InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Long Way Home ❯ Chapter 4

A/N: I don't own Inuyasha; I would never abuse him so if I did. Okay, maybe just a teeny bit.

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The trip through the well had been the most uncomfortable one yet. Part of it was because she had crashed directly onto Inuyasha of course, but it wasn't as if that hadn't ever happened before. The time Sesshoumaru had almost killed her came to mind, after she'd tried to purify him. Inuyasha had jumped in front of her to absorb the blast; the force behind that collision had knocked her out cold for several minutes. At least this one had left her conscious, if not a little woozy.

No, the problem was definitely the well. The time slip was smaller than ever. Kagome had once likened it to floating in space, an analogy that Inuyasha hadn't quite understood, given her baffling inclusion of rockets, astronauts and moon landings to the explanation. He preferred comparing it to the ocean, which worked just as well, she supposed. Now it felt as if that ocean were being forced through a garden hose, which was why, when they finally made it through, they were mashed as close to each other as mortally possible.

Kagome groaned, prying her face out of Inuyasha's neck, wiggling the fingers of her left hand at the same time. She couldn't really feel that arm, and for a second, was afraid she'd find it separated from her body entirely, ala the centipede woman; but she felt Inuyasha's prayer beads move against her knuckles and realized with relief that the arm was only been caught between them. She sat up gingerly, wary of other injuries from their little journey but other than a numb arm, was remarkably unhurt. Inuyasha on the other hand had a distinctively pained look on his face; he hadn't opened his eyes either and she was worried he had some unseen injury.

"Inuyasha? Are you okay?"

Inuyasha was most certainly NOT okay. His whole world had just come crashing down around him again. She's going to leave... us...oh fuck. The well was closing and her behavior over the past few weeks made it obvious that her family wouldn't be the ones left alone. Inuyasha couldn't waste time in denial. He needed Kagome more than anyone else, even above the brat, who thought of her as a mother, and it wasn't just because of the damn jewel shards.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome leaned forward to touch a hand to his face. His eyes shot open when he realized the weight on top of him was not her backpack. In fact, gaze darting around the well, the backpack hadn't made it through at all, apparently. Hopefully the well had already closed with her trapped on this side? His eyes returned to hers, studying him with concern and he was hit with a wave of guilt. You're a selfish bastard, Inuyasha. She'd already given up half her life to stay with him, despite his insults, nasty attitude and demanding nature. Would you have her abandon her family as well?

To keep her here? Fuck yes! Inuyasha gritted his teeth against the self-centered demon raging inside. It had been in a fury since the moment he'd landed in her well. At the moment, all the input it was offering to the situation was to snatch Kagome up, run as far away from the well as possible and keep her away until it was too late. She loves me; she'd get over it!

But I wouldn't. He'd lost too many loved ones to do that to her-take away her choice-even if her choice hurt more than any physical injury he'd ever received.

But…

Why couldn't she stay here? Hadn't she said she wanted to be by his side? Didn't she trust him to take care of her? She had friends here, too; friends who were practically family! And then there was still the whole quest thing! How could she just abandon it? And why hadn't she told them sooner? What if he could have fixed it? Why did she wait until it was too late? Did she really want to go home? What if…she was leaving because of him?

"You should have fucking told me."

Kagome withdrew her hand from his face, flinching at his tone. His skin felt chilled where her touch had been.

"I wanted to, but…"

"But what? But you didn't want to deal with it anymore? You just decided, `hey, the well is closing so I'll let it?'"

He didn't know why he had said that, but he knew it was the dumbest thing he'd done in a very long time. With each word, Kagome's spine turned as stiff and unyielding as the sacred tree, remaining completely oblivious that she still sat astride his hips.

"You. Asshole."

He flinched. Kagome never cursed.

"I just decided the well was closing? Oh sure! Like I decided to get yanked out of my perfectly normal life by a giant BUG! Maybe I decided to break the jewel too! Come to think of it, maybe it's my fault Naraku exists in the first place since I'm only a reincarnation of Kikyo-"

"Shut up, Kagome."

Her jaw snapped shut abruptly. Okay, that had gone a little too far, but--God! Couldn't he refrain from being a jerk for even a moment! Here she had managed almost a month without picking a fight but he couldn't handle five minutes?

Inuyasha sat up, remarkably composed, despite his initial outburst, putting their faces very close to one another. "What I meant was that we don't know what's causing the well to close, and if you'd told us sooner we could have fixed it."

Her eyes dropped and she said in a small voice, "Look Inuyasha, I've thought about this a lot. Remember when you took the jewel from me to send me home? Well, I couldn't get through then-"

"But you have a piece of the shard!"

She tugged on a forelock in frustration. "That's not the point! When I first fell through in the very beginning, Yura had taken ALL the shards away but I was still able to get through."

"So what's changed?"

She met his eyes briefly, but her gaze skittered away before he could see anything more than the anguish there. "I…don't know."

She's lying. He knew it and it pissed him off all over again. She knew why the well was closing and refused to tell him! He grabbed her upper arms to force her attention.

"Kagome-"

"Whatcha guys doing?"

They froze at Shippo's voice drifting down on them. Kagome flamed red as she realized how they must look-her on Inuyasha's lap in the bottom of the well. She shot off him to stand and nervously brush down her skirt.

"Uh…nothing Shippo-chan! We were just arguing!"

"Well come on! Sango went to slay a demon and Miroku went with her. You guys were supposed to follow as soon as you got back!"

Avoiding Inuyasha's glare, Kagome went to grab the vines to climb out. "We're coming Shippo!" She gasped as Inuyasha pulled her off the wall to swing her to his back, leaping from the well with one powerful push.

"This isn't done yet, bitch."