InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Stars Never Fall ❯ Broken Chains and Locks ( Chapter 11 )

Chapter 11 : Broken Chains and Locks

"So who's up for heading home?" Eri asked the tired group. They had spent almost all of their money playing games and buying tickets for the rides. After the busy day they had, the members of the group nodded their heads enthusiastically. They walked to the entrance of the carnival and quickly found their bikes exactly where Hojo had locked them up. Kagome tucked her bag of candy for Shippou into her lunch bag and tied it to the seat. "Lets go guys!" Eri's voice startled Ayumi and she accidentally knocked into Kagome.

"Opps! Sorry Kagome-chan." Ayumi's apologetic tone made Kagome smile.

"It's alright! Don't worry about it. Lets get going. We wouldn't want Eri mad at us." Kagome turned her bike towards the fading backs of her friends. Motioning to Ayumi, she began peddling. `I really have missed these guys. I'm not as close to them as I am to Sango, but there's a history that I can't ignore.'

After about twenty minutes of biking, the group reached Yuka's house. She gave Kagome a big hug before saying good-bye to the rest of the group.

"I'm not sure if I'll get to see you again before you get sick again. And who knows how long it would be then!" After Yuka's house, Ayumi's was next. She copied Yuka and also gave Kagome a hug and a whispered "good-luck" with the whole Hojo thing.

`At least someone realizes I'm not crazy about him!' Kagome thought for the second time that day, as the trio continued to Eri's house. `Oh, we're here.'

"Bye Eri! Thanks for inviting me to come along with you guys today. I had a lot of fun," Hojo said as Eri waved and walked into her house.

`Ok, soon I'll be home….'

******5 minutes later*******

`How long does it take to fix a bike chain?!' After Eri had gone inside her house, Hojo's bike chain had "fallen" off. `Feh. I saw him kick it off! Uh, did I really just say feh?! I'm turning into Inuyasha!' Hojo finally stood up, and looked to Kagome.

"Ready, Kagome?" he asked, wiping his dirty hands on his jeans.

Kagome nodded and inwardly grimaced at Hojo's smile.

`He seems happy that we're by ourselves. Poor guy. I wonder when he'll realize that I don't like him like that.' The day was completed in silence as Kagome and Hojo rode to the shrine.

When they reached the shrine, Kagome hurriedly got off her bike and pushed it over to the bottom of the shrine's steps. "Thanks so much for riding home with me Hojo. I had better get going, I feel a headache coming! And I'd like to get some medicine in me so I don't get sick again." `Ugh, I hate lying……but I really need to get home. I want to go back to the feudal era so much! But I don't know if I could see Inuyasha again.' A hand waving in front of her face caught her attention and brought her crashing back to reality. "Oh, sorry Hojo. What was that?"

"You should go, Kagome-san. I think you're probably getting sick again. Good luck with that!" With concerned look on his face, Hojo turned and rode away, waving back to Kagome.

"Thank kami he's gone. I just want to go back," Kagome sighed as he trudged up the shrine steps carrying her bike with her. She was so engrossed with her thoughts that she failed to realize that she had reached the top of the stairs, tripping when the next step wasn't there. `What? Ahh!' Kagome braced herself for the inevitable fall, but it never came. She opened her eyes to find herself seeing red.

* * * * * * * * * *

"How the hell do you open this?!" Giving up on the strange locked book, he tossed it over his shoulder. When he turned to see where it had fallen, he was extremely surprised to see that the book had fallen onto the bed opened with the latest entry facing up. "Well that was lucky. I should have tried that earlier!" Inuyasha's curiosity took over the rational part of his mind, which happened to be saying that his back was going to regret reading this book for some reason. "Feh. It won't hurt anything," Inuyasha reassured himself while inching towards the book. He took the book into his hands thanking the kami's for being able to read. He turned his attention to the page in front of him and was surprised to find tearstains splashed across the page. The writing was at first shaky, but it gradually smoothed out.

"I know I was being stupid to think that he would ever care for me. It doesn't matter what I do, I'll always be a shadow of Kikyo. Even if he did care for me, it's that part of Kikyo that is left. I've tried to show him that I'm different. Unique. NOT KIKYO! But, it's a hopeless cause. I understand that now. I will not be able to compete her. I will lose him……lose him to her. He will follow her to hell, and I will lose the only man I've loved."

Inuyasha started at the last line of the entry. `She, She loves me?' All those times he had hurt her, all those times with Kikyo, and yet she stilled loved him, more than he would ever know. Flipping through the most recent entries, he found emotions that he never knew Kagome possessed. Anger! Sure, she had been mad at him for making her leave her home, but never had he though that she would curse the gods! She was angry with them for putting her through this heartache. `I can't believe she loves me! A hanyou….' Sure, he had heard Sango and Kaede saying that she loved him, but to have her write it down on paper was another thing.

A breeze ruffled in from the opened window carrying a sweat scent mingled with weariness drifting to his nose, quickly bringing him back to reality.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha fumbled with the diary, trying to close it. After 10 excruciating seconds, which to him felt like hours, the click of the lock was heard and the diary was roughly placed on the bedside table. Inuyasha gracefully leaped through the window and followed the directions of Kagome's scent. When he reached the shrine steps, he found her pulling her bike up the stairs seemingly lost in thought. His suspicions were confirmed when she went to take another step, but there was none. Reflexively, Inuyasha shot out to where she stood and grabbed her before she fell.

* * * * * * * * * *

"I-Inuyasha?" Kagome asked hesitantly. `What is he doing here? Is he here to say goodbye for good?' She could feel unshed tears well up in her eyes at that thought.

"Stupid girl, you should watch where you're going." Inuyasha dropped the tough façade when a wave of sadness washed over Kagome's scent. "Hey, I was only kidding. Are you ok?" Kagome lifted her eyes to meet his. A minute later, she found a spot on the ground extremely interesting. Inuyasha, though, could see the faint pink splashed across her cheeks. He realized that he was still holding her, but didn't care.

"I thought you weren't coming back for me. You wanted me to stay in my time." The tears in her eyes threatened to spill over, but she held them back. Fear welled up within her as she thought of what he might say. `Please don't tell me goodbye. I couldn't take that.'

Inuyasha smelled the fear rolling off her, which cause panic within him. `She's not afraid of me, is she?' Luckily for him, Kagome's thoughts had slipped through her mouth.

"Please don't leave me…….don't say goodbye….." Her whispers would go unnoticed by the human ear, and Inuyasha found himself thanking the gods for the second time that day. His stomach returned to its normal relaxed state, and his gripped the girl in front of him tighter.

"I'm not leaving, Kagome. I'm staying right here," he whispered to her.

`Could…….could he hear me?' She pushed that thought aside and released the air in her lungs. Inuyasha felt her relax and led her to the Goshinboku, letting the bike rest where it had fallen.

`Don't worry Kagome, I'm not going anywhere.' He felt her tears silently falling onto his haori, but he knew they were tears of relief this time. They reached the tree and sank to the base. Each other's contentment was feeding into the other. `This feels so right,' Inuyasha though to himself. `I'm sorry Kikyo, but I understand who I am supposed to be with. I'm not going to leave her. I love Kagome now. Please understand.' With that, he turned to watch the last rays of the sun fade into the twilight. Somehow, although he couldn't explain it, he knew that Kikyo was at peace with his decision.