InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ First Class Dog ❯ The End ( Chapter 17 )

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I'm pretty certain after this story that I'm going to write a new story about everything that happened to Kagome and Inu Yasha after the end of the manga. I think just about everyone I talked to agrees that the ending gave us a whole lot of nothing. We learned more about Sango and Miroku than Inu Yasha and Kagome, for crying out loud! I'm also a bit of a history dork so it'd be fun to research Japanese history.

 

Oh and I loved “When She Comes Back” it was brilliant! Thank you, Little White Kitsune!

 

I'm making this my tentative last chapter for two reasons. First, the school semester starts in a few weeks and I can't promise I'll have any time to write. That said, there's not much in the way of job prospects for an art major so once I'm all set and graduated in December (if everything goes according to plan) then I might just have the spare time needed to write some more. This leads to my second point: I want to wrap this story up so I can start creating a true “epilogue” to the Inu Yasha manga.

 

I will try very hard to write and get some updates for “Cats and Dogs” during the school year to tide people over. Or, if I'm feeling especially inspired I'll try and pen down a first chapter to that new story. We'll see. I tend to suffer from total artistic burnout during the school year so I can't make any promises about where my head will be.

 

I have one more question to my readers. What anime/video game/manga are you dying to see a fan fiction for besides Inu Yasha?

 

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The previous night had been spent in deep discussion. Upon reuniting with Kouga and subsequently parting the two had decided to have a long conversation about the future. The miko learned then that Inu Yasha no longer wanted to use the Shikon jewel to become a full demon. When he had thought he had killed her the last time he had transformed had been a wake up call for him. The thought of a world without his gentle companion in it had been enough to scare him out of ever wanting to live that way permanently.

He had also asked her what time period she would like to live in. In the hanyou's usual frank manner he had told her that he would prefer to remain in his time. He knew it was dangerous but after the attack with the guns he was also convinced that her future was just as bad. Unfortunately, it had also made him more wary of her time period than ever. He feared for her safety when he was not around to protect her and imagined thugs lurking around every corner on her trek to and from school.

Kagome had tried to explain to him the differences in safety between the suburbs and the city but there was no convincing the half demon. Eventually, she gave up. When she did the hanyou conceded that regardless of what he thought that the decision to choose a time period was in her hands—she should know though, that he did not have to like it.

What he did not tell her was that secretly he could learn to live (and like) anywhere, as long as it was with her. Although, the idea that Kagome might be gone for hours at a time while he languished somewhere else was not appealing to him in the slightest. He assumed correctly that her time period was a busy one and that he would have to do without her for long periods of time.

The miko had to admit that it was very likely that he would have to give up a lot in order for him to live in her time. While she would miss the conveniences of home she wondered if she really did need them. School seemed so frivolous when she was out saving the world in the Sengoku Period.

Their conversation continued until late into the night. Kagome was unsure if she could live without her family but at the same time did not want to abandon her friends. Inu Yasha's steadfast loyalty to his friends—along with her own—made it all the more difficult to let go of a life in the past.

Eventually the hanyou grew tired of the circular conversation and forced them to call it a night. The talk had caused him to think about something he had not considered at all and now he needed to sleep on it. Talking to the miko any further would only serve to irritate him more.

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The sound of rain pelting the bedroom window roused Inu Yasha from his slumber. He woke to find the raven-haired girl sleeping beside him. She was curled up on her side, facing him. Her fingers were tucked into small fists under her chin. The look on her face was so peaceful it made him marvel. It was a wonder to him how she could agonize over her future just hours ago yet sleep so soundly the next while he could be disturbed by raindrops on a windowpane. She even wore the faintest hint of a smile on her lips. It was as if she never worried at all.

The thought caused a smile to form. She brought him the strangest, noisiest peace to his heart. When she was awake and staring at him she could bring a rush of emotions to his brain. If they bickered, his thoughts were wild, angry and just a touch entertained. When she cried his mind shut down. He needed to comfort her, but he was never sure if he was saying the right thing, so normally he would stay silent and wait for her to come to him. Still other times she would simply stare, and he felt peace attack his heart. His demonic blood fought to see peace as a sign of control or dominance, while his humanity told him that for once he could rest in solace under her gaze. That was why even the calm feelings she imbued brought his mind so much chaos.

His peace was short-lived. As he pondered his love for the mortal woman his thoughts from the previous night dropped him in cold water. When the jewel fragments were reunited, would Kagome be allowed to choose a time period? They had discussed the pros and cons of each world all night long, but in the end, would the jewel decide for them?

He shifted in bed as one of his elbows grew sore from leaning on it. The miko made a soft sound and her features drew into an unconsciously displeased look. The hanyou was disturbing her so he thought it better to continue his dark thoughts in the living area. As stealthily as a ninja the dog demon slid off the bed and padded into the adjoining room. The gloom of the rain was not lost on him and so he moved closer to the window to gaze at the view.

The more he thought on it the more he realized that the jewel might return his beloved back to her time—alone. She was an anomaly in their world, was she not? The jewel might recognize that she did not belong and send her back. For the first time since he had thought Kagome had been swallowed in fire with Shippo way back when Inu Yasha once more entertained the thought that he might forever lose her. What would he do?

“What would I do?” He spoke to the window out loud.

The dark thoughts and the intense fear of abandonment spiked through him, forcing him to voice his fears to no one. The hanyou often spoke to himself when he was alone. After years of living alone before he had stumbled onto Kikyo's village he had exercised the habit frequently. It helped him to concentrate his mind and filter out the erratic thoughts that weakened him before battle.

He had once thought that he could not live without Kikyo. That feeling had obviously proven false. It seemed, perhaps, that he was more patient that he had originally thought. The demon smirked.

“I might be more patient now, but could I wait for her alone for a thousand years?”

The answer came just as quickly. Could he wait alone? No. Even immortal demons go mad if left alone.

“When did I decide I would be alone?” He asked the rain, knowing his old self would have answered that he needed no one. Inu Yasha knew better now. He would have been nothing but a second-rate half demon—possibly dead already—had it not been for the friends and the intelligent miko. They had helped him discover the Tetsusaiga and later unleash its' hidden powers.

A low chuckle escaped his lips. “I wouldn't be alone. Someone has to watch over that lecher and his kin. Sango's family would need protecting and Shippo, too.”

Protecting a human family would be a full-time job alone. Adding Shippo to the mix only made his role that much more time-consuming. He sighed when he thought of kitsune pup. If Kagome was forced to return to the future then she would have inadvertently abandoned Shippo as well. He had already lost both his parents. Inu Yasha knew all too well how tough the world could be without them and could only imagine how hard it might be to lose yet another mother figure. Yes, the hanyou would definitely have to keep an extra-vigilant eye on that one.

Inu Yasha took in a deep breath before announcing his oath to the gray sky. “Kagome, for you and my friends, I would wait a thousand years.”

“Well, more like six hundred years, give or take.”

The soft voice startled him from his thoughts. He had been completely unaware of her presence in the doorway to the bedroom. It was a mystery to him how long she had stood there; watching and listening to him speak to himself like a demon gone mad.

She stepped up to the startled hanyou who tried to explain that he was not crazy. She laughed and shook her head as she slipped her arms around his waist and tilted her head into his chest.

“It's okay. I do that too sometimes.”

The miko had heard enough of his self-held conversation to grasp that he was worrying about the future. She too, had been concerned about that as well. The impact of what her absence might mean on Sango, Miroku, and Shippo had not entered her mind much in the discussion of living in the present. Now that she thought of it she recognized that she could not give them up for a few luxuries in the present. As long as she had the choice she would stay in the past.

“Inu Yasha, it might not happen that way.”

“We don't know that for certain… but I want you to know if it did happen. If you were returned to your time and I was left in mine I would find you. You have my word.”

Her gentle squeeze was her non-verbal way of telling him that she understood. The miko did not want to say it aloud for fear that fate might conspire to let it come true. Fingers brushed her cheek ever so gently and then cupped it. Her face was drawn to his as Inu Yasha used a kiss to seal his word as bond with the miko.

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“Welcome back!” Sango announced as the couple emerged from the well, on schedule for once since the dog-demon had been the one to insist they get back on time.

Kagome had learned that his urging to return to the past had been grounded in the fear that the village could be attacked in their absence. Reluctantly, she agreed to go back, though she could have stayed a few more days.

“Meet any pretty ladies?” Miroku queried.

“You mean any women that would bear the children of a lecherous monk from antiquity? Nope, can't say that I did.” came the hanyou's terse reply.

“You wound me with your harsh words. Kagome would not treat me so.”

The houshi put on his most mortified face for the miko, who seemed even less impressed. Sango smacked the man upside the head for his impertinence. Kagome rolled her eyes. Only slightly fazed by the hit the priest quickly recovered and asked anew.

“So what did you do while you were out? You were gone a long time.”

The two blushed and looked away from one another. Just as they did so a villager appeared in the distance. Inu Yasha caught sight of him first and took off muttering something about new fragment rumors. Kagome, too, quickly followed suit, mumbling something about needing to make sure the hanyou did not scare the poor man. Sango and Miroku were left in the dust. They exchanged knowing grins before they dashed off to catch up.

 

-*-The End-*-