up on much. On precious journeys, the battle against Naraku, and the plans of future. Kikyo told him she had wandered the earth long enough. After Naraku was defeated, she wanted to finally join the world of the dead…she had grown tired, and now she only wanted to sleep.

 

He didn't blame her. She had died once before, and to live again must have felt unnatural. To be trapped in a body that wasn't even hers; wasn't even human. And yet, Inuyasha wanted to stay by her side. To protect her in the darkest of places…She needed him. But now the question was…did he need her?

 

Shippou stared up into the tree, where Inuyasha sat in a slump, pondering for what must have been 50th time today. With his seclusion from the group, the friends had become more distant from each other. It was bad enough not to have Kagome here.

Shippou would have nothing to do with Kikyo, clinging to Miroku or Sango in desperate affection. Shippou looked to Inuyasha a lot as well. When he talked to Kikyo, at least for a moment, Inuyasha's eyes reflected the fifty-year void that had been taken from him and Kikyo….but now it looked like something else was missing. Something that had been there since the beginning of their journey was now absent in his eyes…

 

Shippou unconsciously shook his head, his gaze lingering on the cold sky. He couldn't wrap his mind around it. He didn't know what it all meant…he had no previous experiences to go off of…and yet…

 

The others all seemed to know what was going on, as if they had played this game over and over. The looks on their faces only told him that the coming moves would spell disaster.

 

He wouldn't dwell on it. He would only hope Inuyasha could sort it out by himself. Besides, he mused. Tomorrow will be the new moon, and I'm sure Inuyasha won't be sticking around…he wouldn't trust Kikyo with his secret yet…Perhaps he will visit Kagome…

 

He tapped his head a bit. Focus Shippou!

 

There he had gone again, letting himself get sidetracked. He had serious business to get to.

 

With a shrug of his shoulders, and a wag of his tail, Shippou scurried off into the shadows, silently preying on a familiar wind in the air…

 

 

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…The new moon. Another month passes, yet I'm not in the past…

 

Kagome silently wrote in her diary, resting lazily on her bed, propped up on an elbow, and holding a pen in her hand. She drowsily yawned, staring down at the pages through slightly blurry eyes.

 

Yet another day had passed, and she was still in the future. No, she thought suddenly, shocking herself with the realization. With new inspiration, she copied her thoughts down on to the nearly blank paper.

 

I'm not in the future…I'm in the present. There is no past for me to go back to…not anymore.

 

Looking at her own handwriting only confirmed her beliefs. Inuyasha was perfectly content with Kikyo in the group. He hadn't come to visit her, though with the shard hunt running faster, when would he find the time? Moreover, why would he even come? He had never seen reason to come to visit before, so why would that change now.

 

Kagome held her leather bound journal closely to her chest, as if believing it was Inuyasha would make him appear.

 

Kagome's life hadn't spiraled out of control upon her return. Quite the opposite actually. It had settled too quickly, as if she was uprooted in life and suddenly put somewhere else, with no one noticing except for her. Her family rarely spoke of her time in the Sengoku Jidai, now that they had noticed her lack of departure. She continued to go places with her friends, now that school now longer was breathing down their necks. She thought it was strange how they didn't notice something was wrong with her. She had known it since the day she had left the Feudal era. Yet she couldn't find any way to fix it.

 

Kagome groaned, flipping back pages of her diary until she stopped at a certain page. The day she wrote about their final fight. The words that had passed between them were few, but they were so painful, that 1000 apologies could not take back what he had said. Those words haunted her mind constantly.

 

Inuyasha I-“

 

“Shut up!”

 

The perfect way to start an argument, she had to say.

 

You said you'd be back tomorrow. WHY ARE YOU HERE?!”

 

She had said that…but she had important news…she didn't know he'd get so mad…

 

Why did you come back to annoy us Kagome? Did you miss us too much?”

 

“Well what if I did?!?”

 

“Then you're wasting you're time, because we don't want you here!”

 

Kagome suddenly felt ill. Even as she stopped reading the words, the fight continued to play in her ears.

 

Well I'm the only one who can sense the Jewel shards! And I thought we were in this together!”

 

“Well we're not ok? Kikyo could do a hell of a better job then you!”

 

Kagome winced. Kikyo…Kikyo surely was making his life easier now…she wasn't some annoying school girl that fell in his lap one day. She was the woman he loved…she couldn't say the same about herself.

 

We don't even need you Kagome! All you do is get in the way, slow everybody down. You're a weak girl who can't do anything right.

 

Can't do anything right…

 

Slow everyone down…

 

Weak…

 

Kagome was not as confident as she made out to be. Inuyasha had struck the points where she was most self conscious…

 

We'd probably find the Jewel Shards a lot faster if you weren't here!

 

The last thing she wanted was to hinder the journey…

 

So what? All that matters now is the Jewel Shards?

 

Kagome braced herself for the impending answer—

 

Yah, cause you sure as hell don't matter!

 

The words replayed in her head, breaking down to the core of its meaning…

 

Don't matter…don't matter…

 

You don't matter…

 

He was better off telling her she should be dead…that was the way she had taken it…but what else could he have meant? Nothing…

 

And he was right. Kagome didn't matter. Not concerning the Sengoku Jidai anyways… The world needed Inuyasha—they needed his strength to strike down the evil that threatened life in Japan as we know it…but they didn't need her. The world didn't need one priestess, who was useless compared to one who was already dead. A dead priestess was more useful then her…that was depressing.

 

But that was why she had done everything she had. Inuyasha needed this chance with Kikyo. She was only getting in the way of seeing the possible outcome, and yet…maybe she was purposely stopping it all along…

 

Kagome snapped out of her daze, throwing her pen aside in frustration. The last thing written on the page before had stunned her…

 

I am waiting for something to go wrong…

 

Words she had written the day before Inuyasha had sent her away…something had simply alerted her to the fact that something bad was going to happen. But it was nowhere as powerful as now.

 

Lately, Kagome couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong. Her senses shuffled together, telling her nothing besides the impending danger in her future.

 

The warnings under her skin told her the day was approaching, yet all she could do was brush off the feelings. Nothing had happened…yet.

 

She kept thinking she also sensed something, yet it always turned out to be the wind…

Was something wrong with her? Her priestess powers had never been wrong before—ever.

 

But then again, the shimmer…

 

A small tap on her window frightened Kagome, causing her to nearly fall of her bed. She clung to the side, pulling her self back up, and smoothing out her pajamas. Her heart beat quickly, sending chills of fear and worry throughout her body. She breathed in quietly, before she hesitantly slipped off her bed, and placed her feet on the floor.

 

Only one person would come to her window…

 

Her hand shook violently as she reached to open the window to her intruder.

 

Nearly closing her eyes, she unfastened the window, and slid it to the side. Hanging before her, was a man she had not expected to see. Dark angelic hair fell over his face, his eyes clouded with emotions she couldn't discern. His face was so…intense… unreadable, as if it held no real meaning. The same fire-red haori graced his upper body, sending slight shivers to her back as her eyes wandered over his figure.

 

There, in front of her, was a very human Inuyasha.

 

“Hey…”

 

Kagome could only echo the word. It was the only one she could think of.

 

“Hey…”

 

Her shocked expression slowly faded, only remnants of confusion drifting in her eyes…

 

The chilly air fell into her room, prompting her to shut the window, yet she made no move to do so. Inuyasha looked down at her.

 

“Kagome…” he mumbled, turning to face her once again, his newly human eyes fixed on hers. She couldn't find the words to speak, or the will to move. She could only wait for what he had to say.

 

Her eyebrows narrowed as he cast his gaze aside. His voice was rough, but suspiciously soft…

 

“Kagome…you mind if I come in?”

 

A/n

Sorry about this mess of a chapter. Sort of catching up on the short period of time that has transpired here, and the feelings that still linger in the air. Still things going on, and you'll have to keep reading to find out what happens!

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